More from the Cauldron!

I had a great weekend this weekend working with the cauldron and dyeing up lots of lovely yarn including some super-soft MCN (merino/cashmere/nylon) that I kettle dyed.

I also dyed up some sparkly 'Twinkle' yarn (the rose/green/yellow and the lilac/green/yellow) Although it is hard to see on this photo, the yarn has little strands of silver running through it - very pretty!

Finally, I inadvertently bought some sport yarn rather than fingering and so I will be knitting this up myself; toe-up I think, so that I can get the most of the yardage. The blue/brown cream and the rose/brown cream is that yarn. Completed socks will be posted here :o)

The yarn is for sale in my Etsy Shop - so pop over and take a look!

Fresh out of the Dyepot!

Well, I had a fantastic weekend playing with the cauldron and this is what emerged! I wanted to try out dyeing sock blanks as the transitional changes of color can be quite spectacular. I made up the blanks on my Bond knitting machine using two threads so that the socks would be pretty much the same when knitted up. This design is based upon a landscape - blue sky, green grass, brown ground. It sounds uninspiring, but I am sure it will look great when knitted up - these will be for hubby xxx


The next blank is a rainbow - Dad wanted rainbow socks . . . . really! I actually did two rainbow blanks - one with horizontal stripes and the other with diagonal stripes. The diagonal striping will have more gradianting (it is a verb you know!!!) color stripes, it will be fun to see the difference!

At the end of my dying session I usually have some dye leftover - I also already have some made up solutions, so without further ado a splashed it all over a final blank . . . . it will henceforth be known as 'Fugly' - but I bet it turns out the best there is!


And finally -I dyed up some self striping yarn. This is my first attempt and involved a 32 foot circumference . . . . I won't be doing that again in a hurry! I had some spare yarn left and have a 'test skein' to knit up - photos to be posted soon!

First Finished Project 2011

Last night I completed my first pair of socks for 2011. They are Coral Hederas and knit from Cookie A's Hedera pattern using Patons Kroy yarn hand dyed by myself. I'm very pleased with these and will probably test drive them today!

I did not keep a record of how many socks that I knit in previous years, so I am ready to start here! I would hope to knit at least one pair per month as a minimum but will aim for two pairs. I shall update the bar on the right with my 'finished' so watch this space :o)

Out of the Dye Pot!

OK, so I officially have the dyeing bug! After playing around with Kool Aid, I thought that I'd play around with some more dyes - in this case, Wilton's. I'm really pleased with the way that these have come out and wanted to share them! i used the microwave to 'cure' these yarns. The first is a Knit Picks Merino Bare and violet dye. I love the way that the dye 'broke' and the component colors, the pinks and blues, look lovely.


I am totally in love with this colorway, and will be replicating it in the future under the name of 'Kingfisher'. it consists of a number of blues/teals and copper for that contrast. Love it, love it, love it!



This is from a kit that I bought about a year ago from Gina Brown's in Calgary. The kit is by Louet and consisted of three 50gm skeins. Hubby loves the color way, so it looks as though there will be a pair here for him!


And finally, this is an experiment that went (a little!!) wrong, but I rather like the result! The plan was to have light green, yellow and lilac stripes. The green turned brown (it looks khaki in this picture, but is truly a lovely warm brown), but still looks pretty good! To me it seems as though the dyes know what they want to be and do rather than wanting me to impose my designs on them. . . . more practice required before I become the 'yarn listener'.


My next step will be to make a color wheel comprising of 12 colors. I've got one last ball of Patons left, so will probably use that to make mini skeins to practice with! Once I've done that, I think I will be making up yarn for my Etsy Shop. Woo hoo!

For the Love of Dyeing . . .

To me, yarn is manna from heaven. I love the touch, the smell but most of all . . . . the color. I'm like a magpie when it comes to collecting the colors - I'm particularly fond of a green/yellow/lilac combination, and have one or two skeins in my stash that meet that criteria. I also see combinations day-to-day; you know the type, a beautiful sunrise, waves and sand on a beach, a wildflower blooming in a grassy field and those are just the obvious ones! So, I thought it would be fun to try out some yarn dyeing - and oh boy, I'm hooked! My first two experiments involved the use of Kool Aid. There have been many tutorials written on the subject, so I'm just going to give you the links! This Knitty article was very useful, as is this article from KnittyOtter.

So, after a trip to the supermarket, I was armed with some Kool Aid in Cherry, Orange and Lemon/Lime. I had some Patons Kroys sock yarn in Ecru sitting by, waiting for an opportunity to show how lovely it could be! I re-skeined the yarn and then soaked it in mild soapy water for 30 mins, meanwhile I dissolved one sachet of Kool Aid in two cups of water - three bowls, one color in each. After squeezing out the yarn and rolling it in a towel to dry a little more, I dipped a third of the yarn in each of the bowls, being careful not to mix the colors. I left a bare patch between each of the color joins and carefully squeezed the dye to fill the gaps. The yarn was then coiled into one of the baskets of my steamer, and left to steam for 30 minutes.

Once cooled, it was given a good rinse and left to dye. A quick twist . . . and it looked like this!Pretty cool huh? I need to re-skein it, but I proudly present to you, Neon Punch (1201).

I loved the effect the cherry had, so I mixed a second packet with the dissolved dye and dropped two more prepared skeins in to get Cherry Love (1202).

It must be love, love, love . . . .