I'm Dyeing

Today, I was excited to accept the invitation of my friend Shirley to come over and dye some wool. Shirley is quite experienced in all things dyeing and I greatly appreciated her mentoring me through my first foray into color.

I started with my Classic Elite Yarns 100% Felted Merino in 100 gram hanks. The choice of colors was truly overwhelming and narrowing down my picks was not an easy job. I settled for Cherry Red, Salmon, Golden Yellow and Rose Pink. Here you can see Shirley demonstrating how to wet the hanks in warm water with a squirt of dish washing liquid.

Then the hanks are squeezed out and placed on a towel where they continue to dry and wait for the dye to be applied.

Next, Shirley mixed my colors. She stressed the importance of remembering to add the acid (vinegar) to the water and dye. She enlightened me on technical dying terms like "splosh". Here you can see Shirley mixing thing up.

Then came the application of the dyes on the hanks. I found this to be incredibly labor intensive and can see why the cost of hand painted yarns is what it is. After applying the dyes, I wrapped the hank in plastic wrap and then zapped it in the microwave for 3 minutes. The yarn rested for 2-3 minutes and then was zapped again for 3 minutes.

After using the microwave, it was time to rinse the yarn in cold water and gently squeeze out any excess. I took my bag of dyed hanks home and placed them on my drying rack in the bathroom to finish drying.

While I am not sure how I feel about the finished product, I am sure that this was a great experience. I have to admit that I am terribly color challenged and I think this is just what I needed to get away from my usual array of browns, dull greens, and blacks! As these hanks dry, they are really growing on me. I think I'll survive to dye another day.

If you are interested in the finer points of my experience and some of the dyeing that Shirley did today, please check out her blog www.shirleygoodwin.blogspot.com.