Wayward Knitting

Curl Up and Dye

My camera was on hiatus...and umm, I decided not to blog without photos.  Lazy, eh?

So finally the saga of learning how to dye yarn.  I started with great yarn, a soft superwash Kona in dk weight.  I bought ummm 40 packs of Kool Aid and got this:

and I had fun with it.  May overdye it to get more color saturation.

Then I got brave and found some Wilton's cake icing gel dye to get the blues and greens that my swap pal wanted.  It was fun and super and labor intensive.  I did not have those nice giant mason jars that everyone had so I used my ghetto version--the Ziplock bag!

It came out nice, and I was scared to go too dark as I read there could be weird dye separation.  I hung it up to dry.

Then it was the neverending re-winding of the yarn to get the pretty skein.

Voila!

and then was the fun part of wrapping it up and including some extras like a Japanese themed fabric fat quarter for my swap pal.  She's a quilter apparently.  Also, some sparkly pink lip gloss for her daughter.

And finally, the dyed yarn I received from my dye pal Lynette:

Sweet!

My package made it to my dye pal and she snapped a pic!

We like the yarn...

the yarn that arrives in the mail!  Camera not cooperating but my soft Opal handpainted yarn has arrived from my secret dye pal Lynette.  The yarn is oh-so-soft and I think I even have needles the right size to knit it up! It was pretty thrilling and I can't wait to hear from the recipient of the yarn I sent out too!

Wilton's

In typical fashion, I never found any Wilton's until just last week and so I did procure a four pack of the gel icing dye that included blue.  Thank goodness!  It would have been tough to do blues and greens for my dye pal with the *cough* 40 *mumble* packs of red, orange or pink KoolAid I had.

I did successfully overdye my failed yellow segment with the strawberry lemonade to render it pink.  I'm so grateful that I bought the Kona Superwash DK merino to dye because I've been reading in blogland how skinny the sockweight is. 

Today is knit in public day, and I happen to be sick.  Sadly, I will keep my germy self home and do other things, like finally figure out my new camera.  Can we say Canon EOS Rebel SLR? Woo!  Thank goodness for the alpha geek at my office who buys the latest and greatest and the rest of us sluggards can pick up his old stuff for a bargain.

Wish me luck that I can dye my blue and green hank and dry it and re-skein it (oy!) and mail it out by Monday!!!

KoolAid

Safeway was having a sale!  It was like 8 packs for 2 bucks and so I bought...umm 32 packs.  The cashier did look at me kind of funny. 

Unfortunately, while I was at Safeway, I picked up a pyrex casserole dish that I thought I could lay the yarn and thought, "gee, this dish is smaller than the one I have at home." So I did not buy it.  Of course, when I got home, I could not find my larger pyrex anywhere.  Figures.

So, for my first attempt at dyeing with KoolAid, I used Ziplock bags.  They worked well except that the yarn stacks on top of each other, the SuperWash yarn just sucks up the color lickety splity so it's a bit light where the folds of the yarn were.

The results?  Well.  They were interesting.  The yellow (despite have used 4 packs of lemonade) did not take much.  The strawberry and tropical punch (using only 2 packs) were vivid and wonderful and I just fell in love with the orange.  However, the yarn soaked the orange in sections like I had hand painted it when I only just poured the cup of KoolAid into the bag.  Safeway did not have pink lemonade and I wasn't sure if the Crystal Lite would work so I need to hit another store.  Safeway also did not have any blue and I was hoping to make a colorway with blue (but not purple) for my swap pal.  So, this first practice skein is for me and I will be hitting every Safeway in a 10 mile radius between the office and home to get some of that blue KoolAid!!!

Dye Me Up!

The Kona Superwash yarn arrived last week.  My assigned pal has been dyeing up a storm on her blog and so I am feeling the pressure.  Yikes!  She is using a ton of Kool Aid to dye things and so I feel like I should step it up a notch.  There should be about 1100 yards of the yarn so I am going to divide it up in 3 batches for the dyeing.  The plan?  Well, the first batch I am just going to do one color of Kool Aid but in 3 different strengths to see what effect I can get.  Oy, the pressure of a deadline!!! 

DYE ME UP! Meme

Your favorite colors?  I LIKE RED, DEEP DARK RED.  I LIKE ORANGE AND YELLOW TOO.

Preferred yarn weight (Fingering, Sport, DK, maybe even Worsted)?  FOR CLOTHING (SWEATERS, HATS,SCARVES) I LIKE WORSTED TO CHUNKY, BUT FOR SOCKS, I AM THINKING FINGERING TO SPORT IS BEST.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? I LIKE MOSTLY ONE COLOR, WITH A BIT OF VARYING SHADES OF THE SAME TONE, LIKE HEATHERING OR GRADING LIKE DEEP BLUE TO LIGHT BLUE.

If your buddy is able to do so, would you like a variegated,
self-striping, or self-patterning yarn? STRIPING IS COOL, AND SO IS ANYTHING ELSE THAT MY DYE BUDDY COOKS UP!

Would you be interested in a wool blend sock yarn (nylon, tencel, silk,
acrylic, alpaca, etc.)?  LOVE TENCEL BLENDS, ANYTHING WITH A LITTLE STRETCH IS FINE, LIKE COTTON WITH NYLON, OR WOOL.  MACHINE WASHABLE WOULD BE JUST AWESOME.

Imagine the perfect colorway. What would you name it?  HRM, HARD TO SAY.  HAVE BABY BOOKS ON THE BRAIN, SO PROBABLY - THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR OR GOODNIGHT MOON.

What was the biggest appeal to you for joining this dye-along?  I WAS ALWAYS CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT COLORWAYS I COULD CREATE BUT DISMISSED IT AS TOO MUCH MESS AND PREPARATION.  THEN THIS SWAP CAME AROUND AND I REALIZED THAT IF I DIDN'T JOIN, I WOULD NEVER TRY IT!

Have you dyed yarn/fiber before?  NO

Do you spin? NO

Have you knit socks before?  UMM, ONE...BUT THE FIRST OF MANY TO COME HOPEFULLY.

Do you use sock yarn for just socks or in other patterns too?  I MAY TRY A BIT OF LACE WITH THE SOCK YARN FOR A SCARF OR SHAWL.

What are some of your favorite yarns? I LOVE MY STASH.  I HAVE SOME ROWAN WOOL COTTON THAT I CAN'T WAIT TO USE AND SOME NORO LILY.

What yarn do you totally covet? SOCKS THAT ROCK RUBY MERINO/TENCEL SEDUCTION

Favorite patterns? DEBBIE BLISS for kids, and I am partial to things knit in the round.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?  Maybe one of the coats from Debbie Bliss Book 6, or something from Naturally Noro Jane Ellison.  I have a cardigan/coat obsession that I don't quite understand since it's usually nice weather out here in California.  Maybe one of those ridiculously expensive Colinette AbFab afghans.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?  Circs!  I use INOX (PRYM) or Addis.

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would
you be?  Something machine washable and practical, but with a little bit of color and fluffiness, like Knitpicks Crayon, but stretchier. 

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? I like tea in foil packs :)  I'm a crazy tea drinker, like 10 cups a day.

What’s your favorite animal? my dog Buddy.

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages?  Buddy is maybe 5 or 6 (not sure, the rescue didn't know) and he is half lab, half german shepherd.

If you were a color what color would you be?  sunshine yellow.

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s).. something that doesn't wrinkle, but still breathes.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?  I am partial to water, ocean vistas.

Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read.  Anything from Princess Bride.  "Stop it, I mean it!"  "Anybody want a peanut?"