Dying!

I've been anxious to try my hand at dying for a while now.  I'm interested in the natural dyes primarily, but the vivid and fun colors coming from Kool-Aid were too good to pass up.  I decided to try beets and Kool-Aid - one of each - for my first time. 

I read through several sources for instructions on dying.  I looked here for guidance on Kool-Aid formulas.  A few weeks ago, I picked up Craft of the Dyer by Karen Leigh Casselman at the local library book sale.  It's got lots of great information!

I chose two yarns from my stash to dye.  First, I had a skein of Jojoland Harmony I got in a grab bag.  It was a REALLY light, pastel rainbow and I wasn't a fan.  I decided to overdye it with the beets.  The second yarn was a white mystery yarn.  I'd say it's a DK weight and I was pretty sure it was animal fiber of some sort.  Because I was questioning the content, I chose Kool-Aid for this one.

First, I soaked both skeins in a fixative.  I used about 6 cups white vinegar and 12 cups water.  This ended up being far more liquid than I needed.  I heated the mixture on the stove in a big soup pot and dunked the yarn in.  For about an hour, the yarn stayed in on low heat.  According to several dying instructions, a fixative for Kool-Aid isn't necessary.  Since I was already doing it for the beets, I decided to throw both in, anyway.
 

 

While the yarn was soaking, I prepared my dye baths.  I peeled and chopped 6 beets.  I cut them into about 1/2 inch cubes and dumped them into enough water to cover the yarn. I brought it all to a boil, reduced heat and let it simmer, covered, for about an hour.  I used a mesh strainer to strain the beets out. 

For the Kool-Aid, I used enough water to cover the yarn plus some to allow for evaporation.  I used three packets of Lemon-Lime and one of Lemonade.  I mixed in the packets and let it sit. 

 

Kool-Aid                                                 Beets

When the yarn was done in the fixative, I used tongs to remove the yarn.  I let as much water run off as I could.  I used a wooden spoon to squeegee more water out.  A skein each went into the dye bath!  I mixed immediately, getting the dye around the skein evenly.  

The Kool-Aid went fast.  I mixed until the water was clear.  It was very cool to watch!  When the water was clear, I rinsed with cold water, gently squeezed out water and hung to dry.  The beet dye bath took longer.  There's evidence of mixed results using beets.  Some say they can get red, other say the best they can do is brown.  I pulled the yarn out of the dye bath a couple times to check color, but ultimately left it to simmer for about 45 minutes.  I rinsed, squeezed and hung that to dry! 

I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with the results.  There's some white left in the Kool-Aid yarn, though that doesn't bother me.  The beets turned out better than I expected.  It's a tad more "rusty" in person, though.  This picture gives it a tad more credit than it deserves. :)

Shifting Focus

I've been thinking a lot about blogging about my own fiber adventures.  I knit, crochet and recently tested the waters of both dying and spinning (not to mention all my other crafty hobbies).  Rather than start a completely new blog, I've decided only to shift focus on this blog.  It's been nearly a year since I've posted here anyway.

As sort of a transition, though, I want to talk about all the knitted items I've been seeing in stores!  I've often wondered which comes first - independent designers creating the knitting patterns, or designers creating for mass production?  Back in this post, I mentioned this.  I'm sure they influence each other.  It's been interesting to watch the trends on Ravelry, for example, show up in stores. 

I ventured into three stores today (Target, Kohl's and The Gap) to replenish my winter wear and saw massive amounts of sweaters!  I don't recall ever seeing them in such numbers!  It's been a different experience seeing sweaters in stores after learning to knit.  I find myself wanting to replicate rather than buy.  I have to share some pics with you!

Target finds: 

LOTS of bright colors.  Some even neon (LOVE!).  I saw several two-toned, too.  That definitely seems to be trending.  

Lot's of shawl collars and toggle buttons, too.

Several sweaters had studs and beads in them.  This one I thought was pretty cool. 

 Plenty of cables!  I'm a big fan of the one on the right.

 

 There were a few that seemed like throw-backs. 

 

And a few fun ones. :)

  

There were several sweaters like this.  Very interesting.  It's showing, what a knitter would call, the "wrong side!"  The inside is the usual fair isle pattern.  The outside lets us see the strand.  Kinda cool!

Kohl's finds:

Look!  More of that wrong side fair isle! 

 There were a lot of animals.  Several birds and foxes.

Another thing I noticed was "mock" knitting and fair aisle patterns.  Both of these were printed patterns on a fuzzy, pajama material.  

Several Aztec inspired patterns. 

The Gap finds:

Another shawl collar!

And another one with color blocking!  And neon!  

It's great to see so many sweaters.  I'll tell you, though, being a knitter makes it much harder to buy!  I want the experience of MAKING the sweater!  Also, I want to take them ALL off their hangers.  Makes me cringe.  :)