Tuesday, February 7, 2012

I Heart Corriedale



That 12 pound Corriedale fleece that I bought last May has finally reached its full potential. Unfortunately, I had too much fun plying it and it took on a life of its own.



It had an over abundance of energy. It needed a lot of taming so it got a long, hot bath.



Since I was going to have to show this yarn who was boss, I decided I might as well put some color on it at the same time. I am not the most talented dyer out there, in fact, I stink at it so I decided to do something simple-with only one color. Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I picked Russet.



As per instructions in Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan, I made a little nest out of a giant plastic bag that was inside a big pot.



I mixed three different strengths of the dye solution. I started by pouring on the weakest solution first.



I kneaded it in, but was afraid of felting so I went lightly on the massaging. It proved to be an error because it came out blotchier than I wanted.



It went for a spin in the microwave for about 6 minutes. Heating 2 minutes, resting 2 minutes and repeating it until the solution ran clear.



There was a little pink in the water but not enough to worry about.



After a spin I could see that there was some white spots and some very harsh dark blotches. It's a pretty amateur looking job.



It's not the worst dye job I have ever done but it is not what I wanted. That elusive gradient quality that I admire in other people's work seems to be beyond my meager abilities-but I'm not giving up. There is plenty more white stuff where this came from that I can ruin.

1 comment:

  1. Here's my little pro hand-dyer tip - don't worry too much about what it looks like in the skein (blotchy etc) - it will look COMPLETELY different knit up. Reskeining will give you a better idea - it mixes things up so those dark and light blobs aren't all together. Trust me - you've got a beautiful semi-solid there!

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