Thursday, February 28, 2013

Yarn To Dye For

That's a pun that's been used countless times. Don't think I'm original or clever when you read it, because I definitely got it from somewhere else. I just can't remember where. I think it might be the name of an Etsy shop.

But it is relevant in this occasion, because I recently dyed some yarn that is absolutely heavenly.
These are the 6 miniskeins that I just dyed about half an hour ago. I was so excited about them that I couldn't wait for them to dry before taking pictures. It was definitely the best dyeing experience I've had. Unfortunately, these miniskeins are not for my use but for someone else's... more on that in a later post. 

I'm happier with the way this rainbow of minis turned out than with my previous batch, because the colors are so much brighter and more vibrant. Instead of painting this batch, I put water, vinegar, and one miniskein in a 2 cup measuring cup, then put several drops of food coloring in. I put a sheet of plastic wrap over the measuring cup and put it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, until the water was clear. 

Most of them are almost completely solid, but the green as you can see is a little more variegated (the blue looks variegated but that's just the light). For that one, I experimented by just dropping in some blue, some green, and some yellow, and not mixing the colors up at all. For the most part, it just turned green, but there are lots of different shades of green, and a couple fragments of yellow and blue. 

While we're on the topic of green, I'll show you the other yarn I dyed recently:
This is actually the yarn I spun out of the Persephone roving I dyed back in December. Once I spun it up, I wasn't very happy with the lack of color in the yarn, so I decided to overdye it. I painted this one, and the colors are clearly much less vibrant than the miniskeins above. But I still love it, and am so much happier than with the yarn before I re-dyed it. I'm going to have to knit something springy out of this, a beret or a pair of fingerless gloves. 



2 comments:

  1. I love those fabulous bright colours!

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  2. This makes me want to do some more dyeing. Isn't it so much fun playing with the colors? I hope you get to do some more for yourself soon.

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Thanks for commenting! xoxo