WIPS: A New Knit, How do you Wash Secondhand Yarn, Capes, and a Random Factoid

I'm a newbie knitter.  Which means that I have no business trying to modify patterns or do my own thing just yet, but is that stopping me?  Of course not.  We shall see if I end up with a knit win or a knit fail.  My end goal is to make Catherine a little cape (or poncho).  I am loosely basing it on this Easy Peasy Poncho.  "Loosely" is a very key word since I want to simply use the stockinette stitch for the body and it's for a three year old.

How do you wash thrift store or second hand yarn?  I have recently come into possession of quite a bit of yarn that I'd like to clean before working with it.  Some of it is dusty and some of it is a little bit musty.  It's good quality stuff, so it's definitely worth a bit of hassle, I'm just a little unsure what to do.  I don't want to spend days, weeks, or even months trying to de-tangle a massive yarn mess!  (Some of it is on cones, which makes it even more difficult.)  There has to be a way to clean it!

Did you see the cute little capes that I helped make for my sister-in-law's wedding?  Check out the full post!

Here's a random pop culture factoid for you: Katy Perry likes to crochet.

I will be sharing this post at the following:

Frontier Dreams with Nicole

Work In Progress with Tami

Yarn Along with Ginny