You can find the composition (in percentages) of all our products on their corresponding label and on our website.
At Katia we design our products with the widest variety of fibers and materials available to offer you the largest catalog of yarns and fabrics. Our goal is that, whatever your handmade project is, at Katia you will find the composition with the quality and benefits you need to work on this project. For this reason, we have products made up of the 3 main families of fibers:
Natural fibers of animal origin such as sheep's wool, cashmere, mohair, alpaca, llama, vicuña, guanaco, camel, angora, yak, silk ... Of course we also offer natural fibers of vegetable origin such as cotton, coconut fiber, flax, hemp, ramie or jute. And also, natural fibers of mineral origin or some metals.
Artificial fibers that are of natural origin, but need to be processed, such as cellulose fibers: viscose or rayon, acetate, modal or lyocell.
Synthetic fibers, obtained from products derived from the petrochemical industry, such as polyester, polyamide, acrylic or elastane.
To find out which products have an official certificate, you can look in the information found on the labels and on the page of each item on the website. At Katia, we have items with GOTS, RCS, RWS and OEKO-TEX certificates.
Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS): The GOTS certification is a world-leading standard for the processing of textiles made with fibers from organic farming. It includes clear requirements for environmental care in the supply chain of organic textiles, while maintaining compliance with social criteria.
Responsible Wool Standard (RWS): The RWS certificate is the only certificate that currently guarantees animal welfare on (sheep) farms and provides responsible management of the land on which they graze.
Recycled Claim Standard (RCS): The RCS label not only verifies the recycled content, but also guarantees that recyclates are processed in the most sustainable way and that the harmful effects of production on people and the environment are reduced.
STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®: If a (fabric) product has the STANDARD 100 label, you can be sure that all components have been tested for harmful substances and that the item is therefore harmless to human health.
More and more knitters and crocheters are becoming interested in the origins of the beautiful Merino wool and the conditions of the Merino sheep. At Katia, we want you to continue to enjoy the recognized benefits of Merino yarn when creating your garments without worry. That's why, in addition to the Mulesing Free seal, which guarantees that no Australian sheep were involved, much of the 100% Merino wool in our catalog comes from South America.
On our website you will find the NON MULESING WOOL seal. This is on all balls made from Merino wool from South American, European or Australian sheep that are free of mulesing.
We only provide product samples to stores that sell our yarns and fabrics. Please, visit the website to find out what articles and colors are available. We provide photos on the website, so you can see the features of each product in detail by enlarging the image. You can also download the color chart in PDF by clicking the button under the picture of the ball of yarn.
We recommend any yarns that are made of synthetic or vegetable fibers, thus avoiding fibers of animal origin. But above all, it is important to visit a specialist to find out exactly which components of the yarns are causing an allergic skin reaction. By knowing this, we can recommend the best options for you to continue knitting and enjoying the knitting peacefully.
Actually, an amigurumi can be made with any kind of yarn that is easy to crochet. Many people crochet amigurumi with cotton because of their softness, thickness and colors.
Both on the label of the balls and on our website you will find the symbols with information on recommended washing, drying and ironing. Most natural fibers require a delicate treatment in their washing, and are recommended to get wash by hand in most cases. However, we know that Wool, undoubtedly the most used natural fiber in the world, offers certain advantages and comforts in terms of maintenance, thanks to the Superwash treatment of this fiber. Said treatment avoids felting caused by friction between fibers during the washing. However, at Katia, we offer a somewhat more intensive treatment (TEC) than Superwash in our 100% Merinos range. This treatment allows, in addition to washing the garment in the washing machine, the drying of the wool in the tumble dryer. Wash and dry your wool garments without any worries!
Discover 5 tips for taking care of handmade wool garments here.
Blocking the fabric means moistening the garment to stretch the stitches evenly and give it the desired shape. You can block your knitted garments by following these 3 methods:
1. Immerse the garment in water.
Prepare a bucket with warm water (read the label on the ball first) and a few drops of neutral soap. Immerse the garment and let the garment soak for approximately 30 minutes. After these minutes, remove the excess water and wrap the garment in a towel. Lay the garment out on a rigid surface like a cork, rubber backing, or another towel. Stretch the fabric to the desired shape and secure the edges with pins. Let the garment dry flat and voila!
2. Moisten the garment with spray.
Lay the garment flat on a surface (as in the previous method), stretch and pin the silhouette. Dampen the garment by spraying clean, warm water with a spray and let it dry.
3. Apply steam from the iron.
Spread the garment on a surface (same as previous methods) and moisten the garment with a warm water spray, or place a damp towel on top of the garment before steaming. With the iron on steam only mode, steam the garment and leave a distance between 3 cm and 5 cm. Very important: do not touch directly the garment with the iron and do not apply too much steam, as it can deform the garment and the point. Once a garment has been deformed, most of the time, it is almost impossible to recover it.
We know that finding a knot can be annoying, but sometimes, they are unavoidable in the process of making the balls. The knots can occur during the changes of yarn formats throughout the different production processes. For example, we use cones during spinning, while skeins are used in the dyeing process.
Don't let the knots stop your project! We will propose some tricks to avoid that the manufacturing knot is noticed in your fabrics. We hope these tips are helpful to you.
1. Cut the knot and continue knitting or crocheting with the end that comes out of the ball, as if you had made a color change or started a new ball.
2. If you are knitting in rows back and forth, we recommend that you try to leave the knot at one of the starts.
Of course, if you consider that your ball has some serious production errors, please do not hesitate to contact the store where you purchased it so that they can offer you a quick solution and so you can continue your work happily.
Depending on the humidity or dryness of the environment during the storage of the yarns, it might occur that the balls can gain or lose weight. But it can also be due to a weight error in the balls themselves. Please do not hesitate to contact the store where you bought your balls, or the assigned store if you bought them on katia.com, to request an exchange or a refund.
At Katia we take care of all technical aspects when taking photographs of the different colors of our balls. We want to show you the colors of our yarns as accurately as possible. However, the characteristics or the configuration of each computer, tablet or mobile phone screen may offer different variations of tones in the images. Check the brightness and contrast settings of monitors and mobile devices.