A Complete Guide to Taking Care of Bulky Knits
Super bulky yarns are extremely popular. They knit up quickly, are easy to work with, and look absolutely gorgeous. However, after making a bulky knit, you may begin to notice it become fuzzy and covered in pills after a few wears, making the luxurious yarn appear, like, eh. Keep reading to learn how to take care of your bulky knits so you can keep showing off the beautiful yarn as well as your amazing craftsmanship.
(Please note that this blog post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking an affiliate link, I’ll earn some yarn money at no cost to you.)
The Problem with Bulky Knits
Super bulky yarns, such as Crazy Sexy Wool from Wool and the Gang, are super popular are the moment. However, this yarn and similar style yarns require special care because they are single-ply and because they are SO bulky.
Single-ply yarn (also referred to as roving yarn) has the most basic structure when it comes to yarns. It involves simply twisting the fibers into a continuous thread. However, this makes the yarn less structured, because more plies offer more structure and support to the fibers. Because of this lack of structure, the yarn tends to pill more quickly than yarns with two plies or more. Additionally, because these yarns we are focusing on here are SO bulky, they have more surface area that is vulnerable to friction. That larger surfaces area provides more opportunities for pilling compared to thinner yarns.
As a result, your bulky knits might look super cute right after you cast off, and maybe for your first couple of wears, but soon you start to notice it becoming fuzzy and pilled. When you realize that your bulky knit could use a little TLC, or if it is fresh off the needles and want to keep it looking good for as long as possible, follow the instructions below.
My very pilled sleeve on a super bulky knit sweater.
What You’ll Need
A sink
Water
2-3 towels
Optional: Wool wash/delicate soap
Optional: Blocking boards
Step 1: Shave
Shave your knit.
Use a sweater shaver to get rid of any additional fuzz. Once you’re done with this step, it may be tempting to call it a day, but you’ll quickly find your knit pilling once again. And really, we want to avoid shaving as much as possible because it is literally removing fibers from your knit.
Sweater fuzz.
The next steps involve blocking and/or washing. Getting your knits wet helps to set the fibers, resulting in your stitches being held together more permanently than they were before wetting. This setting helps to decrease pilling, and it is why it is so important to block all of your fresh FOs.
Step 2: Clean Your Sink
Give your sink a good scrub so that your knitted item doesn’t get dirty. Keep in mind, if you have a bulky sweater, you will likely need access to a large sink so it can fully emerge in the water.
Step 3: Add Water
Add water.
Fill your sink with lukewarm water. If this knit is hot off the needles, then you may not need to use soap of any kind. Just submerging it in the water is good.
However, if you’d like to give it a wash, use a gentle soap for delicate knits. My personal favorite is Eucalan soap, specifically the lavender scented one. However, they have lots of options for scents as well as scent-free options. If you’re interested, you can browse some of their options here. Most soaps, especially ones meant for handwashing, have directions on the bottle, so follow those to know how much soap to put in the water.
Step 4: Dunk It
Dunk your knit.
Dunk your knit into the water and gently squeeze the knit until it is completely wet. Let it soak for about 15 minutes.
Step 5: Drain Your Sink
Drain the water from your sink. Once the water is drained, gently squeeze your knit to remove excess water from the fibers. Be careful not to rub your knit, which could cause the yarn to felt. Also, make sure not to twist or wring your knit, as this could stretch the stitches. Just gently squeeze until you feel like you got as much water as you can out.
Step 6: Roll It Up
Rolling your bulky knit.
Lay a towel on the floor or a large, flat surface. Lay your knit on top of the towel. You aren’t blocking yet, so your knit doesn’t have to be perfectly even. It just has to be flat and completely on top of the towel. It’s best if no parts of the knit hang over the towel. If needed, you could always grab an extra towel and put them side by side.
Roll the towel up and gently squeeze your knit as you roll to remove excess water. Make sure not to aggressively rub your knit against the towel, or to quickly roll the towel back and forth with your knit inside. Doing that will cause the fibers to felt. Just slowly roll and gently squeeze.
Once you’ve rolled the towel up completely with the knit fully inside, simply unroll the towel. Depending on how much water is still in the knit, you may want to repeat this process once more with a fresh towel to speed up the drying process.
Step 7: Blocking
Block your bulky knit.
Blocking can sound intimidating if you’ve never done it before, but it is actually pretty easy! I personally don’t have a blocking set yet (although I’ve been eyeing this blocking set from KnitIQ) so I just used a fresh towel. Feel free to use either!
Layout your boards or towel and lay your knit out evenly. You’ll want to make sure it’s laid out flat and evenly because it will dry in this position, determining how the stitches will lay until you wash or block it again. Try your best to make the ribbing straight, for example, or else it will look uneven when it’s dry.
Because bulky knits are so dense, it will likely take over a day for it to fully dry. Be patient. :)
Step 8: Enjoy Your Bulky Knit!
This sweater pattern is the Super Simple Sweater from @ahoneyknits.
Once your knit is dry, it is yours to enjoy! Repeat this process when you see that it’s looking a little fuzzy around the edges.
I hope you found this blog post helpful! If you did, then share it with a friend who loves working with bulky knits! No more pills on our watch!