I Really Like These Colors

Some more of my dyed yarn. these samples are some of my favorite color combinations: pink, orange, and teal, olive green, light brown and lavender.



I am working on softening up this yarn, since it is quite rough. I believe it came from a rug factory. After dyeing the yarn, I wash it, then soak it in fabric softener for about 30 minutes, then rinse. It definitely softens the yarn a bit, but it is still on the rough side. I am experimenting now on felting the fabric. Future posts on that.

Another Toy

In my search for ways to make knitted items faster, I decided to check out a knitting machine. There are quite a few on the market, but my thought was to get an inexpensive one to play around with, in case it became a failed experiment. I checked out Ebay, and found tons of machines, from $20 to over $10,000! The one I chose is a Bond Incredible Sweater Machine, which has a plastic bed and carriage.

It took a little time to get the bugs out of it, but now have it working pretty well. It is very fast to make a simple stockinette stitch, but when you start doing some kind of pattern, you have to hand manipulate the stitches, which takes some time. Still, I think it has some potential for certain things, and the idea of upgrading at some point is not out of the question.


You can see some samples I made here, just playing around.

MORE YARN!

For this batch, I used Teal as the main color, tie-dyeing each skein (2 skeins of 220 yards each).
Once the teal was in the yarn, I untied the scrap yarn that was used to resist areas of the skeins and then hand painted the yarn with Periwinkle and Sapphire Blue. At the very end, I sprinkled a bit of dry Chartreuse over the wet yarn, then heat set the colors.
It's interesting to sprinkle a dry color onto the wet yarn, in this case at least, the chartreuse came out very bright, but since there is not much of it, it doesn't overwhelm. It definitely adds a pop of color, though. I can see using this method when you want to add just a little bit of contrasting color.

It's also interesting that greens are the primary colors, though I also used some pretty dark blues.

Definitely enjoying the process!

THE SEA INSIDE (my yarn)

This color palette makes me think of the ocean, with shades of blue and light green, kind of like an inland bay, with shallow water and new plant growth on the edge.

The colors are a bit pastel, since I didn't use really saturated dye stock. I am pleased with the variety and the play of color throughout the yarn, though I have to say this is not my favorite palette.

More on a Pink Theme

As I did in my last post, I am using the rough wool that I purchased on Ebay, original color of light pink. This time I dyed about 400 yards, (2 200 Yd. skeins). I used the immersion method, half dry, half wet to make a bi-tonal color.

I really like this color, with light and dark tones of the Vermillion Pink. Below you see both finished skeins.

Next I used the same technique with a light grey yarn, also from Ebay, also 2 200 yard skeins.

This time I used a mixture of Lilac and Pink to come up with this very nice purple.





I think this method of half wet/half dry immersion is extremely nice. I am not a huge fan of lots of contrasting colors in a yarn, though I will certainly be trying some of that too. I like the more subtle sift in colors that you get from this method.

Yarn Dyeing Continued

My first dyeing adventure! I started with some 100% wool that I purchased on Ebay, light pink in color. I chose this as a practice yarn because the yarn is quite scratchy, so I figured if I messed it up, it's no great loss. The first step was to soak the yarn in a vinegar bath to allow the wool to accept the dye more readily. (See photo on left.)

Next, I mixed up some vermillion and some pink dye, then soaked sections of the wool in each container for several minutes, moving the yarn so the dye would color different sections with more or less intensity.


The result is show above, with the original yarn show in the cone, and the newly dyed yarn in balls with a small sample of the yarn knitted up. Stay tuned to see more fabulous yarn coming soon!

My New Craft

I've been wanting to do this for a while, and happily, now is the time. This is an excellent book for learning how to dye wool, with lots of beautiful pictures, and easy to understand directions. The author, Gail Callahan, shows you how to set up your studio, what tools you will need, and step by step instructions for dyeing using several methods, and gives you some projects to do as well, if you are so inclined. I'm having a blast! The book is Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece, by Gail Callahan, published by Storey Publishing, 2010. The gorgeous photos are by John Polak.