I’m trying to vary the weights of the yarn I’m trying out, because it’s hard to identify some of them once they are wet; with the exception that this yarn is bigger than that one. So I will usually not have two of the same weight in the same dye pot, unless they are drastically different in appearance.
I bought a generic salad spinner, to help fling out excess water, thus enabling the skeins to dry faster; but it doesn’t work right. That’s what I get for buying a cheap knock-off. I’ll have to buy the real thing at some point.
Also- I think I’ve sorted out my skein/tie problem.
1. Clown Hair (Hubby named this one)
Yarn: 100% superwash merino wool
Weight: DK, 100 grams, 310 yards
Thoughts: This was my first attempt at hand painting. It’s flawed, yes; but I learned several extremely valuable lessons. First- it renewed my utter contempt for plastic wrap. And I just bought a huge box of it, so I’m mostly stuck with it. I have a way around it, though- use the Glad Press N Seal (much more manageable) for the bottom, and the plastic wrap for the top. This way- I won’t dye my kitchen counter again. Second- for these purposes I need to use fresh dye. And what I mean by that, is that I made up all of the colors, and then left for like 4 hours. I microwaved them back hot, but the dye of the darker colors started to separate a little. So the blue, purple and green have a higher ratio of lightly dyed strands, because it was mostly water. So I’ll test and see if I need to do a higher concentration of dye for those colors.
Ah- I just read up on this. It seems that these colors like to separate (or ‘break’ in dyer terminology), which is why I have bits that are lighter than the rest. Lesson learned.
Oh, and sponge brushes do almost nothing. You can use them for area touchups, but for overall painting? No.
I had absolutely no problems with the yarn. I should have checked the wind first- some of the strands double back on themselves, which go through only three colors, instead of the entire six, so there are several sections which have a green/blue/purple/blue/green progression, before they finally go and pick up the yellow/orange/red again.
Hubby hates it. He doesn’t like six colors at once. He says next time- no more than three. And while I agree with that for some things- I love rainbows (goes back to my Lisa Frank unicorn days). And if I can perfect it- I think I may keep this colorway.
As for this particular skein- I like it. It has a tie-dye effect to it. Definitely a keeper.
2. Sea Foam
Yarn: 63% Superwash merino wool / 20% silk / 15% nylon, 2% Silver Poly
Weight: Fingering Weight, 100 grams, 420 yards
Thoughts: I mostly wanted to see how a true green dyes up. This yarn is sparkly, but it’s a subtle sparkle. Just a hint. Oh and the thing about the silver poly is that whatever color the yarn is dyed- that’s sort of the color the sparkles take on. So if you have multi-colored yarn? Watch out! That’s multi-colored sparkles! Probably a keeper.
3. Orange Powdered Drink
Yarn: 50% Merino Wool / 25% Cotton / 15% Linen / 10% Silk
Weight: Sport, 100 grams, 320 yards
Thoughts: The linen makes it feel a bit hard, when it dries. Also it crinkles, so that makes it hard to find the ends- they fold in on themselves. I haven’t knit with it yet… I’m a little scared to. But HOPEFULLY the silk and wool will soften it up, and won’t kill my hands.
4: Orange Powdered Drink #2
Yarn: 50% wool, 50% acrylic
Weight: bulky, 114 grams, 87 yards
Thoughts: I actually dyed #3 and #4 together. And I just love the differences. This one is lighter, while the other is darker. I know the lightness of this one is due to the acrylic, but as it’s blended together with the wool, it just kind of creates a heathered effect, instead of some sort of light/dark twist. It’s made like roving, so we’ll see how it knits up, before I decide whether or not to get more of this one.
The yarn actually came with instructions to use RIT on it. I don’t like RIT. I think it’s extra harsh, and if you’re not careful- it will eat through fiber. And while we’re on the subject- I also don’t use Kool Aid or food coloring. Not that I have a problem with either, but in researching dyes- I heard a few too many horror stories about fading for both. So I’ll stick to drinking the former, and using the latter in my baking.
The handpainting is really cool looking–one of my favorite dye jobs 🙂
Thanks for sharing your experience. If I ever try this out I’ll be sure to look up my dyes carefully.
It’s actually kind of fun- there’s just not a lot of information on how to start, or what to do, besides YouTube. And most of YouTube is either hobbyists who don’t care what the finished product looks like, or long-time dyers who are sooo comfortable with the process that they skip steps, or forget to tell you why you need to do something. I’m thinking about doing a tutorial…
It seems like you’d be the perfect person to d a tutorial, when you’re ready. I love watching your progress on this! 🙂
That would be fantastic! I was thinking about yarn dying in the future (say, in the next decade) so take your time! I have been pattering around the internet looking for a book on the subject and I think you’re right. I haven’t seen or heard about a comprehensive guide to yarn dying. There are certainly a ton of things about working with different types of media for dying, but you would sort of have to read a ton and know the periodic table by heart to be prevent every single little glitch to arise.
I really like the green foam