Where do you draw the line when it comes to 'Hand Dyed' yarn?

I have the dilemma of being a creator.  My ‘title’ is a hand yarn dyer right?  Which means I hand dye yarn, using my hands and not a large machine such as the commercial wool dyers.

What is the line when yarn dyeing truly become commercial?  What is the tipping point?

For many years now, I have been using an eight pan bain marie which I bought second hand from a take away shop.  She is known as Marie.  A large heating tool which has allowed me to dye yarn.  I will be honest, at times I was limited, which made my days long or I had to do extra days of dyeing.  I will get back to this.

When you dye yarn, you need to apply the colour to the wool, the wool needs to be heated to accept the colour - finer details?  Heating the wool allows the scales on the wool fibre to open and thus allow the colour to attach.  Once the colour has exhausted, which means all the colour has ‘attached’ itself to the fibre, the water will be clear.  Then you let the wool cool down - slowly.  The slower the better, it prevents colour leaching and allows the scales to close up.  It prevents felting and colour washing out.

All dyers have their techniques and ‘short cuts’, but whatever the case there is only so much you can short cut without compromising.  So when I say at times I am limited, what I mean is there are only so many pans I have and only so much space to store the pans (especially if they are hot) AND because there is a time factor when heating and cooling the wool, there is only so many you can do in a day.

I just accepted this and continued to use Marie.  For a couple of years, I was aware some dyers were starting to use large heating 'cupboards'.  You know the ones that are used with catering to keep food warm?  I mean the idea is good and an efficient way to dye.

I will be honest though, I started to feel like that was not HAND DYED yarn.  It felt like a grey area and I could not personally find peace with it.  My dyeing load increased yet I resisted considering the ovens.  I mean is putting some colour in water, putting your yarn in it and putting it in the oven true hand dyed yarn?  Is it just a mass yarn dyeing tool?  I struggled with this and kept very quiet for fear of offending my fellow dyers, who I have much respect for, and a really positive relationship with.

My load continued to increase so I bought another set of pans,had much longer dyeing days and was dyeing on more days.  This took me away from doing the other stuff that is really important in the business such as admin and enjoying what I do.  Working in the heat all day, handing heavy pans of liquid, really hot water, not only was the skin on my hands suffering, physically I was finding it really exhausting and questioning if I really wanted to do this.

I considered another bain marie but knew ultimately the heating trolly was a better option space and heat wise.  I had to find peace with it before I could consider investing in one.  I chatted to a few dyers.  Really picked their brains.  Every one of them could not speak more highly of them.

So I bought one.  I simply cannot keep up with demand and wear myself to the ground.  I am so pleased I did.  I realised, yes I am still hand dyeing, and more importantly applying my creativity to the yarn.  I am still doing everything I normally do, but I just have an extra tool which heats for me.  I still dye most of my yarn in Marie as before.  The difference now is once they are dyed and I am waiting for the dye to exhaust, I can put the pans into the heating trolly (she still needs to be named).  There are very few colours I produce where I can simply colour the yarn and put it directly into the trolly.  What it does mean, is I have the extra time to dye more skeins of yarn.  I had to invest in more pans!

Another fabulous realisation I had once the trolley arrived is that I can botanically dye with a lot more ease. Botanical dyeing often needs longer heating times and often lower temperatures.  Usually I am botanically dyeing with cotton. Using the trolly has been a fabulous way to dye cotton botanical with the heat sealed in and at a lower temperature, I can leave it to do its thing for longer.  My colours have been better and the water exhausted!

In coming to love the new addition to my studio I have realised it doesn’t change what I do as a hand dyer, it is just another tool that makes my life easier in many ways.  I can achieve more skeins of yarn in a day and also with less heat exposed to me, I do not get the heat exhaustion.  It also allows me to dye non superwash yarn slowly and for long periods safely.  Which means their colours are more vivid and consistent, and all the dyes are exhausted.

In the end, this new tool is brilliant. I am not being worn down by my very labour intensive role, I am not around steamy heat for so much of the day, I have a larger capacity, I can dye better and my ability to dye more complex yarns and complex dye stuff is a win win!

I still have not answered my own question.  When does yarn dyeing become commercial and not hand dyed?  I have seen how some mills dye their yarns and there is still a person managing the yarns, measuring the dyes, mixing the dyes, adding the water to the baths…  What are we really truly meaning when we say hand dyed yarns?  Leave a comment with your thoughts.