Ok, lots of pictures. This weekend, Cookie, Margit and I dyed fiber/yarn with Wilton's dyes. We had a great time ... The day in pictures:
Our fiber/yarn pre-soaking in the sink:
I'm going to start with Cookie. Cookie, being a non-spinner, was dyeing her laceweight yarn from the Yarn Place in Sunnyvale. Here it is with the dye on, pre-steaming:
Do you see what she's doing there? She's knitting a WHITE sock next to her wet-with-dye yarn. She's very brave, that Cookie. Oh, and a shot of the sock-in-progress:
And her yarn, post dyeing and drying:
Ok, next up: Margit. Margit had lots of fiber, so I'll give you just a sample. Plus, I'm sure she'll put pics on her own blog!
Some of Margit's fiber pre-steaming, but wrapped in plastic:
The same fiber rinsed and drying:
I had two batches of roving. One was superwash merino that Aija sent me. This one I choose to do in a teal/brown colorway -- can you tell Cookie and I like teal/brown? Thanks again for the roving Aija!
Pre-steaming:
The finished product, after drying:
This is me, hard at work, intent on fiber and dye:
My second roving was about 6 oz. of merino (not superwash). I'm just going to skip right to the money shot on this one:
This was "burgundy", "olive green", and "brown" Wilton's. We've learned a bit about these dyes but not that much, because they acted differently on the different fibers we used.
Oh, and you know, sometimes you need to take a break from the hard work of dyeing:
Mmmm ... mojitos with fresh-picked mint and limes.
And finally, a shot of all of our fiber/yarn after drying:
Woot! I think all 3 of us were pleased with the final products, though Cookie wishes hers wasn't quite so bright. I want to start spinning the superwash right away, but I think I'll keep working on the Sheep 2 Shoe kit!
Great dye party! And I do believe that mojitos ALWAYS make everything better. ;)
=:8
What an intense dyeing day it must've been! The colors look great. I expect this will be followed by many days intense spinning. Yay fiber!!!
Posted by: pauline at October 23, 2006 12:06 AMAll of the yarn/fibre looks great. I have to admit I did a double take when I saw the white sock being knitted! Nerves of steel...
Posted by: Ruth at October 23, 2006 1:51 AMWow, a dye party sounds like so much fun! Would have loved to have been there! :)
Posted by: Veronika at October 23, 2006 6:01 AMLove the pics! Pretty dye work, and the work area you set up sure looks comfy. Ah, now to wait for the spinning pics!
Awesome! That looks a lot like the dye parties I host--so messy but fun! And now I'm beginning to understand why your blog is called "knitters anonymous". harhar!
Posted by: Laura at October 23, 2006 7:35 AMWow! A dye fest! I'm waiting as we speak, for my 1st skein to dye! This gave me some "juice" to go on. Don't know if it'll be post worthy like yours though. Ohhhh Cookie! The white sock...and dyeing? You live dangerously....I think that's THE best sock I have ever seen! i mean, if I lived up north, I'd wear those to my wedding!
Posted by: Carol at October 23, 2006 8:04 AMI love the teal and brown too!! They were having a dye party at my LYS this past weekend, now I feel left out. lol
Posted by: shadkitty at October 23, 2006 8:55 AMIsn't dyeing fun! I have only done it once so far with yarn but I really enjoyed it. Did you have any trouble with the fiber felting? I love the burgundy/green/brown one!
Posted by: Karen at October 23, 2006 9:16 AMThey are all so delicious! My fav. though has to be that olive, brown and burgundy roving! I can't wait to see the yarn you spin up with that!
Posted by: [no author] at October 23, 2006 10:52 AMI can't wait to see how that merino spins up, the colours are fantastic!
Posted by: Sarah at October 23, 2006 11:09 AMLooks like a wonderful time had by all, which some excited fiber colors to boot. Amazed at Cookie's daring with the light yarn by all that dye - the sock looks great though eh?
Posted by: Schrodinger at October 23, 2006 12:48 PMThe vortices pic is so great. I need to get the kid down for a nap so I can dye some roving today... :)
Posted by: Aija at October 23, 2006 3:43 PMWow, I really wish I had room for dyeing and spinning and stuff... I'd like to learn both! Those are some lovely colors y'all got, and Cookie's sock really is amazing! And wow, knitting that white sock by all those dyes is really more than I could have done... but Cookie probably isn't a klutz like I am, so I am sure the socks were safe.
Posted by: Crystal at October 23, 2006 4:07 PMLovely stuff! I know what you mean about fibers. Mohair is extremely unpredictable, at least in my dyeing. Merino is far easier to work with!
Posted by: Jo at October 23, 2006 8:59 PMAh, so that's "the roving" you were all going to look at. Lovely! I really like that bottom picture. :)
Posted by: Abigail at October 23, 2006 9:27 PMAbsolutely beautiful. This post totally inspires me to try my hand at dying! (Yarn that is!)
Posted by: AJ at October 24, 2006 7:28 AMWauw, seems like you had a great time!
Can you please ask Cookie for the pattern of that sock? I'm totally in love with it and want to knit it myself!!!!
Can't wait to see the spinning of that yarn!
Love!
Posted by: Emily at October 24, 2006 8:37 AMWauw, seems like you had a great time!
Can you please ask Cookie for the pattern of that sock? I'm totally in love with it and want to knit it myself!!!!
Can't wait to see the spinning of that yarn!
Love!
Posted by: Emily at October 24, 2006 8:37 AMI dyed with some red Wiltons and it came out brighter than I expected - the teal is great though - for lace at least it will have some "air" space inbetween and won't be a huge solid mass.....I don't think I would knit a white sock at all - let alone next to fresh dyed yarn!!! So brave! (and the sock is stunning!)
Posted by: stacey at October 24, 2006 8:40 AMOh, holy smokes! Look at that sock! Those colors! And my personal favorite, the mojitos! You are truly some lucky duckies. Where are all my yarn-dyeing, rum-drinking friends? Thanks for the vicarious thrills!
Posted by: JulieFrick at October 24, 2006 11:11 AMOMG! Pure heaven-mojitos and dying! The mojitos on top of the dying make Cookie extra-brave!
Posted by: [no author] at October 24, 2006 1:58 PMWow! All that fiber is beautiful! Great color choices!
Posted by: jessica~ at October 25, 2006 8:36 AM