VARIATION IN DYE LOTS
We hand dye in small batch pots with enough hanks for a single sweater. We always ship our retailers and our web store customers skeins from the same pot, or for orders larger than a pot size, do our best to match skeins from different pots.

It is important to remember that with handpainted yarns, there may be areas of yarn that are more or less tinted, and that the same colourway seldom looks the same twice in a row. These variations are not defects – we celebrate the expression of our dyers’ artistic sensibilities.

If you prefer more even colour blending, please alternate between 2 – 3 skeins.

SHOULD I ALTERNATE SKEINS? IF SO, HOW?
Alternating yarns is a personal preference, and yields a very different result. There are several reasons to alternate skeins: to break up unwanted color pooling, to blend yarns from two different dye lots, or even to create a new colour variation by combining two different colourways.  The best way to decide whether you should alternate skeins or not is to knit up a quick swatch to see what appeals most. It’s up to you!

To alternate skeins knitting Flat:
Knit the RS and WS from one skein and then alter the next RS and WS with the next skein. You don’t need to cut your yarn everytime, just carry the yarn up the side.

To alternate skeins knitting In the Round:
Knit one row from one skein and the next from the other alternating this way through out the garment, with care not to pull the yarn too tightly at the end of the round.

I CAN’T FIND MY FIX!!

My Local Yarn Store does not carry the yarn/colourway I want. Can you sell it to me?
Thank you for supporting your LYS! With over 40 yarn bases at any given time and thousands of colours in our portfolio, there are more than 10000 possible combinations of yarns/colourways. If there is a colour you are dying to find (pun intended!), feel free to email us at sales@fleeceartist.com and we will do our best to connect you with a retailer who can help.

Why doesn’t your webstore carry every yarn?
Most of our yarns are exclusively available to our stockists. To find a local yarn store near you click here.

CONTACTING US

May I contact Hand Maiden by phone?
While we wish we could help customers by phone, we are a small team and at present do not have the resources to be able to offer phone support. We’re often up to our elbows in dye. We are, however, quite speedy at replying to emails so if you need to get in touch with us:

General Inquiries: sales@fleeceartist.com for timely assistance
Pattern Support: ruth@fleeceartist.com for patterns ordered online
Web Store Support: webstore@fleeceartist.com

When can I expect an answer to my email?
We are in Studio Monday through Friday from 9am to 4:30pm Atlantic Time, excluding observed holidays and birthday lunches. We will get back to you as soon as we can during that time. All emails are answered in the order they are received.

CAN I VISIT YOUR STUDIO IN HALIFAX, NS?
Our studio is a small and busy manufacturing space. While we thank you for your interest, we are unable to accept visitors.
If you are in town we encourage you to visit our local stockists, The Loop in downtown Halifax and LK Yarns at The Hydrostone Market to buy local.

I CAN’T FIND AN ANSWER TO MY QUESTION…?
If our FAQ articles haven’t answered your Q, please reach out at info@handmaiden.ca and we’ll be happy to help you out!