Dyeing (as in making things other colours!) is FUN!!

I am so enjoying playing with these fabric dyes I've got that I thought I'd get creative and dye some bought yarn that I wasn't keen on the colour of. Dyeing in the microwave is much tidier than any other technique I've tried!

90% Wool, 10% Silk

This yarn feels beautiful but I find the beige SOOoo boring! I wanted to liven it up so I used a combination of Cerise (red) and Old Gold (yellow) and I mixed a blend of the two for a rich orange. I am so happy with the result I can't even begin to tell you!

After the dyeing process, just off the niddy-noddy.

All balled up...and so pretty!!

Closer view of the many gradients and variants of colour. Yummy!

This is so much better than the dull beige. Now it really stands out, so warm and lovely, almost flame-like colours! Now I'm racking my brains to think of something knit-worthy to knit in it. Definitely a shawl of some kind, with lace I think. No?

I've really enjoyed dyeing but I think I'll give it a rest for a little while. Second of which, I'm almost out of dye. Might have to get more. We'll see.

Happy Knitting!

Spinning, spinning...

I have been having a lovely time with my new Traveller Spinning Wheel!
Have spun up some experiments, all navajo plied (I haven't really had the patience to wait long enough to spin up two bobbins).

These two were the very first I spun. The blue had been a single on one of the bobbins that came with the Wheel and the red is some roving I bought when a local craft store closed down. The red is a lot softer than the blue.

Next I started to make my way through the bag of fleece I got with the Wheel. It is pretty dirty but still so soft! It's been quite a long time since I've had to card my own wool since I've spun mostly from rovings of late. I'd forgotten how unpleasant it can be! Bits of skin off my knuckles from the flick brush and sore hands and wrists! But in the end, all worth it. I'd washed the fleece bits before spinning but they were still a bit tacky so after I'd spun it up I sprayed it with stain remover that specialises with removing grease and then put it in a warm bath. So much dirt came out of that last wash! Now it's lovely ans, not tacky at all and lovely light cream colour!

I'm very pleased with these three experiments and I'm washing more fleece bit by bit so I can keep carding and have lots of fluffy wool to spin when I have a chance. I'm thinking of maybe knitting with the three and making a felted pouch or bag-thing with them. The blue really isn't wearable and neither is the red, really and there's not enough of any of them to make something substantial.
Oh well, so much fun. I'll just keep knitting the socks, the shawl and whatever else I've got on the go at the moment and quietly make my leisurely way through the whole garbage bag of fleece, confident that there is no real hurry.
Happy Knitting :)