Saturday, August 18, 2007

August project complete!

I apologise in advance, this post is quite picture-heavy!

I meant to post this a couple weeks ago but never quite got round to it. Just after the beginning of August I did some hand-dyeing with food colouring. I used Club House food colours in red, blue, yellow and green. I did mix some of the colours (yellow and green made a beautiful bright green, which looks like Granny Smith apple skin green). I did a couple small skeins (maybe about 15g) in blue, yellow and green, and then one bigger one with red added.

I'm really pleased with how the dyeing turned out. The first little skein I did was the size of a dinner plate, with one third yellow, one third blue, and one third bright green. I wet the dye in a bowl with some vinegar added to the water, then put it on the plate. I painted the yarn with a paintbrush and drizzled some of the water mixture over it (but just a little). Then I zapped the entire plate for 2 minutes in the microwave, left it for 2, then zapped it for another 2 minutes. Then I rinsed it in really hot water and left it to dry. I started to knit it up and I really like how it looks. I'm thinking of felting it because I like how the colours look.

Need a pic? I actually remembered to take one :)



I also did a full mini-skein of green in water and vinegar (zapped the bowl with water, dye, vinegar and yarn all in there together), and another one in a clear mug with dye, vinegar and water. The second one I just left overnight (I forgot to zap it) and in the morning the dyebath was exhausted and the water was clear.

Here's another pic:


This was the zapped green and the 'clear mug left overnight' green:


And my final effort, with a couple of pics of the process:


And the last one:

5 comments:

Tina in Wonderland said...

Awesome job! I was especially happy to see this post, as I'm gonna try yarn dying next month. They all look great! I like the green overnight mug the best, and the ball with all the great colors. Thanks for posting all the pictures!

Hobbygåsa said...

This looks SO fun! And the result is great! Dying is not on my list, but if you people continue to show these great dyed yarns I just might have to give it a try....

Stitch-ay Woman said...

Wow-- I may have to add dying to my list of new things. So far, it hadn't been too far up on my list of things to do but this looks like too much fun to pass up. I really like both of the greens!! Now you get to knit them up-- are you considering using them in a future month's project, maybe? :-)

Unknown said...

I really love the greens!!! They are so beautiful!! =)
Kisses, Claudia

Jaye said...

Lovely job! I've never tried to dye my own yarn either but I've got the yarn and supplies here, you've got me thinking...