The weather here has been nice, but I am looking forward to the air turning chilly. The more hats and scarves I can wear this fall the better! (And socks and sweaters, of course.) (And cardigans.) (And maybe gloves.) Ahem. Anyway, I got to spend yesterday evening dyeing some new, fall-themed yarns and fibers!
Beech Leaf - Corriedale Cross Fiber
It’s been so long since I’ve dyed anything. I really enjoyed this stint in the kitchen. In fact, I had only planned to do one, possibly two projects — but, true to form, I wound up doing four. Thankfully I was able to do them without feeling pressured to hurry things up and get out of the way. Going so long without dyeing made everything seem new and interesting once I started again. Of course, it also meant that I was way out of practice. Nothing irreparable, though!
Sky Worsted Weight Wool
These were all new fibers and yarns for me. I had quite a bit of jittering over whether they would behave nicely or not — those horror stories about commercial fibers having spots of goop on them that resisted the dyes were playing through my head with frightful intensity — but they came through beautifully. I’m very proud of them.
Maple Red - Corriedale Cross Fiber
I tried a slightly new technique on this last yarn. It was a modified version of hand-painting which consisted of a controlled pouring and patting with a brush. Then I wrapped it up in cellophane and steamed it for a while. (During the wrapping part I managed to wind up with red fingertips. Remind me to wear gloves next time!) The colors are slightly more muted in person than the picture shows, but I’m quite pleased with the way it turned out, and I’ll be using this method again, because . . .
Alpaca/Silk Laceweight
Dun, dun, dun! I have four more alpaca/silk yarns to dye, and they shall be going up on my Etsy store. Yes, I’ve had the store for a while. Forgive me for not mentioning it before. I wanted to get any kinks taken care of before raising the curtain, so to speak.
I hear you about the fall thing. I’m itching for a mountain trip and turning leaves. The yarn in this post is sooo gorgeous and autumnal. Love the colors.
Oh, and congrats on the Etsy shop and new blog setup. Looks great.