Denim Tips - For Rowan (and Elann's knock off) Denim

1. Denim Yarn shrinks lengthwise. How much? Shrinkage is about 20%. The width doesn't change, so if you're find the horizontal tension to be too wide, the shrinking isn't going to help you. Rip now. It only shrinks the first time that you wash it, although the fading will continue with each wash.

2. The ecru denum is stringy and splits. It's also harsher to knit with than the dyed one. So if you've used the ecru one and hated it, don't give up on the coloured ones, the handle is different

3. Never, ever knit using any of the coloured yarns wearing light colours or, sitting on a light colour chair. Until you wash it, the colour will get everywhere. My bamboo neeedles all have a blue tinge from working with this yarn.

4. You must wash the finished pieces before sewing up and dry it in the dryer on high. If you wash and dry after sewing up, the material will shrink and the pieces will distort. Don't listen to people who tell you it doesn't matter. It does, especially if you are sewing in, set-in sleeves.

5. When you wash the pieces, make sure that you wash a few meters for use in sewing up. If you don't the yarn that you use to sew will shrink while the pieces won't so the fabric will get distorted.

6. If you're going to put the pieces in the wash, sew in the loose yarn or knot then. If you don't the yarn will fray and get all tangled up. It's not pleasant.

I've knotted the blue yarn but not the ecru one. Even without much handling, the ends are fraying and does get tangled with the working yarns.

7. Although the yarn does fade, dyelots do matter. If you have odd balls, do a stripey jumper so that the colour is broken up. It will not 'fade into the same colour'

Here's what it looked like before washing.


Here's what it looked like aFter washing. I used a hot bath and the ecru is very lightly tinged with blue but it's not a 'bled' it look.

8. If you really want to do something in the Denim People book and hate using denim, you can adjust the patterns by reducing all the lengthwise dimensions but 20% and using Handknit DK.

9 - From Meg - I just bought a denim yarn "knock-off" from Elann.com, and inside the label was the suggestion that if you make a nice big swatch and wash and dry it, you can later unravel the swatch and re-use the yarn for sewing up the garment. That way it will be pre-shrunken, too.

10. From Stéphanie - Check the final measurements of the patterns, and don't only see the sizing. The patterns are apparently small-sized. I do get into the delta jumper, but it's true that it's short. Anyway, there wouldn't have been any possibbility of lenghening it, as it is a bias constuction, and that's what appealled to me.
 

11. From Kay - Re: variability in color, especially in the darker colors: To my eye, the slight variation looks great in an authentically denim way. I have never found it to vary in a way that looks ugly or weird. I would not go to the trouble of mixing skeins of the same color just to even out the color, as Rowan recommends with the dark Nashville shade. But then, maybe disaster is just around the corner for me!

And I will be a bit bold and mention that Elann's version of Denim comes in the very same colors and the very same quality as Rowan's more expensive version. I'm loyal to Rowan, but since I knit this stuff in BULK, I buy it from Elann when I can.