You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘dyeing’ tag.
So I recently did some dyeing. With Kool Aid. Cause I had some yarn from some sweaters I frogged but I didn’t like the colors. First this, which was originally pastel pink (yuck):
This is a wool-acrylic blend (50/50 I think) from a cardigan I frogged. I’m still not thrilled with the color, but I figure with the high acrylic content, this is as good as it gets. And anyway, the dye took much better than I thought it would. I used… several packets of grape, I think.
I have a sweater quantity here (as it came from a sweater), but I think I’ll use about half of it in a striped pullover with some grey woool. It’ll tone down the pink, and I have a random craving to knit/have a striped pullover.
Next, there was this ugly yellow color that came from a zipper hoodie:
Again, a sweater quantity. Probably a light sport weight. This is 100% merino wool, so it took dye much better:
I wasted a bunch of blue Kool Aid before I figured out it wasn’t going to take up more dye without heat and then I got the hang of it. I dyed the base red and did some grape variation. Not sure what this will become (probably a sweater). I’ll let it marinate in the stash. I’m not complaining–the sweater was probably under two dollars (the thrift store where I bought is 1.59/pound for clothes) and the Kool-aid was probably about two bucks. making the total cost of a sweater quantity of yarn in a color I like about four dollars. Win.
I finished another spinning project today:
The color is a bit darker than it appears on my (admittedly light) moniter. Sort of a brick red, which is why this colorway is called “In the Clay Pits”. I dyed an ounce of roving with one packet of black cherry and one packet of grape kool aide. I was hoping for a darker, purply color, but I shall have to try that again later with some grape.
I was going to do a two-ply, but the single came out so balanced I just left it as such. I’d say it’s about a fingering/light sport weight with some minor variation. I’m still working on keeping my tension even, but this is certainly a marked improvement. I’m quite happy with it. 🙂 It’s still a little rope-like (I definitely have a problem with over-spinning), but the texture is rather nice nonetheless.
I’m not sure how much I have here though. It’s an ounce, so I would guess there’s around a hundred yards, though I could be mistaken. I think this might make a nice lace cowl though.
In other craft news: I am planning for the Beatles swap and have done most of the inchie backgrounds. I also signed up for another round of Post Secret, so I have to make those secrets. The shorts from last post are almost done, and the scarf I mentioned will just have to wait. Stay tuned!
For my latest spinning adventure, I intended to spin enough to actually make something with. Here’s what I came up with:
I estimated the yardage at about 80 at a worsted weight, so enough to make something small, like a hat or a cowl. I say it’s perfect for winter: something to keep me warm while adding a bright splash of color to my usually dark winter wardrobe. Which is why I called the yarn/color “A Splash of Citrus”.
I spun the singles, then dyed them, and then plied them. I probably should have dyed the roving as I ended up with a bunch of the yellow left over, but I may use that to practice chain plying. I won’t be able to make anything out of it, which is unfortunate, but maybe I can over-dye it and add it to some other yarn.
The pictures came out lovely, don’t you think? Perfect for summer.
Here’s a bunch of non-knitting things I’ve been working on lately:
I made a couple of notecards (the first one of which I sent off to the boyfriend) out of stuff around the house. I love cardmaking but sadly have few occasions to use them. At least I’ll have lots of lovely ones for including in swaps.
A little notebook out of a pad of post its and some cardboard. If anyone’s interested in a tutorial for this, let me know! It was pretty simple but I know I would have appreciated a tut for notebook making that didn’t require sewing or making signatures.
I made yarn! It’s about 30 yards, according to my rudimentary measuring system (find book about a foot tall, wind yarn around book, count strands on one side, multiply by two, divide by three). Two ply, pretty thick and thin but loads better than my previous attempts. It goes between a fingering weight to a bulky weight, though it mostly sticks to worsted-ish. I think I’m going to try to make a calorimetry or some sort of headband/earwarmer type thing.
I made more yarn! I dyed this with kool-aid as roving, then spun it as a fingering weight-ish single. It’s overspun, but that’ll get better the more I practice.
I’ve found I really enjoy spinning, so I will definitely be doing more of it. Now I just need to find a good place (probably online) to get roving, preferably already dyed and for a reasonable (read: cheap) price. Or maybe I’ll just dye it myself. Knit Picks has some nice dyes available…
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 