One of my very best friends gave me this stunning yarn as a Christmas present yesterday. It's so beautiful, all muted sea greens and pale blues. It has the look of silk, too, although my friend says that she bought it from an elderly Italian woman with a sheep on a market stall in rural Italy.
So. The instructions with the yarn, needless to say, are in Italian. Someone else at the party last night gave a very credible stab at translating them, but couldn't get that far. She did, however, say that it appears the instructions are for fixing the colour, which terrifies me slightly (the thought of knitting something beautiful with this, then washing it once and all the colour washing out... eep!). In my eternal belief that the Internet can solve everything, are there any Italian readers out there who can help me? Any help very gratefully received.
Instructions (faithfully, I hope, copied out) read as follows:
INFORMAZIONI PER L'USO
I colori sono abbastanza stabili: da 3 a 5 in una scala da 1 a 6. In generale si può dire che le tinte forti sono più stabili e i blu sulla seta schappé sono meno stabili (3) su seta burette e lana invece sono fermi. (4-5).
E' opportuno lavare i capi a mano a 30-40°C possibilmente con un detersivo liquido per lana, strizzare e asciugare per esteso.
Stirare col ferro a vapore o panno umido restituisce alla seta la lucentezza e ai capi di lana la forma.
Si può anche usare il lavaggio a secco (macchie).
I capi tinti con l'indaco, all'inizio lasciano tracce di blu sulla pelle o sui capi sottostanti. Un effetto che col tempo si perde e che comunque si risolve lavando con acqua.
Il filato a capo unico, di alta qualità e poca lavorazione, tende a fare pillino, un effetto che si perde col tempo o stirando; su capi di lana si può anche spazzolare.
ETA: Hurrah for the power of the Internet! My marvellous friend Paul has furnished me with a comprehensive translation, copied below for those who were on tenterhooks.
Instructions
The colours are quite stable (3-5, on a scale from 1-6). In general, you can expect that strong colours will be more stable. Blues on schappe silk are less stable (3), but on burette silk and wool, they are fast (4-5).
You should wash garments by hand at 30-40 degrees C, using a liquid detergent for wool, if possible, and then wringing them out and drying them flat.
Use a steam iron or iron with a damp cloth to give silks back their brightness, and to reshape woollen garments.
Dry cleaning is also possible for stains.
Items using an indigo dye may initially leave blue stains on skin or garments worn underneath. This effect disappears over time, and the stains can in any case be removed by washing with water.
Single-thread(?) yarns, high quality and having undergone relatively little processing, may tend to pilling - an effect that disappears over time or with ironing; woollen garments can also be brushed.Labels: presents, yarn
