Come to the Bayou…
Yep, more dyeing today. I promise at least one non-dyeing post this week, probably two, so if you aren’t into dyeing hold tight, okay? For those of you interested in dyeing, want a closer look?
This one took a lot of piddling, but I think it will be worth it when I have a pair of completed socks. Casting on for those will have to wait for some time yet. If you look at the yarn in another form, it might be clearer what is going on in this yarn…
If you look at the image on the right there you might notice that it is mostly that brown-green at the bottom of the photo, but as you move up the photo the yarn becomes mostly aqua and cream with just touches of the brown-green. Well, I wanted to be able to have as close to matching socks as possible. So, I took the original hank of yarn and wound it into a center pull ball. Then, I took that center pull ball and wound it into a double thickness center pull ball. This essentially split the skein into two equal half skeins, but they are in a center pull ball still. Then, I soaked the ball in water and vinegar overnight wanting to make sure it got all the way to the center of the ball. I dyed it with Wilton’s Moss Green. So, the outside of the ball took up the color nearly evenly, but then it broke and took up less dye the farther into the ball you go. When the bath was exhausted I rinsed the ball a couple times and then pressed as much water out of it as possible and hanked it so I could rinse it better and so it could dry better. Then, I took that hank and split it back into single strands, but made two different balls (one hand made and one on the ball winder so I could untwist the strands without too much trouble). This seperation of the doubled yarn into single again was a looooong progress. I watched most of Say Anything while doing it.
That said, I think the work was worth it. The socks should have a semi-ombre look, but with varigation going from mostly the brown-green with more and more spots of aqua and cream showing up. I’m calling it Bayou. In showing it off at SnB and talking with Ashley last night I think it might be a great excuse to try my hand at toe-up socks so I can get the green at the toe and get lighter and lighter yarn as I go up the leg. But, as I mentioned before, it’ll be a while.
I have one more hank to dye (for now, LOL!) and I’m thinking I may repeat this process with the Wilton’s black as I understand that one breaks into some really fun colors.
I *did* finally get to SnB last night. I’ve not been doing well at being there this month. And, it seems the universe is in trouble should Snow and I both get to the same SnB gathering this month. I guess next Monday is her turn. Last night was just three of us long time die hards, but it was kind of a nice break, though I did definitely miss Snow and Amanda as I haven’t seen them since very early in the month. But, now that I actually got to go to SnB I feel like my week is sooooo much better than the past week’s when I haven’t made it. It’s probably a lot about getting out of the house and having non-writing centered conversations. Oh, but I’m soooo much happier today than this time last week! Thanks guys!
