Thursday, April 05, 2007

In which MUD goes farther into the vortex...

Now everyone has to die someday (hey, can that really be incontrovertibly proven?), but with the escalating spinning infatuation my day to dye was obviously just around the corner. This is my first attempt, and it won't be my last. I followed the instructions for Kool Aid dyeing on Knitty, and learned a few lessons as I went along. Number one being don't tie off your handspun with hand dyed yarn and then immerse it into a pot of boiling water...you'll get some bleeding. This is most likely destined to be a hat for Sammy or Anika. It's some mixture of 5 packs of pinkish-red flavors. The yarn has a nice slightly variegated look to it (I KNOW green is not a variety of pink. Just try to ignore those parts, please). Do you think the pink will bleed more when I knit and wash it? I boiled it until the water was clear, and then rinsed it forever until the water ran clear, but it still smells kind of fruity...

I think my next plan is to try to dye roving in several colors before I spin it -- it's wicked fun to watch how the colors blend. This multi-colored proposal will involve quite a lot more mess than simply boiling a skein, so I might wait until I can make use of the great outdoors to spatter instead of Kool Aid dyeing the kitchen counters.

Here's a little sock update (Claudine, I'm glad I ripped it back last week no matter how much it hurt at the time...)

3 comments:

Rebecca said...

I *love* dying with Kool Aid. Mango is the best color/flavor. It's rich yellow.

Kathy G said...

I thought I was reading one of Jessica's posts for a minute there. Funny how she enjoys cooking yarn better than noodles (or any food for that matter). I think your pinkish color came out lovely!!!

And thanks for stopping by my blog!

:)

Jessica said...

Oh WOW Michelle, it looks wonderful! I think the green bits will spice up the knitting. Just tell 'em you meant it, of course. I think I used those same Koolaid colors on DD's hair last fall...

Can't WAIT to shop with you at the fiber festival in Greencastle this weekend!!