As yet another fun thing to do, my aunt and I decided to dye some of her blank yarns (purchased from JoAnn Etc. and the Yarn Garden) in various fun shades. The superwash sock yarn (on the left) turned out amazingly well. I love the intensity of the reds. Next to it is a bulky weight single ply that was inspired by fall. It turned out a little less intense, but pretty.
Then there was this yarn. Another two skeins of the bulky weight. Nice? Pretty? I love the jewel-like tones.
But this yarn was supposed to be purple with green and yellow flecks, and a few spots of brown. Do you see purple? Anywhere at all? I see blue, but not purple.
Every so often the carefully mixed dyes decide to separate and become new entities. The “red + blue = purple” combination separated.
So, we had two really good finished colorways and one that was still nice, but unplanned.
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A Lovely Sweater
Ta-da! Finished at last. My first sweater ever to be hand-spun, hand-dyed, and hand-crocheted. (I’d add “hand-processed,” but that wouldn’t be truthful because I bought the fiber as nice, squishy roving.)
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Here’s a little dyeing that snuck in under the radar. Four and a half ounces of who-know-what wool roving.
An Elegant Braid
It had a distinctive yellow-golden color before dyeing. And thick! Oh my. The dye barely penetrated the whole batch, even after I pre-soaked it for at least a half hour. It was dyed using only Crimson and Chestnut. When it first came out of the pot it looked really pink in some areas, but either something happened or it grew on me, because it looks redder now.
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I’ve been eyeing the container of indigo for long enough. I am hereby starting a project especially marked for the dye pot. Here it is, in its brand-new beginning.
On The Drop Spindle
I’m taking what’s left of the pound of New Zealand wool roving (great stuff), and spinning it on the drop spindle. Hopefully it will come out at a decent DK weight, so I can dye it blue and use it in
this pattern (with some slight modifications).
The goal is to get it all done before the weather gets too hot for me to wear the sweater. The only kicker is that around here that means I have until roughly the middle of March. Oh well. The little jar of dye calls.
Ah, The Possibilities
The results are back on the latest dyeing escapade. Feast your eyes on this!
Hand-dyed Lotus
It’s two hundred and forty-six yards of what we think is a merino worsted weight. It’s a commercial yarn, and the label got separated from it and the other yarn. (Note to self: don’t try to do weights that are too similar at the same time!) So it might be a superwash DK weight.
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Look what arrived in the mail! A pile of yarn skeins eagerly waiting to see what color they’ll become. The possibilities are endless.
Blank Yarn Knit Picks
That’s two skeins of merino worsted weight, a skein of merino lace weight, a skein of superwash merino DK weight, and a skein of superwash merino worsted weight. Fun fun fun! I’m eager to try out some new color combinations.
