From this picture you can see that I am pursuing this more as an art and not as science – they didn’t all get exactly one cup of boiling water.The colors I purchased (and not in the order seen above) are: Buttercup, Cornflower, Cherry, Deep Purple, China Jade, Chestnut, Cranberry, Evergreen, and Raspberry. (Agent J got a bit excited and worked up when she saw her name on a jar!! You would have thought she was on TV or something!)
I really want to dye sock yarn that does not pool and I did an internet search to see if I could find out what techniques work best for non-pooling yarn. I’m sure there must be a great site out there that gives this info, but I could not find it and at some point you have to stop reading the internet and actually DO something, right??? So I know that it has to do with the lengths of the color repeats. I think probably the shorter the better. And I thought randomness would be good (and no, I did not officially generate any random numbers though I think that would be really cool!). I thought maybe if I fluffed out the yarn a bit and did a mosaic-y type of handpainting thing that would be fun. So here is what Skein 1 looked like when I was done handpainting (I used foam brushes, btw):
I placed the undyed yarn on top of some plastic wrap prior to handpainting so that when I’m done I can just wrap it up and stick it in the steamer. Here is my steamer set up (outdoors) and what the yarn looks like in the steamer:
Here are the colorways with some info on each one:
Skein 1 (Knitcole, can you think up some color names for me??)
For this skein I used the colors Chestnut, Raspberry, Cherry, and Cranberry. I was going for a brown and pink theme. I ordered Chestnut as brown from Prochem because online it looked like a nice deep brown. In actuality it is more of a purple and when you paint it on to the yarn the purple dye in it wicks up through the fibers quicker. In this case the purples actually look ok with the other colors, but it was not the look I was trying to achieve. I also discovered that I don’t think the mosaic-y painting is the way to go. I’m not sure it is going to prevent pooling and I think that the socks knit from this yarn are going to turn out to look very different from each other! Well it will be “a look” I guess.
Skein 2:
For this skein, I did some color mixing. I added some Buttercup to the Chestnut to make it more brown and I added some Cornflower to the Jade to make it more Turquoise, and then I also used Cranberry. Now the girls all like skein 1 better, but I think I like skein 2 better. It is very trendy, for example, when I was looking through my Memory Makers scrapbook magazine – these colors are very hot in some of the layouts.
Can you get an idea from that photo? (I think it is ok to put that here copyright-wise as the photo is so small and there is a glare so as you can’t read the words, but I want you to get an idea of the colors used in the layouts.) The layouts all have turquoise, cranberry, and brown.
So let me know which colors you like better. I still haven’t dyed with all the colors that I have mixed yet. I just ordered some undyed roving and I have a lot already so I have to pick some colors for spinning. Do you think the second colorway would make a good sweater? What if I leave some more white space in it? Should I try ordering a different brown or do I have the right colors to mix my own? Hummm….
This post is getting to be rather long. I think I have to work on my conciseness. I haven’t even started to talk about my quest for the perfect yarn for the Simple Knitted Bodice. I guess that will have to wait for tomorrow! (And I’m also awaiting the arrival of fiber for my fiber swap partner!!!) (And I haven’t even told you about the Fiber Frenzy yet!)
Just to let you all know (and if you have reached the end of this and you are still reading I should probably bake you some brownies or something!), so far everything is going well with school – for the most part the girls really like their teachers and they are settling in nicely. We just have to work on getting the bus to get them to school on time! That would be just sooo nice! Have a great day!
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I am very impressed with this entry! If I only had a clue about what you were talking about (crazy me I know, but i am not into this hobby – yet)… but I liked the scrapbooking mag picture and the tie in – cool! And love the colors you made. Once again I am so impressed with all you knitters and dyers out there. Seems like an awesome hobby… almost as good as SCRAPBOOKING!!!!
PS – love the new avatar outfit
Ah! Love the hedgie at the bottom!
Okay, what I had intended to say before I scrolled all the way down and saw Sir Tristan, is that I like the second colorway but would not personally wear a sweater made with it. It’s too busy for me. (Of course, I might change my mind when I see it knit up.) Adding more sections of just white might help, or maybe making the sections bigger. I’ve never dyed, though, so I might be way off.
And I like the brown you’ve mixed yourself. From what I can see, it has a nice warm feel to it.
Oh I like them both but skein 2 is my favorite!
What yarn is this?
Well, Ms. Spincerely, I’ll try to answer one of your questions. It has to do with, “Do I know where to find undyed, merino Koigu-type yarn?”. Why yes, I do! It’s none other than you!
Deciphering commercial yarn is an excellent way to up your spinning skills. First, have some merino top or scoured, merino fleece on hand of a similar quality to Koigu. Next, find out how many plies are in the yarn. Split off a long length to see what the singles look like. If you pull off some and check the average staple length, you may be shocked by how short it may be. Your staple length can be longer if it’s unbelievably short. Now, spin some of the merino top to match the amount of fibers that are in the singles. Test the twist on the live-twist singles, right at the wheel, by doing plybacks of the same # of plies as the Koigu. Now, does it look like Koigu? If so, spin enough up to swatch it. If not, keep trying. See, you don’t have to search all over hell and back for undyed Koigu. YOU can make it! You’re a SPINNER! Yeah!!
I like both the wools you dyed, but I think I prefer no2. Glad every one is settling back into school, it took about a week for the bus to get mine to school on time.
[...] Appearently, while we were out, Spincerely was sitting in her office, typing away another brilliant blog entry when who comes walking up our driveway but a black bear. He calmly walks up the driveway, stands next to the garbarge can and knocks it over. With a deft swing of his paw, the top swings open revealing his dinner. He took the bag that I had so kindly brought out for him and walked up the path into the woods that is next to the driveway. A little ways in he stopped and had a picnic. [...]
Oh my goodness so much to say and to so many people!
Spincerely 1-Both are beautiful, but I like skein 2 better – I think it is that white – it adds sparkle!
2-even my Avatar is starting to look like yours. It wasn’t until I saw your very open minded soon to be fiber artist Ms. Scrapbooker herself comment about your avatar did I go up and look. I thought it was funny that right before I checked your blog I picked out a new outfit and background for me.
Spider – Even when you are home sick you are giving amazing advice! I was on the edge of my seat to hear what you had to say!
Nicole – I didn’t get sir tristan until just now – been seeing him but didn’t realize I could move him – How cool.
IHA – I heard about this bear – I heard that it might have taken a snooze in the woods near your house as well!
I hope you all had an amazing day!
It is so interesting to see which skein everyone likes! I have already wound skein 2 into a ball and have started a pair of socks. It was hard to stop knitting them to type! I think I’m going to have to dye some rovings with these colors but maybe keep a bit more white space. Thank you Jenny-spider for the yarn advice. You make it sound so easy, but you know, now that you have a blog and are part of the online internet knitting/spinning community we know where you “live” and just be certain we will be knocking on your door when we run into trouble! You know it was funny when I posted this entry – I photographed my skeins in front of my goldenrod by my house and when I looked at the photos on the blog, I thought, Jenny is going to write a comment to me about how the skeins are ok, but the goldenrod behind the yarn would make an excellent natural dye! That particular variety of goldenrod is really cool though it flowers in a way that looks like fireworks!
LFG, Did you notice though, that I dressed my avatar to match skein 2? Pretty cool? And why would you be surprised that our avatars look alike? Shouldn’t they look like sisters? Shouldn’t it happen to them like it happens to us – that if they walk into a room everyone will say “you MUST be sisters!”
LFG, Well I had to zip over and check out your avatar too and you’re right – you two do look like sisters!
And to let you know just how good your sister is, the other day I was thinking that Ethan will need a new hat and I wondered if I should go out and buy some stuff and make one! Additionally I figured with winter coming those warm cozy socks that Spinny keeps making look to be just the thing. I found myself reflecting on “starting with socks”. Yipe! The things Spincerely gets me into!!!
PS – I think you should continue to be one with your wild and crazy multiple punctuation side. Let it all hang out as they say!!!!!!!
[...] The same merino/tencil blend in my Enchanted colorway that I seem to really like: [...]