As a new knitter or crocheter it can be quite overwhelming when faced with the sheer amount of yarn choices available for your projects. So what makes hand-dyed yarn so special and is it really worth the extra cost?

Hand-dyed yarn is exactly that – Dyed by Hand, meaning that each skein is individually dyed by a person with their own vision and colour creativity which can result in unique, vibrant, and sometimes surprising colorways. Unlike commercially dyed yarn produced in large quantities, hand-dyed yarn is crafted in smaller batches, or even as one-of-a-kind skeins for a truly unique colourway which can never be repeated.

Dyers will take a bare skein of yarn and add colours in a number of ways. Dyeing methods can include hand-painting, dip-dyeing, kettle dyeing, speckling and spritzing, in one or more colours. There are many different types of dyes available too such as acid dyes (so-called because they contain citric acid which helps the colour bond to the yarn), natural dyes derived from plants, or other specialized pigments. Some dyers even use food colouring to dye their yarn!

As a yarn dyer myself, I use acid dyes as I find these give me the most vibrant and colourfast results.

Unlike single colour commercially dyed yarn, a single colour hand-dyed yarn tends to have subtle variations of tone and depth throughout the skein, which adds visual interest to your stitches. And unlike commercial yarns, the beauty of hand-dyed yarn lies in its uniqueness; even two skeins dyed in the same colour batch, although the overall tone will be the same, the skeins will never be exactly the same due to their tonal differences. Which makes hand-dyed yarn such a joy to work with.

Hand-dyed yarn is more expensive than commercial yarn due to the fact that dyers will often choose higher quality yarns as their base such as wool, alpaca, silk, cotton, or blends of these (acrylic yarn is essentially plastic and does not take dye very well, unlike a merino wool for example which will drink up the colour and give a much more vibrant result). And dyeing yarn takes time too, many hand-dyers like me operate on a small scale (did you know that I dye all of my yarns in my kitchen at home?) And it’s not just about creating the colourways but also setting and drying time which can take 2-3 days. Not to mention the hours spent winding and labelling which is also all done by hand.

So when you purchase a skein of hand-dyed yarn you are supporting someone who has invested a lot time perfecting their skill, creativity, and craftsmanship to bring you something special and unique.

And while commercial yarns do have their place, I think if you are going to invest all of your time and energy into knitting or crocheting something that you want to last, why not invest in the materials too? Hand-dyed yarn will bring something special to your projects, whether it’s the colour, the quality and feel of the yarn or the knowledge that an indie-dyer did a happy dance because you supported their small business (that would be me! 😉)