Monday, July 16, 2007

the results

Here are the results of my weekend dyeing spree.

The worsted weight wool that was pour-dyed and wrapped like a sausage before steaming in the microwave - a little on the bright side but I'll use it.

This is the other skein of worsted wool that is pictured in the last post but I overdyed it (immersion method) with yellow to fill in the white gaps. Yikes! Can you imagine a grassy field with dandelions? Now imagine it on steroids...

This is a skein of sport weight Knit Picks Bare Superwash Merino that was pour-dyed. I thought that I had diluted the colors a lot but they're still pretty vibrant. It'll be okay for socks. I really saturated the wool with dye but it is still dyed unevenly. I like the effect but I guess you have to immerse the wool to get complete coverage.
I obviously have a lot to learn about color theory and dye intensity so will be heading back to the books to do a little research before trying the next round of dyeing. I have new respect for the wonderful fiber artists out there that are producing such beautiful yarns. If you haven't already done so, check out Etsy for some great examples.

I resisted trying to dye my own wool for a long time because I thought it would be messy and complicated. Using the microwave, this is not a difficult process at all.

1 comment:

Peacecat said...

Your yarns are lovely. Bright, yes, but not in a bad way. I think they'll all knit up very nicely. I find that sometimes yarns look garish before they are reskeined. Once reskeined, the colors blend more and the look is more harmonious. I've been bitten by the dyeing bug too. I often look to etsy for inspiration. So far I've had pretty good results. Not always what I intended, but nothing unusable so far. I even sold a few of my skeins on etsy! It was hard to part with them, but by selling them I could make money to buy more yarn to dye. Have fun dyeing!