I finished dying my dyeorama buddy's yarn, and finally have it skeined up and ready to go!
A few pics, and then I'll write about how... (for mine and my buddy's sake mainly, in case s/he wants to repeat it or wonders wtf I did :))
After drying. Colors are a bit darker than real life.
I dyed the yarn in long, self striping repeats-- 220" for each of the 3 colors (purple, light purple & pink.) I estimated the length by knitting up a swatch in the round (thanks to Eunny's tip)... 64 st CO on US 1's, and the stripes should be about 2/3-3/4" wide apiece. I wanted to make them wide enough so if my pal wants to go down a needle size, they'd still be discernable stripes-- and if s/he wanted to go up a size, well they're still stripes!
This is only about 1/2 of the skein :) Winding it into a manageable hank was almost murder! I also thought about buying a swift with every pass I made :)
All skeined up, communing with nature.
This yarn must like nature or something.
I used the Henry's Attic Kona Superwash fingering lightweight yarn, 4 oz/560 yd. You can see that the yarn "puffed" up after being dyed, rinsed (I washed it in kookaburra) and dried. It will knit up much more evenly now (esp. more than my initial gauge swatching of this yarn direct from the untreated hank), but I would *guess* that the gauge will stay the same, or be increased just a bit... I meant to swatch it up again, but forgot just until I was taking the pics, and there's no way I was unwinding this sucker again :)
Dying, I used easter egg dyes... after winding that 660" hank (!!!) and sectioning it (and letting it soak in warm water with a bit of vinegar), I made up the dye-- 2 tabs of purple and 1/2 tab of pink for the light purple stripe, 4 tabs of purple and 1/2 tab of pink for the purple stripe, and 2 tabs of pink for the last stripe, all dissolved in vinegar. I then added boiling water to the vinegar dye, and dyed each section. I used mason jars and a pyrex casserole dish; both worked okay. I then quick-rinsed the yarn with warm water, pressed it to remove excess water, and wrapped it in saran wrap. I tried keeping the sections together to avoid bleed, but the yarn pretty much took almost all of the dye for all sections and with my rinse, I didn't think it was anything to really worry about (it wasn't, no bleed in the steamer.) I set the saran wrapped yarn up in a steamer, and steamed it for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool down a bit, then washed it in a little kookaburra, rinsed a final time and pressed the water out as best I could. I was pleased to see no dye bleeding when I washed/rinsed the yarn, nor any discernable vinegar smell.
I let it hang to dry and then rewound it into the monster hank size... wrapped it around a large box top for a smaller skein size (that resulted more of a "bump" of yarn instead of a wound hank), and then celebrated by naming it! Half the fun of dying yarn is coming up with a colorway name, no?
Introducing the *bonanza jellybean* colorway!
...and the most accurate to color pic...
Hehe. Dorkamatic here.
I'll be sending off my pal's yarn with the bag I swapped for with trek... (I'm getting another for myself, after having one of those aha! moments when reading Bliss' blog about using Trek's bags-- they can be worn around the wrist when standing so you can stand and knit at the same time, the bag holding the yarn! Genius! Not that I go anywhere, stand to knit, much less leave the house... but hey! Stand and knit!!) ... along with a little yarn from the stash, a goody too particular to my buddy to name (on the off-off-OFF chance s/he reads here), some easter egg dye tabs, and some local (Chinatown) candies and treats...
Yay! :)
In other non-dyed-fingers news-- progress creeps along on "evening stockings for a young lady..."
I've finished the decreases and have about 20 rounds before starting the heels (I'll have to do some fidgeting to get the heels aligned on my circular needles, no worries though.) I overestimated the length of the leg on the pattern; on me it comes up about 3" shy of my knee bend, at the widest part of my calf. The decreases for this length are perfect, I can see the size shifting as my leg gets narrower towards the ankle. I also thought that the stockinette panel at the back of the leg looked inelegant but when tried on, it looks *much* better and makes sense, too. The double-stranded cast on called for in the pattern is essential, imo (even more so on the US 0's I'm using)... the cuff/cast on edge is not binding AT ALL, shocking for as high up on my leg (and how wide that leg is!).
Pic of the leg "on". I am still trying to wrap my mind around how to block the lace on the leg, still having a problem with the horizontal pull of the lace (need to block it open vertically; not as bad as when the leg was shorter though)... if a custom made (wire hanger!) leg-only blocker would be better than pinning it out. No se, but I'm pretty happy with the progress so far :)
...and I'm still taking guesses for my Kona Superwash fingering lightweight contest, still waiting for my Knit Picks order :)
A few pics, and then I'll write about how... (for mine and my buddy's sake mainly, in case s/he wants to repeat it or wonders wtf I did :))
After drying. Colors are a bit darker than real life.
I dyed the yarn in long, self striping repeats-- 220" for each of the 3 colors (purple, light purple & pink.) I estimated the length by knitting up a swatch in the round (thanks to Eunny's tip)... 64 st CO on US 1's, and the stripes should be about 2/3-3/4" wide apiece. I wanted to make them wide enough so if my pal wants to go down a needle size, they'd still be discernable stripes-- and if s/he wanted to go up a size, well they're still stripes!
This is only about 1/2 of the skein :) Winding it into a manageable hank was almost murder! I also thought about buying a swift with every pass I made :)
All skeined up, communing with nature.
This yarn must like nature or something.
I used the Henry's Attic Kona Superwash fingering lightweight yarn, 4 oz/560 yd. You can see that the yarn "puffed" up after being dyed, rinsed (I washed it in kookaburra) and dried. It will knit up much more evenly now (esp. more than my initial gauge swatching of this yarn direct from the untreated hank), but I would *guess* that the gauge will stay the same, or be increased just a bit... I meant to swatch it up again, but forgot just until I was taking the pics, and there's no way I was unwinding this sucker again :)
Dying, I used easter egg dyes... after winding that 660" hank (!!!) and sectioning it (and letting it soak in warm water with a bit of vinegar), I made up the dye-- 2 tabs of purple and 1/2 tab of pink for the light purple stripe, 4 tabs of purple and 1/2 tab of pink for the purple stripe, and 2 tabs of pink for the last stripe, all dissolved in vinegar. I then added boiling water to the vinegar dye, and dyed each section. I used mason jars and a pyrex casserole dish; both worked okay. I then quick-rinsed the yarn with warm water, pressed it to remove excess water, and wrapped it in saran wrap. I tried keeping the sections together to avoid bleed, but the yarn pretty much took almost all of the dye for all sections and with my rinse, I didn't think it was anything to really worry about (it wasn't, no bleed in the steamer.) I set the saran wrapped yarn up in a steamer, and steamed it for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool down a bit, then washed it in a little kookaburra, rinsed a final time and pressed the water out as best I could. I was pleased to see no dye bleeding when I washed/rinsed the yarn, nor any discernable vinegar smell.
I let it hang to dry and then rewound it into the monster hank size... wrapped it around a large box top for a smaller skein size (that resulted more of a "bump" of yarn instead of a wound hank), and then celebrated by naming it! Half the fun of dying yarn is coming up with a colorway name, no?
Introducing the *bonanza jellybean* colorway!
...and the most accurate to color pic...
Hehe. Dorkamatic here.
I'll be sending off my pal's yarn with the bag I swapped for with trek... (I'm getting another for myself, after having one of those aha! moments when reading Bliss' blog about using Trek's bags-- they can be worn around the wrist when standing so you can stand and knit at the same time, the bag holding the yarn! Genius! Not that I go anywhere, stand to knit, much less leave the house... but hey! Stand and knit!!) ... along with a little yarn from the stash, a goody too particular to my buddy to name (on the off-off-OFF chance s/he reads here), some easter egg dye tabs, and some local (Chinatown) candies and treats...
Yay! :)
In other non-dyed-fingers news-- progress creeps along on "evening stockings for a young lady..."
I've finished the decreases and have about 20 rounds before starting the heels (I'll have to do some fidgeting to get the heels aligned on my circular needles, no worries though.) I overestimated the length of the leg on the pattern; on me it comes up about 3" shy of my knee bend, at the widest part of my calf. The decreases for this length are perfect, I can see the size shifting as my leg gets narrower towards the ankle. I also thought that the stockinette panel at the back of the leg looked inelegant but when tried on, it looks *much* better and makes sense, too. The double-stranded cast on called for in the pattern is essential, imo (even more so on the US 0's I'm using)... the cuff/cast on edge is not binding AT ALL, shocking for as high up on my leg (and how wide that leg is!).
Pic of the leg "on". I am still trying to wrap my mind around how to block the lace on the leg, still having a problem with the horizontal pull of the lace (need to block it open vertically; not as bad as when the leg was shorter though)... if a custom made (wire hanger!) leg-only blocker would be better than pinning it out. No se, but I'm pretty happy with the progress so far :)
...and I'm still taking guesses for my Kona Superwash fingering lightweight contest, still waiting for my Knit Picks order :)
16 comments:
That yarn you dyed is beautiful - I'm sure your swap pal will be thrilled. I highly recommend getting a swift...I used a 40% off coupon at joanns.com to get mine and I love it. Your socks are looking great!
So are you saying none of us got it right? ;)
I love your yarn! Unfortunately since it is pink and purple I know it's not for me. :(
And the socks are gorgeous. Since I have two copies of that book (don't ask) I should try it too!
The dyes yarn is so pretty! That'll be one lucky recipent. :D And I'm just amazed at how quickly the knee socks are coming along. The colour is absolutely stunning and now I have the urge to knit knee socks as well, even though I know I'll never wear them. *lol*
Sabrina *grumbles about stupid Blogger, which won't let me log in*
I can't believe you got such great colors with Easter Egg dye. I knew I should have bought some! A swift is a must! No idea how I lived without one before.
Trek's bag is a great idea. I have a the port-a-pocket for socks and while good in theory, I think the simple bags Trek makes would work better. The port-a-pocket is too small and the elastic opening too grippy. I keep losing stitches and needles when I pull the sock out to work on.
The yarn looks great! Have you washed any of the easter egg dyed yarn yet? Do you have to add vinegar to the rinse when you wash easter egg yarn socks?
Good for you for making that monster hank and winding it around chairs! That looks like quite the project!!! The colors came out great though. Very pretty.
The red lace socks are also beautiful - maybe just block the leg lightly and not the rest?
Cool dye job, and love the fancy shmancy socks!
Nice dye job! I know what you mean about wanting a swift - I have been wanting to buy one for a long time now!
Lucky swap buddy - that yarn is stunning! But yeah - winding self-striping yarn is murder. And personally, a swift wasn't at all useful because of the long skein. It was niddy noddy all the way.
And your lace socks are lovely, too.
I'm sure your dyeorama buddy will love that yarn! It's gorgeous!
Lace socks looking great!
First, the yarn you dyed is gorgeous!
Second, I'm feeling really dense today. Must be the sudden heat. Would you mind explaining how you would the skein for dyeing? Thanks!
Your dyed yarn is great, love the name. And thanks for all the details, nice and helpful :-)
I like to stand and knit, sometimes. Our TV cabinet is waist high in front of a window, so sometimes I rest my knitting on the cabinet and knit while standing and staring out the window. The neighbours probably think I'm weird, but that's ok.
Your lace knee socks are beautiful. I think it would take me a year to make knee socks.
Your pal will be very happy with her yarn, I'm sure. It came out really nice!
You have a gift you know; your stuff is so consistently awesome. It is a pleasure to just be a voyeur and enjoy the porn. Seriously, I just love it! Your socks are so lovely as well.
Love the red socks! Also, as was mentioned already, you can get a swift from Joanns.com that is really nice. I don't have one yet but my friend got hers there and it's great. I have a 50% off coupon for this weekend if you want it let me know and I'll forward it.
I want to be your dyeorama pal! The winding around the chairs is a real pain, but it's necessary when doing the stripes, I haven't figured out a way to do it without the long between the chairs bit. I swift and ball my initial hank then I use the ball to wind between chairs. Then I try to get it back into a bal which I then rewind around the swift to then ball/cake. And we love this right?
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