Fruity Inspiration

The thing I really enjoy about starting to dye wool/yarn is that I am constantly on the lookout on exiting color combinations. When I was eating a kiwi some time ago I looked at the green, because that’s what we are anticipating with kiwis and then at the brown. And I started to imagine these colors together in a yarn. Next time I had the colors I tried mixing the green and the brown. I son realised that I would like to add another fruit, it needed something spicy (the red) and some fresh spring green.

I painted two rovings:

I wanted to spin them together in thick singles. I split each of the roving into eight stripes. Then I pre-drafted one stripe of each roving together.

I don’t have a picture of the finished yarn yet. But I am not completely satisfied. The first skein was hopelessy overspun. The second was better, but still…

Conclusion:

• I need to train spinning even singles.
• I don’t like Merino spun in even singles
• Merino needs to be spun thin and plied
• Merino is overestimated. I just think it is to flabby.
• I do like the colors

Black Beans

Ravelry sure is a source of inspirations. A whole thread of how to dye blue yarn/fiber with black beans.

Worth trying!

Tags: naturaldyeing, plant dyeing, dyeing, yarn, fiber

Permanent?

Do you know the feeling after finishing a big project (aka sweater)? When you are pleased wearing your new knitwear and at the same time long to start a new project. If only you knew exactly which one…

So instead I decide to blog. About the dyeing yarn. Together with the kids I dyed some old superwash yarn. With Kool-Aid.

And knitted mittens for the kids.

Now, Boy was so fond of his half-mitts, that he wore them all the time. They needed a wash. Superwash – so I put them in the washing machine. And that’s the result.

On the left one mitten of Girl, never washed. I read several times that Kool-Aid is permanent – but look at the difference. (And I didn’t use any bleach!)

Experiences?

Other Fiber Related Activities

Forgot to mention that I also have dyed some yarn this september. With plants. That meant, first to treat the yarn with Alaun. So don’t get any illusions about no chemistry when dyeing with plants. But Alaun is ok, I also wanted some Kaliumbichromid (or whatever that’s called in english) but got a bit scared after the pharmacist read all the side effects. And how I have to treat this drug. So i decided to go with Alaun. I used goldenrod, red clover, leaves and shells from walnut. Unfortunately my camera is not very good with yellow and brown, so no pictures so far (I am working on it though).