How to tell if old knitting yarn is any good?

[TopCat]

Please take pity on a very novice knitter.
I've been given a shed load (literally) of knitting wool.
It has been stored for a long time and has a musty smell. SOme tablecloths that came from the same treasure hoard have washed beautifully and now smell much better and I can see which have permanent stains and which have come up like new....but I don't know how to tell if the knitting wool is any good.
Can you wash it before you use it or is that a really bad idea?

[Moley]

I don't see why not. I can remember (in the good old days) that my mum used to unravel cardigans, put the wooll into skeins and wash it to remove all the kinks so that she could re-use it. You'd probably have to rewind it round the back of a chair or something.

[koshka]

Yep, Moley's right, it should be fine to wash. I'm used to washing skeins of yarn as I'm also a spinner and you need to wash the yarn you've just spun - the only things to be vaguely wary of (depending on the fibre content) are temperature and how much you agitate the yarn, so just treat it as you'd treat a garment knit from it and you should be fine.

You'll need to skein it up (round the back of a chair or two is fine if you don't have a niddy noddy) and tie the skein in a few places just so that it doesn't get all tangled while you're washing, and then a good hand wash and/or soak and hopefully it'll be a pleasure to knit with again.

[maggielef]

I think you should wash it just so you could have something called a niddy noddy to wind it back up on!

[annie]

Originally Posted by maggielef

I think you should wash it just so you could have something called a niddy noddy to wind it back up on!

so, what is a niddy noddy? Someone had to ask

Ok, found it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niddy_noddy
and instructions for making your own!!
http://jessinohio.wordpress.com/2009...eekend-part-1/

[koshka]

Originally Posted by maggielef

I think you should wash it just so you could have something called a niddy noddy to wind it back up on!

*snicker* well, why do you think I own one? 'chair back' isn't nearly as much fun to say as 'niddy noddy'!

My OH finds spinning terminology highly entertaining - the 'yay, my niddy noddy's arrived!' exclamation provoked a very puzzled response indeed!

And then he bought a wheel for me and discovered during assembly that as well as having bits called maidens and a 'mother of all' it has a Lazy Kate and bobbins by way of accessories: 'attach the whats to the where?!'

[annie]

Originally Posted by koshka

*snicker* well, why do you think I own one? 'chair back' isn't nearly as much fun to say as 'niddy noddy'!

My OH finds spinning terminology highly entertaining - the 'yay, my niddy noddy's arrived!' exclamation provoked a very puzzled response indeed!

And then he bought a wheel for me and discovered during assembly that as well as having bits called maidens and a 'mother of all' it has a Lazy Kate and bobbins by way of accessories: 'attach the whats to the where?!'

Like a quaint folk song..with a yay and a nay to the niddy noddy..

[koshka]

Originally Posted by annie

Like a quaint folk song..with a yay and a nay to the niddy noddy..

feeling a sudden urge to go and watch some morris dancing

[queeniegoth]

my mum used to use me as the 'niddy noddy' my arms still ache after 40 odd years !

[Morthan]

oh queeniegoth you just lurched me into a timewarp moment !! I hated being the niddy noddy (with a passion - can't you tell?). So I quickly dive back to the future and the comfort of my all singing and dancing gadgetry.

TC I don't know whether to say lucky you or poor you. I love yarn as much as fabric and yes although I did make some inroads into it last year with the knitting machine, there's still a bit of a yarn stash to be dealt with here.

I hope there are some attractive yarns for you in that treasure and enough of the ones you keep to make something with - even if it's on tradeables with a knitter. You know, if you make me this georgeous knitted jacket, I'll sew you a tailored one. Otherwise whatever will you do with it all?