Fabulosity--Fabulous Yarns, Fabulous Things!

If you are looking for me...

2008-01-21T13:13:00.000-08:00

I've set up shop over here now.

fabulosityyarn.wordpress.com/

Sock Yarn!

2007-10-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sock yarns, or “sockins” as Jacob would call it:

First attempts, I'm pretty pleased with the results!

I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff to list at Etsy I just need more time. More time darn it! :)

Weekend Yarn Report

2007-09-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

All this is listed and yes, I even found some time to dye some roving. May even do some more tonight, I feel pretty darn chuffed with myself. House is clean, laundry is done, kid feeling better. Husband taking me to dinner tonight. MIL has left the city.

*flies away with Superwoman cape flapping behind me*

Yarny, Yarny, Yarny

2007-09-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely way to spend a lunch hour. :)

Sehr Gut

Dulce de Leche

Commingle

Rainbow Run

It is absolutely gorgeous outside today, it was really hard to pack things up and come back to the office after my lunch at home at noon.

Sunflower Power

2007-08-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

Man, I love it when things work out the way I had planned!

Last week my mom walked along the side of the highway in Wyoming and picked about 10 pounds of wild sunflowers. I’m not even exaggerating. I used about half of that this weekend and the rest is now in freezer bags in my freezer for future use.

She said “Did you know that some species of bumblebees have blue butts?”

No I did not. How bizarre! And “I had to stop when they all got aggressive. I think they saw me as an intruder.”

We didn’t get home until late Friday evening, but that didn’t stop me from staying up until midnight seeing if I could make dye from sunflowers.

Oh yes, I totally did.

Flowers, awaiting their fate:

To avoid making the house smell funky (natural dye, especially from plants can really stink), I asked my dad to fire up the burner on the grill. I covered the flowers with water, didn’t let the kettle boil and waited.

After about an hour I took a peek. Ewwww! But, it worked. The flowers released a dark brownish green dye.

I ended up with about a gallon of liquid from the dyebath.

Before I had started this process I had filled another kettle with wool and alum. Alum is the only mordant I will use because it is the least toxic. I have used and also use vinegar and cream of tartar.

The next afternoon I heated up the dyebath and when it was ready I dropped in my wool that had been soaking in the mordant. The first bundle instantly turned a gorgeous sagey green. The second bundle turned a yellow gold and the third turned a paler shade of yellow as the dyebath was almost spent.

Tada!

I started spinning some of it last night; I am extremely pleased with how it is all turning out!

Early returns on some of the yarn:

Saturday afternoon I also dyed these rovings:

Faux Jacob Roving Project

2007-08-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

In yarny news, I’ve been working on a new project. I really wanted to get some Jacob fleece and dye it in a rainbow colors but alas, Jacob fleece is rare and expensive. Feh. So I dug out some natural gray merino fleece I have a metric ton of. Then I dyed some white merino in rainbow colors. Then I blended each color with the gray and pulled it into roving.

So, like this:

White merino dyed:

Carded batts:

Roving:

First Skein:

Nifty, huh? I spun a second skein last night and will finish the rest tonight. It’s been a lot of work but I’ve had fun with it.

Evolution of a yarn

2007-08-13T19:18:00.001-07:00

I had some bits and pieces of roving that I kettle dyed over the weekend, when dry it looked like this:

And I wasn’t really thrilled with it.

So I ran it through my drum carder and pulled the batts into roving and it got this lovely result:

Then I spun enough for one skein and the early returns on the yarn are this:

I am happy!

Then I ran one of my Bedlam batts through the carder and pulled it into roving, I can’t wait to spin this!

Tada and stuff. Good night.

Doing what I do bestest.

2007-08-11T19:59:00.001-07:00

I spent most of my morning reorganizing my studio. I like to call it thusly because someday I WILL have one and well, by that time saying “studio” won’t be so weird. ;)

I posted the entire series of photos at my Flicker account (see link at the left) if you want to see all the notes I added. Otherwise, use your imagination and just know that I worked my ass off to get everything put away and organized.

Of course I don’t know where anything is now, what of it?

Actually, once I post this I’m off to card a bunch of fleece and maybe do some spinning.

We had a pretty busy day in addition to this project. We all went to the park, did all the grocery shopping, made dinner tonight and then went out for ice cream. Jacob is out like a little light.

See? Now don’t all you crafty types totally want to come over to my house and play? :)

Rose Madder

2007-08-07T21:07:00.001-07:00

Holy crap it worked.

Madder root gently steeped (not boiled, that would have turned it brown) until color was achieved. Will drain off roots in a couple days and use the color to dye some roving.

I am hugely impressed.

And tired. Good night.

Updateable

2007-07-24T15:33:00.001-07:00

Still here, still spinning. Though not as much as I’d like to lately because it has been so disgustingly hot here. I’d like to know when Montana turned into Nevada. Especially when I see we are flirting with the same temps that Vegas has of late.

Ick.

So yeah, the last thing I want to do is sit with a bunch of wool in my lap while I try to spin. And dyeing wool is pretty much out of the question because heating up the kitchen is torture.

Oh summer, just go away a little bit. Not too much. Actually, I welcome fall.

Still going strong on the Etsy front, I do enjoy it a lot. As when hot temps hit last year yarn sales slowed down but hey, I totally get it. I don’t feel like spinning!

I have been making blended batts and roving on my drum carder in the evenings. I will either have quite a bit of fiber to spin when I finally feel up to it or I’ll have plenty to sell when the time comes. I have a hard time parting with my roving once it’s dyed though, I always want to spin it for myself to see what kind of yarn it will make!

Otherwise good and like I said, still around. I have gotten involved in some truly lovely swaps at Flickr via groups I belong to. I miss swapping on a more regular basis, I should get involved again. I do enjoy getting nice mail. :)

Anyway, I guess that’s it for now. Hopefully in the future I shall have more to share!

I live.

2007-06-01T13:56:00.001-07:00

This is my yarn and fiber blog, I really need to be more diligent about updating it! I’ve gotten so used to writing my day to day thoughts just for myself so I apologize for the extreme amounts of neglect over here for those who are still reading!

In the last year I’ve gone from learning how to spin on a drop spindle (kind of, more on that later) to buying my own wheel, dyeing and processing my own fleece, buying a drum carder and taking my Etsy store in different directions with some art yarn. Definitely not where I ever expected to be, that’s for sure!

Next week I will be taking a vacation for the first time in years, I’m going to visit my best friend Jen in Maine. While we are there we’ll be attending the Maine Fiber Frolic, I cannot wait! We signed up for two courses, on in natural plant dyeing and one six hour course to learn how to spin correctly with drop spindles. Yes, finally I will learn it the right way! Six hours, I’d better learn something!

I’ve been saving all my Etsy money to put towards purchases at the Fiber Frolic. Plus, while I’m there Jen is going to open up her barn and we’re going to spend many afternoons dyeing yarn, roving and fleece. To be honest, I can’t think of a better way to spend some time off.

So that’s where I’m at, sorry again for being so darn neglectful. My Flickr badge over thataway--> should give you a fairly accurate portrayal of what I’ve been up to fiber wise these past few months.

As always, I maintain hobbies are the best way to stay sane and are way cheaper (I think) than therapy!

Fowl Minded

2007-04-24T19:53:00.001-07:00

Occasionally I do something and it turns out so much better than I had anticipated that I probably get way too excited about it.

Yes, tonight is one of those nights.

After dinner this evening we all hopped in the car and went for a drive to visit the big waterfront park near our house. As we walked I slowly became aware of the huge abundance of shed duck and goose feathers that were littering the grass.

It only took another mile of walking before the lightbulb came on.

So I started picking them up as we made our way back to the car. And the husband said “What are you up to? This involves future yarns, doesn’t it?”

Then he helped me pick up feathers and so did Jacob.

We came home with these:

And after about 30 minutes of dyeing, rinsing and drying in the oven I had these:

Oh come on, are you not amused? ;)

Your dose of Fiber: Photo Intensive

2007-03-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Washed Churro fleece:

Bits and Pieces:

Handpainted handspun (I didn’t spin this but I dyed it and I'm keeping it!) sock yarn:

New batt:

Hooray!

2007-02-23T19:39:00.001-08:00

Eeeeee!

*runs around the room*

Looka!

I’m so giddy I’ve got butterflies in me tummy. And I don’t even care that this all make me looks like a complete obsessive dork!

I hugged the lady who sold it to me, too. I think I scared her, actually. But hopefully she knows just how happy she’s made me!

I’m off, I’ve got batts to create! And spin!

New yarn and roving

2007-02-15T12:54:00.000-08:00

Leader of the Pack, 330 yards.

Rio, 211 yards (Sold over lunch hour).

Some people call me Maurice, 192 yards.

Midnight Blue 300 yards, recycled mohair (85%) acrylic (15%) yarn.

As yet untitled roving, soon to become yarn.

MINE!

2007-02-14T10:16:00.001-08:00

MINE! MINE MINE MINE!

Well, it will be by the 23rd. But, MINE!

I can’t believe my luck. I halfheartedly posted on the barely functional local Craigslist and voila, success!

And, might I add, for a hell of a lot less than I could have scored it anywhere else.

WOOOOOO! *boogies*

Supah Sahprise!

2007-02-13T12:18:00.000-08:00

Supah Sahprise

Oh my gosh, what is it?!

720 yards of yarn, 8 skeins, all wool. I handspun about half of this and the other half is commercial yarn that I handpainted. All different weights, all different yarns!

It’s all here! Merino, columbia, churro, angora, mohair, sparkle. Also included is a tiny skein of recycled wool (that’s the blue/green/yellow skeinlet) and commercial fisherman’s wool yarn.

These yarns were dyed with Kool Aid, egg dye, food coloring, and acid dyes. All colorfast!

The blue/magenta/purple/teal skein that looks a bit twisted up is going to be twist set as of 02/14/07, so worry not, it shall be smooth baby smooth!

***

Just so you know, it KILLED me to let all these go.

But I’m on a mission.

Beads4You Winter 2007 Challenge

2007-02-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

What a project this has been! I really stretched myself to the limit on this entire project, I feel so accomplished and proud of my work.

I began the project by purchasing this lot of beads from Beads4You at her Etsy store:

Initially I had an idea for a necklace but decided that since I fancy myself as a fiber artist, I’d try my hand at a custom art yarn project and incorporate the beads into it.

I began by dyeing this bundle of merino wool top roving in shades of grey, black and silver. The theme of the challenge was “Winter Garden” so I envisioned a dark, frozen landscape glazed with shimmery frost and ice.

And then once the roving was dry, I began to spin. I spun a single ply yarn out of all of the roving and ended up with 275 yards in the end. Not too shabby!

Then I strung many of the beads on a sturdy, clear nylon thread and plied them into the yarn to make a bubbly, fluffy sparkly yarn.

For the bigger focal beads, I fashioned detachable ornaments to accent the yarn. These are meant to be removed and repositioned on the finished project.

Weekend Rovings

2007-01-29T09:01:00.001-08:00

Wingardium. I actually spun this last night as it was dry. It’s twist setting today.

Glinda

Planet, Schmanet, Janet

Leader Of The Pack

Cocoa Mint

Psychotic Peacock (Named by my sister)

Special Project, title forthcoming

Yarn, Yarn & Yarn, there is nothing else.

2007-01-25T14:30:00.001-08:00

Fawkes is 235 yards, merino(85%)/mohair (15%) blend.

Scutterbotch is 160 yards, 100% Bluefaced Leicester wool.

Real Teal (unlisted, reserved for a coworker) is 100% merino, 275 yards.

More New Yarns

2007-01-23T13:17:00.001-08:00

Madmartigan. Yep, still on a Willow kick. Never kick Willow though, that’s just mean. 253 yards.

Embers & Cinders, 165 yards.

Sweentess November End, 280 Yards

Tanqueray, 275 yards

Slipsliding Away, 275 yards

Sherbet Lemon, 230 yards

New Yarns for Etsy Store

2007-01-22T12:32:00.001-08:00

Elora Danan, 275 yards. Why yes, I did watch Willow recently. What’s it to you?

Cherlindrea, 204 yards.

Experiment Gone Happy, 275 yards.

Cranberry, 105 yards.

Blue On Black, 130 yards (with wonky camera color. *grumble*)

Special Order for coworker. 275 yards.

Hot off the Etsy Press...

2007-01-16T15:25:00.001-08:00

I Despise My Former Boss Sale

How ironic that a year after the worst experience of my professional career I find myself listing these beads.

Backstory: A year ago today my husband and I uprooted our lives and moved several hours away to begin working for a lady (and I use the term loosely) who lured us to her company by promising us a plethora of things (health insurance, amazing salaries, travel, profit sharing, food on the table) that never materialized.

Let this be a lesson to you: If it sounds too good to be true, it definitely is. Oh and contracts. VALID contracts! Do as I say, not as I do!

In the middle of the summer my former boss knew I had a big collection of beads on hand and asked me if she could “borrow” some of them to use to entertain her granddaughters. At the time I gave in, thinking it would be a nice thing to do despite the fact that I was miserable, we were financially ruined and my family was starving to death. I’m kind of crazy like that.

A week later the trays of beads were returned picked over and virtually empty. Instead of compensating me monetarily for cleaning out my supply, she gave me this lot of beads.

They are pretty, beautiful even, but I can’t look at them without breaking out into hives and wanting to swear uncontrollably. Since I’m trying to set a good example for my son I’m going to skip the swearing and crazy raving about my past and list them here.

21 wood (maybe bamboo?) handpainted beads with a leopard print pattern. Rawr!

30 round wood handpainted beads with a daisy pattern. Sweet!

3 decent sized packages of E beads. One package of pink, on light blue and one gunmetal/rainbow. More than enough to mess with.

4 jasper and agate heart focal beads, drilled from top to bottom. 9 white opaque glass beads with bands of red and blue. 2 millefiori focal beads.

6 chevron beads.

Oh, for the record? I totally landed on my feet. Moved myself and my family back home and my husband and I found awesome jobs working for people who have a conscience, aren’t pathological liars and/or complete sociopaths.

Yay for us! Yay for beads!

It’s been suggested to me that I take a hammer to the beads to aid in my therapy and healing but that would just be insulting to the beads. Won’t you give them a decent home? I promise to use the money from the sale of these beads for something entirely frivolous because I can afford food and can heat my house now, no thanks to her.

I'll even ship them for free! Please, just get them out of my sight!

Felted Beads Experiment

2007-01-11T14:42:00.000-08:00

Before I forget, if any of you have made anything (and I mean anything at all) with my yarns I’d really love to have photos of them to add to my online Flickr gallery. Please? :)

I spun four bundles of roving last night. I am much pleased. Once they twist set (after the move) the listing will begin!

I’ve been wanting to make felted beads for a while now and whenever I spin I occasionally have little bits of roving fluff that end up sitting on the side.

*hangs head*…Usually I throw the bits of fluff away. Or give them to Smitty to molest. But no more I say! Last night I thought I’d give the beads a try and lo, it worked! And fantastically if I do say so my self! I made eight last night in all different colors, none much bigger than a marble. Oh and a tube shaped one that kind of looks like a blue joint.

Hm. Anyway.

I brought them in this morning to show Dr. H and she said “Make more! Those are gorgeous! If you put those together with silver spacers in between for a necklace I’d buy it immediately.”

Yay!

It gives me that much more ambition to really branch out with my Etsy store.

These are the beads I made last night. They aren't completely dry yet, but when they are, they will be easy to push a sewing needle through.

New Year, New Yarn

2007-01-11T14:40:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted January 1, 2007

Slipstream roving to yarn (155 yards):

Sugar Spun roving to yarn (222 yards):

Steelers roving to yarn (180 yards, this is for Hurricane Katie!):

Callay roving to yarn (204 yards):

Roving Reporter

2007-01-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted December 31, 2006

Now I’m off to spin as some of the rovings from the night before last are dry.

Weekend of Roving

2007-01-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted December 30, 2006

And now I need to go do some more, I have to get as much dyed before I leave to up my spinning supply.

Happy Yarnidays!

2007-01-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted December 21, 2006

My kinda pron

2007-01-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Originally posted December 8, 2006

Coming soon:

Quicksilver Roving

Viking Roving

Already here:

The return of the beaded marble pendants!

And, Veggie Mails!

Roving=Yarn

2007-01-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Originally posted December 5, 2006

Grand Prismatic:

Totally:

Yarn put to use.

2007-01-11T14:31:00.002-08:00

Originally posted November 27, 2006.

I love to see my yarn turn into something gorgeous, I really do.

Wild Roses Yarn:

Wild Roses Purse made by the Knitting Doctor:

Most Toasty.

2007-01-11T14:31:00.001-08:00

Originally Posted November 26, 2006

Remember this salvaged thrift store sweater?

And the yarn?

And this resulting scarf? (Scarf lives with my friend Katie!)

Meet its hattish little friend!

Of course I listed it. And I think I have enough yarn to make another one. Which is what I’m going to go check out right now.

Yarn and carding.

2007-01-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted November 24, 2006

Bronco (listed)

Peridot & Citrine (listed)

Washing Churro Fleece

Batts, batts, batts!

I so want a drum carder.

rolls around in yarny goodness

2007-01-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted November 13, 2006

Because I don’t keep enough of my yarns to really see the full impact when they are knit or crocheted, I am always blown away when I see what people make with them.

This was my Sweetness November yarn, the roving I had dyed for this was so dark I didn’t think it would ever amount to much. In fact, I still have about 8 ounces of it left to spin but have been holding off because I couldn’t see the bigger picture.

Fortunately, Mr. E could see the bigger picture and once he got his hands on it he made this:

Isn’t is gawgeous?! OMG, I am in love. I can’t believe a yarn that pretty came from something I made! That sounds really vain of me, but I am just so amazed by it!

*plots more spinning of dark roving*

Special order roving and others.

2007-01-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

Originally posted November 7, 2006.

Early returns on roving and yarn. The gray is a special order, I really hope the lady likes it. It was a lot harder to dye several shades of gray than I had previously thought.

Up next:

New yarns

2007-01-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

Originally posted November 6, 2006

Autumn Ember, ‘tis done. Will be listed soon.

Peppy Mint, almost done. Sister skein is not quite finished.

We be crafty

2007-01-11T14:20:00.001-08:00

Originally posted October 28, 2006

Holy crap we have been so busy today!

Mom’s stuff (www.clearcreek.etsy.com):

My stuff (Same place, natch):

Tada! *falls over from exhaustion*

Roving Becomes Yarn

2007-01-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

Originally posted October 24, 2006

This handpainted roving:

Became this yarn:

It is named Brigadoon. :)

Weekends are for dyeing and spinning!

2007-01-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted October 15, 2006

Green Goblin roving to yarn:

Carpe Diem roving to yarn:

Forest Glen:

Tide Pool collection:

Untitled handpainted rovings to be spun:

'Tis Groovy

2007-01-11T14:15:00.003-08:00

Originally Posted October 4, 2006

Another weekend of yarn spinning.

2007-01-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted September 24, 2006

Now, I have to pack to get on the road. *sigh*

Spin On!

2007-01-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted September 9, 2006

*boogies*

Hot day for handpainting roving!

2007-01-11T14:07:00.001-08:00

Originally Posted August 7, 2006

Roving, all spun now drying:

More roving to yarns.

2007-01-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted August 1, 2006

Yarn from previous roving post.

Grotto is 204 yards.

Purple People Eater is 150 yards.

Gloaming is 130 yards.

Rainebeau Brite (Jeff's idea and way to get around copyrighted names) is 137 yards.

More dyed rovings.

2007-01-11T14:04:00.001-08:00

Originally posted July 31, 2006

Roving that has been spun. Thank you 103 degree temperatures! Photos of yarn coming soon.

Look, rainbow roving! I did it! *boogies*

I think now that I’m comfortable with the roving dyeing process that I’m going to mostly buy natural colored roving and dye my own. *nods sagely*

Let there be yarn

2007-01-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

Originally posted July 27, 2006.

From roving that I didn’t paint.

More that I spun but didn’t paint.

From the calico looking roving that I painted last weekend.

From the black cherry looking roving, also painted by me.

Merino singles that I spun and plied.

Roving to Yarn

2007-01-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

Originally posted July 25, 2006

This:

Made this:

It’s called Penny Pool. It’s 188 yards.

And this:

Made this:

I named it Mellow Yellow. It’s 150 yards.

The rest is still drying after having the twist set but I am pleased with how it all turned out as well.

Feelin' Fizzy & Copacabana

2007-01-11T13:52:00.001-08:00

Sunrise, Sunset

2007-01-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

Originally posted June 15, 2006

Let's Dye Some Roving!

2007-01-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted June 1, 2006

O.k., I finally got the nerve to try it.

I did two methods, one was to immerse the entire roving in a boiling pot of water and dump the dye in directly, the other was to lay out long pieces of Saran Wrap, handpaint the roving, roll up the whole works and steam it in my big canning pot.

I’m pleased to report that both worked wonderfully! I was afraid to try the immersion method for fear of felting the entire works but I must have had my timing down just right because it came out looking like the steamed bundle did.

This first batch is the wrapped up in Saran and steamed method. I handpainted this orange, brown and burgundy but the colors all ran together when I rolled it up to steam. I’m not disappointed, but I will remember next time not to get so dye happy. The close up photo is actually closer to the true colorway, I don’t know why my camera tweaked the colors on the distant shot, weird.

The second batch is the boiling water immersed method. I used the leftover orange and burgundy dye from the first bundle to get these colors. Oh, and some yellow too, which I think came out well.

And finally, a super bulky commercial skein, this is to be named Rocket Pop once it’s skeined up and counted.

Purples & Cookies

2007-01-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted May 26, 2006

I really went on a purple binge, I didn’t realize how much I did in purple until I got everything laid out.

That first light purple commercial skein is the return of the famous Hydrangea/Sweet Pea Yarn! Woooo!

The dark variegated purple commercial skeins are an experiment that went well, I think.

The plied light purple handspun was a dream to spin.

And the crazy blue Cookie Monster yarn was a fun experiment in handspun and overdyed commercial mohair.

Arwen, Bitterroot & Calypso

2007-01-09T15:46:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted May 13, 2006

It has been a very, very long day. Productive, but incredibly long.

Mohair vs. Egg Dye

2007-01-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted April 25, 2006

Spunday

2007-01-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted April 11, 2006

More Plied Results.

2007-01-09T15:41:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted April 11, 2006

I finally got the yarn plied that I had shown on the bobbins from the weekend. I am much pleased with the results, which is usually the case when I do this.

I think I’m getting better and spinning consistent yarn as I did a wraps per inch on each skein and came up with 11 on each one. I’m also getting more mileage out of my roving which is also encouraging to me. This entire bundle came out at 280 yards even from 7 ½ ounces of roving.

More Wilton's Experiments & Handspun Progress

2007-01-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted April 8, 2006

Beaded Yarn Experiment

2007-01-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted April 4, 2006

Crazy Yarn Lady speaks, dead ahead.

I did it! I successfully added beads AND silvery thread to my black handspun yarn.

I feel very accomplished.

Bengal Spice

2007-01-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted March 20, 2006

Heh, it worked! Cool, I am highly entertained by this. If I get my hands on some silver or other metallic threads, great and fantastic things will happen. Yes.

Pathological Plyer

2007-01-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted March 25, 2006

Rainbow roving plus newly learned plying skills equals that the world as we know it may never be the same. :) I’ve still got a fair bit of the rainbow roving to spin and then I’m not sure what I’ll do with all this. Maybe sell it in one big lot? There’s even some four ply in there, I was shocked when it actually worked!

Hydrangeas and Dreamcicles

2007-01-09T15:30:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted March 13, 2006

Kool-Aid, Wilton's and Paas Easter Egg dyes:

RIT Dye Experiment

2007-01-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted December 1, 2005

The ball is 223 yard of Patons merino blend Classic Wool and the twist skein is 100 yards of Lamb’s Pride 85% wool/15% mohair blend. I dyed both with less than ¼ of a package of RIT dye in Royal Blue. The wool/mohair blend was actually a dark gray color but I overdyed it. The Patons was cream colored before dyeing.

One thing I’ve learned about RIT is that you have to rinse and rinse and then rinse some more to make it colorfast but the results are worth it.

First attempts with Wilton's Dye

2007-01-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted November 29, 2005

Last night I dyed some yarn with the gel food coloring that comes in the little jars. Hate it! Well, at least I do right now. I couldn’t get the color to stay completely colorfast and that pissed me right off. I had crocheted little swatches of wool to dye to sample the colors and while I’m pleased with the colors, I’m struggling with how to make the dye run clear. Perhaps that just isn’t the way to go. The actual drops of food coloring stayed true to color and didn’t bleed but the gel, notsomuch.

Just so you know, black gel dye makes yarn turn purple. True.

See?

And then there is Christmas Red (also not colorfast but whatever) and a swatch of the ever famous Pina Pineapple Kool-Aid which turns lovely colors when mixed with other dyes and doesn’t stay that bright orange yellow shade.

More Kool Aid Dyeing

2007-01-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

Originally posted November 26, 2005

I read up on dyeing yarn with food coloring and discovered that in order to make sure the colors don’t fade over time that you have to make sure that the food coloring has citric acid in it and add some white vinegar to the mix as well. So far I haven’t tried any major experiments with food coloring other than a small skein a couple weeks ago, but I did find some cake decorating gel colors that I’m going to do some swatch tests on to see how it turns out.

This yarn is a mixture of Kool-Aid and food coloring. I dyed it a more pastel shade on purpose, but the darker areas are where I dropped bits of food coloring.

This is all Kool-Aid dye, it’s a mixture of flavors Tamarindo and Jamaica.

More dye projects.

2007-01-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

Originally posted July 25, 2005.

Color me proud.

Adventures in dyeing yarn.

2007-01-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

Originally posted July 9, 2005.

Stuff you will need:

Kool-Aid or Easter egg dye
White vinegar
A big pot or cleared sink for soaking.
A big microwave safe dish for cooking.
Disposable cups for the dye.
Spoons. (I didn’t use a turkey baster or a syringe, but I hear those work wonderfully too.)
Rubber gloves
Garbage bags or plastic to cover your counter top. I’d also recommend layer of newspaper underneath, just in case. I changed garabage bags with each dying project.
Plastic wrap to cover the microwave bowl.
Plenty of hot tap water.
100% wool yarn! I used a cream colored 1 pound skein of Lion’s Brand Fishermen's Wool. I don’t know what other yarns will do in the dye process, this was my first attempt.

Colors I used for the pink swirly yarn:

Kool-Aid: Raspberry (and old packet that was hiding in my cupboard) and a sprinkling of grape over the top before nuking.

Colors I used for the rainbow yarn:

Paas Easter Egg Dye: Blue

Kool-Aid: Cherry, Orange, Lemonade, Lime, Grape, and Pink Lemonade.

There are supposedly a rather impressive array of Kool-Aid flavors out there, but if that is so, they aren’t in my town! I didn’t have the patience to run all over last night looking for blue colored Kool-Aid powder so I used my blue egg dye tablet instead. If any of you find any new colors (with the exception of the clear ones because, erm…) I will pay you for them if you would be so kind to contact me so we can discuss. I’m looking for a color called Pina Pineapple that, mixed with Grape is supposed to yield a rainbow effect with just those two products. Fascinating!

Before we begin, you must say hello to Jacob, he was present for much of this project.

My Mommy dressed me in this orange ensemble. I have no say in this matter; Mommy is hopelessly stuck in the neon era of the 80’s.

Thank you, Jacob.

O.k., here we go.

First, you must unwind your yarn from its skein state and make it look like this:

I don’t have a kniddy knoddy. And, since I didn’t have the time or patience this weekend to go make one, I stomped around the house looking for an alternative that would suffice for this project. I only had to trip over that little wagon like, 8 times before I was struck with inspiration. I also tied the sections of yarn together with small pieces of the same yarn.

Second, you must soak the yarn in hot water. The hottest water from the tap worked for me and I soaked each skein for about 25-30 minutes. I’d also like to add here that soaking wool is rather sheepy-fleecy smelling. Not overly unpleasant, but barnyardish nonetheless if you aren’t acclimated to such things. I also added a couple glugs of white vinegar to the hot water soak. Not sure if this is completely necessary but I’d read it can go either way.

While your yarn is soaking, mix up your Kool-Aid and egg dye. I used two packages of Kool-Aid for each color with ¾ cup water and two tablespoons of white vinegar. Stir well. Use the same water and vinegar measurements for the egg dye, maybe a little less if you want darker colors. I wasn’t disappointed with any of my colors with the exception of yellow. I only had one package of lemonade left after I unsuccessfully tried to mix a package of lemon with lime to make blue. Doesn’t work, don’t waste your time unless you want a dye the color of radioactive urine.

I was starting to feel like a bit of a mad scientist throughout this process, I’d like to add. But I was having fun! Too many fruity fumes methinks. I kept humming that song from Harry Potter and the Prince of Azkaban in my head the whole time “Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble…”

Yes, I have issues. Big ones.

O.k. paint the yarn. Or in my case, make a little dent in the middle of the area where you want the color to go, spoon in some dye and then squish it around with the back of the spoon. Yes, the colors are going to run together some or in the case of my first skein, a lot. I wasn’t overly bothered by this, as I figure when the yarn is actually made into something it won’t matter.

After you’ve squished and painted to your hearts content, pick up the yarn (SERIOUSLY, use rubber gloves. Just do it and don’t ask any questions.) and put it in a big bowl that will fit in the microwave.

Cover with plastic wrap, poke a couple holes in it and nuke the entire works for five minutes. Then let it sit for five minutes. No need to peeksie at it, just relax and go wander around the house or something. (Better yet, go start the soak process on another skein of yarn.) Then nuke it for another five and another five of rest. Now you may look. Is the water left in the bowl clear or milky? Then hooray! You have successfully dyed your wool! If not, do one more five minute nuke and five minute rest sequence. I only had to do it three times for one skein that was a bit thicker than the others.

Remove it carefully (It’ll be burning hot so use tongs and not the quick pick up and throw in the direction of the sink motion like I did the first time) and then give it a rinse bath with warm water. Not too hot, not too cold.

Again, I don’t think you can do much damage really at this point. I learned right away that this was not an activity to be afraid of or get uptight over. This is supposed to be fun! Have fun dammit!

Finally, hang it up to dry. Make sure you give all the birds in the area many dirty looks if you put it outside. Threaten much harm to any birds that may be thinking about pooping on your yarn. Those damn birds.

Give the birds one final glare before you go back into the house and start over.

This whole process took me about two hours from start to finish, not counting dry time. I had started the pink yarn the night before and it was still damp in the morning when I took it outside to hang on the line. Also, I actually didn’t paint the pinky swirl yarn. Rather, I put the soaked yarn in the bowl, but the raspberry dye over the top, squished it around for a few minutes and then sprinkled the grape powder over the top before putting it in the microwave.

A few other things:

Some of the yarn may not dye all the way through if you aren’t diligent with your squishing. Again, variation is all part of it so if it doesn’t bother you, worry not. Me, I like variation and a riot of colors so I’m amused in all areas.

Yes, the yarn will retain the scent of a jungle juice Kool-Aid bomb, but it fades. I had initially put the pink swirl yarn up to hang in the shower overnight and when I checked it in the morning the scent was still very strong. Once it hung outside though it faded dramatically and now just smells like wool again.

After about 2 hours of hang drying, I clipped off all but two of the pieces of yarn separating the sections to allow for faster drying time.

The finished products!

The pink swirl yarn is such a smallish looking bit of yarn because I was afraid to go all out and start painting the yarn right away. Now I wish I’d done more, because I really love the color! See? Don’t fear the yarn dyeing process, have fun with it! Oh well, another day, another big bunch of yarn to dye!

Skeins one, two and three before winding:

Clockwise from pink skein is skein one, skein two and skein three.

What the hell just happened?

2007-01-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

Well, hi! I stored my past entries in a private place because the intent of this journal was never to rant about my life. I created it to use as a creative outlet and a place to share things I've made with the world. I kind of lost sight of that and decided to do something about it.

Sometimes you have to take a step back and examine who you really are and what makes you go. 2006 was probably the worst year of my life, I can't say I'm sorry to see it go! But I can say that it made me a stronger person. It took several months but I think I'm finally headed in the direction I want to go.

It's a new year and therefore time for a change. I'll be reposting a lot of my yarn posts, but in the meantime I've got all my photos over at Flickr and my Etsy store is kicking ass and taking names. :)

I'm still a Bloglines subscriber so I'm able to keep up with all the people I've been reading for so long.

Thanks, hope you are all doing wonderfully!

Best,

Joy

Placeholder

2004-12-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

Now that I have this space, whatever shall I do with it?