I took some time out the other day to dye up a few more rovings for Maiden Yarn. Unfortunately, I didn’t think ahead enough, and I found myself with pre-soaked four ounce bundles of roving, and no foil pans big enough to hold them.
I did have one non-disposable tray left, so I used it for one of the batches: this lovely repeat colorway. (You may recognize the color pattern from way back when. I dyed it first on some of the silver-gray Romney roving I bought at the Yellow Daisy Festival.) The fun thing about the repeats was that it braided up with colors to colors, as you can see. I’m really happy with the way that one turned out.
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I finally got a chance to dye those last couple of yarns. The lace weight merino became a kettle-dyed cherry red. As it was cooking I kept peeking into the pot to see if it was the perfect tone. It took it a while, but we finally nailed it. I think it sums up the word “luscious.”
Then I was going to dye the superwash sock yarn with browns and greens the way I normally do (pouring the dye over the top), but I really wanted a softer look. 
I decided to kettle dye the yarn green, then hit it with the brown once it was done. Halfway through the cook time I pulled the yarn out and instantly decided that adding brown would be like adding garlic to an ice cream sundae. Both nice, but together—no. Thus, the superwash has remained a beautiful limey green.
While reorganizing my stash I ran across the un-dyed silk hankies I bought at the SAFF, and I was immediately seized with the desire to dye them in shades of green.
Silk Hankies
Then, since one wasn’t enough for very much yarn, I decided to dye some of the Iowa fleece to go with it in the rather fall shades of chestnut, gold, and crimson. I know we’re barely into spring as it is, but I thought it would look nice.
If you’ve never heard of a “silk hankie” before, it’s quite a neat little contraption. When the silk worm is born (or killed, whichever), you de-gum the cocoon and spread it out onto a little square frame. One by itself is practically non-existent, so you layer multiples on top of each other, and eventually wind up with what looks like a handkerchief made out of silk.
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