Solar Dyeing

Remember that white yarn I spun up a few weeks ago? I decided to try solar dying it with some of my Turk's Cap. I've been wanting to try for a while now, ever since I read about using Turk's Cap in this excellent book. And goodness knows the plant has been growing like gang-busters this year, so I had plenty to spare.

I had Craig help me with the alum mordant, since I'm still nursing and you can never be too careful with the chemically stuff. Though in all honesty, alum is probably no more dangerous than most of the stuff we have in the garage, but just in case...

After the yarn was mordanted, I cut a bunch of Turk's Cap - flowers, seedheads, leaves and stems - and simmered it in the dye pot for a good while. It smelled like any other greens you might cook up, in case you are wondering.

I have read that you can eat Turk's Cap, but it didn't look too appetizing.

After that, I poured it into my trusty kimchee jar I found next to the dumpster at our old apartment. Thank goodness for multi-cultural neighbors.

Then I put it in the yard and ignored it for a few days.

After a rinse and some drying time, I now have soft, peachy yarn.

I was only ho-hum about the color (natural dyes are never as impressive as synthetic) until I noticed that it is the same color as my little bluestem seedheads in the foreground. I have a soft-spot for little blue as it's such a fine example of a prairie plant struggling to remain unpaved.

Not sure what I'll make with it yet.

Yarn stuff

This is a fiber-intensive post, so for those of you who have no interest in such stuff you might want to just move along today.

I finished a new scarf. Pink Lady Scarf from Interweave Crochet, Fall 2009. It's in KnitPicks Gloss sock yarn. Color is burgundy. It should be nice and warm without being too bulky and it's just a little feminine without being frilly.


Next on the list, I finished two big 'junk' batts. They were made up of left-overs of all sorts of stuff. They were fun to spin just 'however'...very slubby and thick and thin. There's even a little sparkle in them.


Last but definitely not least, I worked on some bulky spinning which is very difficult for me to do anymore. Spinning finer is far easier after the initial spinning learning-curve. But I had some super soft, sproingy Cormo waiting to be made into some extra-huggable yarn. The yarn's not perfect, but it is so, so, so very soft. I need to figure out if I'll dye it or not.

What color would you dye a cloud?

A fiber update

I've had a few things on the needles and on the bobbin recently. All are for folks who don't know they're getting something, so I here are a few hints only.


P.S. - Big I has been walking today. From a cruising position and from getting himself up off his bottom in the middle of the floor. Then he gets so excited while he's moving that he kinda crash-lands. Poor Foz got squashed this morning. Video to come I'm sure.

Indigo dyeing

Every time I think of dyeing with indigo it launches me into "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

(If any of you had to click on that link to find out what I was talking about, shame on you.)

Now that that's out of my system: at my spinners guild meeting on Sunday, we did some dyeing with indigo. Since I'm still nursing Big I, our fearless leader, Laura, didn't allow me (or my friend, Shannon, who is also nursing) to get hands-on with any of the actual dye process just to be on the safe side...chemicals and all. Some of the other folks were kind enough to dye some things for me.

Remember that mustard yellow sweater from the thrift store?

Not any more.

Plain ol' white pre-fold dipes?

Not any more.

Mucky grey yarn from a previous botched dye job?

Not any more.

I'm told it's the coolest process. You put your material into a mucky-green colored liquid thinking it's going to look terrible and then as you pull it out of the dye bath and into the oxygen it turns the most lovely blue. Totally cool. Maybe next time I'll get to do it myself.

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It's lovely weather here. Brisco was a big help while I was getting some pictures outside.



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And some obligatory cuteness.


By the way, he slept through the night for the second time last night.

Pinky!

Knitting and spinning update today.

I finished spinning the Chocolate-Covered Cherries colorway that I really am not too fond of. I still don't care for it much now that it's plied; just too much pink. I decided to just go with a basic 2-ply since I was so uninspired by it. It'll probably be stashed away for now until I find a good project for it.


Speaking of pink, I also finished a baby sweater for our friend's Sarah and JR who are expecting in July. I actually made this sweater a long time ago, so I'm glad it will finally have a recipient. It's a very simple and very adaptable top-down raglan. Lots of fun to knit. I especially like that the raglan 'seams' are purled so the make a sort of ribbing that expands as the baby moves around.


I added a little "A" for some extra interest as there is reportedly a 95% chance that her name will start with that letter.


And as a bonus, it's completely reversible. A little too much spit-up to hide? No problem, just turn it inside out. The other side has a nice texture from the purl bumps. And just look at how nice and neat I wrapped the colors. Am I good or what?


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The Ham was being cute lounging away while awaiting his wardrobe change this morning.


What a goof.

What I've been working on

Just a small project review today.

First, I got this sweater when a friend of one of the ladies in my spinning guild's mom died. (Did you follow that?) It was all completely done except for some closure. I wanted to put some pretty, vintage-esque buttons on it but for the life of me couldn't figure out why she hadn't put any button holes in. I won't tell you how long it took before it dawned on me...duh, she didn't intend to put in buttons. That nice firm, non-buttonholed front edge is for a ZIPPER.

Anyway, my attempt at using the sewing machine to put it in was more trouble than it's worth. Even with a million pins, the stretch hand-knit bunched and moved around too much for my remedial sewing skills. I'll hand sew it.


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I ordered some luscious Superwash Merino and Tencel in the "Chocolate Covered Cherries" colorway from Susan's Spinning Bunny a few weeks ago. It was supposed to become a moebius scarf for Mom since she liked the first one I made. I wasn't too sure I liked the colors though. So I gave her the first scarf I had done and decided to play with the new colorway.

I'm still not sure I like it. More correctly, I'm not sure if I like all the pink. It's way more pink than I expected.


The two bumps were very different in how the colors changed, too. They may have been dyed at different times. The first one is pictured below had some really nice color transitions and less pink, so I was hopeful. The second and one in the picture above, was less subtle in its color changes and was supremely pink. You can definitely see the difference even with them on the bobbin. I'm still debating on how to ply it. Chain ply? Regular ol' 2 ply? I dunno. We'll see.


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After last weekend at New Haven Gardens, my wheels have been turning over raised beds. I did a little recon work at Home Depot yesterday, and man oh man, are cinder blocks cheap. And easy to work with, and sturdy. So I've been drawing out designs and mulling over how to make them look nice.


I had thought about Hardie Board siding, but I don't know if you can glue it up or not. I could also stain the blocks, but they'd still be pretty flat and ordinary in any color. Right now, I'm thinking about the plywood Dad used in the basement. It has a look of rough-cut boards. That could probably be applied as a facing. What was that stuff called, Dad?