Chenille yarn is a type of yarn known for its distinctive fluffy, caterpillar-like texture. It’s created by cutting loops of yarn along a central thread, giving it a soft and luxurious feel. It’s widely used in various textile applications, from blankets, to clothing and home decor.
Chenille yarn is typically made from a combination of fibres, including: Cotton: A natural fibre known for its softness and absorbency. Acrylic: A synthetic fibre that mimics the feel of wool but is more affordable and easier to care for. Polyester: Another synthetic fibre that is durable, resistant to wrinkles and fading, and often used in blends to enhance the yarn’s performance.
Chenille yarn is manufactured and packaged in large factories and can sometimes pick up marks and artefacts along the way. Being tightly packed also renders the yarn flat and feeling sorry for itself.
With this in mind I have developed a process whereby I unravel the entire skein, which then is placed in a laundry bag and given a nice wash. This solves additional problems to the ones above most importantly the removal of excess dyes, which ensures that when you, the customer comes to wash your blanket in the future there will be no unwanted colour runs.
The last step of the preparation is what gives ElizabethEllen blankets that extra fluffy and coziness feeling. The entire yarn, once dry is run through my fingers which encourages a nice consistently full feel and appearance. Then onto the hand made manufacture stage, the fun bit!
Washing the yarn and the other afore mentioned steps does make the process of making blankets much longer. It does however mean a lot of care has gone into the creation of each blanket.
