Whoa-oa, I just dyed in your yarn tonight...

Yes, I finally got around to dyeing all my blanks! Lack of blogging last week was due to lack of being on the computer at all, and a few things suffered (like Etsy updates -- more on that in a bit). Friday was the one day I really had available to sit on the computer and get caught up, which would have meant delaying the dyeing for the eleventyith time. And I really, really was jonesing to dye some yarn. So, I did. This means that I have upwards of 300 unread emails in my inbox (!!!), but also that I now have this:




You would never know that Van Gogh's Starry Night was not my inspiration, would you?


Starry Night: Above colorway rinsed and dried. Not sure if this will end up being a Clapotis (the original intention when I was dyeing) or socks. Base yarn is...okay, I just spent a half hour going through my old blog posts to find out, and I have no idea. It's all stuff that was left over from the Great Stocking Fiasco of Aught Seven.


Heard It Through the Grapevine: This one's my favorite. It was dyed with leftovers and one bad mix from the other colorways, and I didn't think I would like it, but I really, really love it. This will probably be my next pair of socks.


Purple Haze: I had LOTS of leftover purple, so I just dunked it at various intervals and this is what came out.


American Thistle: In our side yard, there is some beautiful thistle. It is greyish green and lavender and makes me think of England. I knew that one of the yarns I had available for dyeing was a greyish white (as opposed to the more tan "natural" white) and thought it would be perfect. Unfortunately, inexperience with protein dyes resulted in colors that were more yellow-green and fuschia. The colorway still reminds me of thistle, but the more garish large American thistle. It's pretty, but not what I was going for. This base yarn I know is Regia Silk.


Bruiser: An experiment in blues, going from black to light blue.


I don't know if you've noticed, but I have a bit of a stubborn streak, especially when it comes to starting projects. After I had decided that I was definitely for sure going to dye yarn on Friday, I realized that I had no vinegar in the house. With acid dyes (for dyeing protein fibers, like wool), you need both acid and heat to set the dye. Heat's pretty easy -- just steam it in the microwave. But most people use vinegar for the acid part. I also had no car, which would have made it more difficult (though not impossible) to go out and get vinegar. Another product that lots of people use for setting acid dyes is citric acid. You can get it in powder form from most places that sell they dye. I didn't have any of that, either. What I did have was lemon juice, which is what citric acid is extracted from. So I did a little research and came to the conclusion that lemon juice should work fine. Guess what? It did! And the yarn doesn't stink of vinegar! Woohoo!

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About Etsy: I've (literally) just launched a new project line...recycled jeans as purse/project bag.



Becky woke up in the middle of my writing of the item description, so at present it needs a little help. But I'm glad I finally got it up there! I'll have another one up tonight (along with edits to the description), and also have some of the necklaces in additional colors going up in the next couple of days. Another new product line will be coming later in the week. Want a hint? It's a home dec item that you've seen an example of if you've ever been to my house. There's one right over the TV.

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And finally, knitting: I've had the Lug-A-Chug test-knitted (I'll post formal thanks when I post the pattern -- I'm rushing now to get this finished up since Becky's up and being VERY patient with me) and am finishing up my test of the edited pattern. Need to take pics of the construction and then it will be available over in the Patterns section! I'm really excited about everything I have going on right now: Beachy Keen is done and just waiting to be written up and sized then tested; new socks are on the needles; I'm making progress on Becky's sweater...things are going really well with the knitting and I am pleased. And of course, now I have lots of new pretty yarn to play with, so it can only get better.

posted by Laura Y. @ 11:01 AM