A little skein. Quite a journey

Before a skein reaches your hands, it has a few things to do:

Have a bath. Find its colours. Catch a little sun. And pass two rather close inspections.

Well, 14 things on the list, actually. ‘A few’ was perhaps a little optimistic.

Its journey begins as undyed yarn. We give it a good soak and mix the colours it’s about to meet.

The first colour arrives. Depending on the colourway, others follow. Pools of colour. Little speckles, scattered by hand.

Even the tiniest dots have someone looking after them.

We check the colours as we go. Some shades need an extra helping. Then we warm the yarn to set the colour, turning it over and over along the way.

After all that, it’s time for a wash. A gentle rinse. A little spin.

We hang the skeins up to dry in the sunshine and fresh air.

A row of colour, having a quiet moment.

Once dry, every skein gets 2 close inspections. We check the yarn itself and compare its colour with the sample we keep for that shade.

If a skein needs a colour adjustment or another visit to the dye pan, back it goes.

Only then can it put on its Qing Fibre label and settle into its box.

We’ve brought it this far. Now it gets to be part of something you make.