Easter Woolly Wednesday: Part 1

 I tried very hard to resist the lure of the Easter egg dye but when I found this grungy bag of Cormo odds and ends in the fleece shed my fate was sealed.

It also helped that The Mister was gone for the day. He gets very nervous when I make messes of the dyeing variety in the kitchen.

 Cormo is a very delicate fiber and hard to wash so each lock was washed by hand. I give each lock a good soak one at a time while holding onto it for dear life. Once they hit water they explode and get all bent out of shape which is not good when it comes time to comb them out.

Each dirty end gets gently rubbed onto a bar of mild soap to loosen up that crud.

 As the locks get washed, I hang them onto the sink divider so they stay straight. After a few such soapings, they get a gentle rinse with hot tap water.

 The final wash is in a super solution of blue Dawn. I add some to the locks and work it in gently.

Now I have barely any water in the sink and I lay the soaped up lock in the shallow part and pat it carefully being mindful not to felt it by agitating the fiber too much.

The final rinse is with almost boiling water from the stove.

The cleanish locks get laid out for dyeing in the lids of take out containers. The Mister and I need to order in some Chinese in the near future. I need more lids.

I pour on the dye and pat it in. The dye tabs are mixed with white vinegar and just a splash of water.

The trays get covered with a plastic bag that I cut a slit in and steamed the microwave for a minute. I rotate the trays every minute so they are resting more than they are nuking. Rotating them all in and out takes a long time but it is the safest way to heat them and keep those locks in formation.

 I rinse the dyed locks the same way I wash them.

I give them a good pinch before I put them in the salad spinner for a short ride.

By now my hands have had enough and so have I.

The problem is that there is still fleece and dye left so I mix some odd colors to use it all up.

It is an Easter tradition for me to hate the colors and to declare the whole thing a fail and then dye some more while there is actual egg dyeing going on.

So I did-and pretty much got the same results. The only thing I did different was to stack up the trays of locks so I didn't have to stop and start the microwave all night while The Mister was trying to watch basketball. I'll be combing some out tomorrow so stop by again if you'd like to see how it all turns out.