My knittings are hand-made. The hint is very simple – hand-made knittings require hand-washing.
Usually I use natural wool for my knittings. In old days, natural wool was very sensitive towards washing detergents, water temperature and the way of washing. Nowadays the quality of wool is different, but one should know what kind of wool is used for the knitting.
The modern technologies have entered also the yarn industry, however, even with the best quality wool, hand-knitted items should NEVER be placed in the washing machine! Your knitting can loose its size, shape and color!
The woolen yarn has a tendency to shrink a lot during the washing process. Some of yarns may loose their color during the washing, and that can affect also the other colors of the knitting ( e.g. in the case of mittens with contrasting colors). Some knittings may lose their shape if not washed properly. If you want to wear them also after washing and look as nice as before washing, do it by your hands and with usual hand-soap or with a hand- and wool-friendly washing detergent.
In some cases, I add a note to the knitting – “superwash”. Theoretically the superwash yarn is designed to be washed in the washing machine, at a low temperature (max 30C). If my knitting (scarf, cap, pullover, socks) is made from a single type of superwash yarn, you can try to wash them gently in the “wool wash” or “hand-wash” regime of the washing machine, never exceeding 30C. However, when knitting mittens, very often I use different colors and different types of yarn. Not always I have saved the contents of the yarn and accordingly washing instructions for each type of yarn. My collection of yarn is big, and some of them are still the “old-fashioned” type. Therefore, mittens always should be washed by hand.
The good thing about woolen mittens – one really does not have to wash them very often. Usually I wash all my own hand-knittings, when the season is over. After washing I place them in a safe (preferably woolmoth-free) place. Clean wool is attracting moths less. And when the new season starts, it will be always nicer to start wearing a nice, warm knitting that smells of soap and wool, not the last winter’s sweat.
When you are washing the knitting, wash it gently, rinse it in cold water, and press it to get rid of water. Try not to change the shape of the knitting, when it is wet. If you change it, then adjust it back into the original shape, while it is wet. After washing, rinsing and re-shaping, place the knitting on towel on a flat surface. It will take some time for it to dry. Note that, like washing machine, never use drying machine for woolen knittings!
knit fits 