All Dyed Out...

I had a number of things I wanted to dye some yarn for.

Firstly, I wanted to dye some for a bag I was going to knit. This was quite coarse yarn, and so while I wouldn't put it on skin, this yarn felts beautifully so I dyed it up. I LOVE how it turned out. Needless to say it's still waiting to be knitted into a bag!

It reminds me of the colour inside raisins, which when googled brought up the name of one of my most favourite kids books ever 'Danny the Champion of the World'. Raisins were a part of the method Danny and his Father used to catch pheasants.

I've named it 'To Catch A Pheasant' but it's probably a bit obscure to anyone else!

Next, came some yarn I dyed up for my sisters birthday. As a kid she was a huge fan of purple, and 6 weeks ago she had the most beautiful baby girl. I wanted to dye her something purple (in the hope that she still likes purple and could 'selfishly' knit something for herself with it if she wanted. Or, that if she didn't like it for herself, it could be made into something for her gorgeous wee girl.

This is 200gms of Te Awa DK yarn, it's a wool/mohair blend. This one is simply named 'Delicate'

Right, then this was dyed for a colour swap. I was aiming for a bluey purple for my purpley swap

This is 150gms of Fabulous Fibres DK. It's actually a lovely base (in my opinion). I've called it 'Something Purple'.

But wait, there's more...

This, titled 'Camping Out' was when I was dying something to look the same as my 'Nightfire Hibiscus'. It's a simple overdye job but I decided I'd throw in some yellow to see what it would do, Well, I should've known but yellow on purple turns brown. It'll be ah, interesting to see what it knits up like.

Here's what it would've turned out like if I'd omitted the yellow. This was my 'Nightfire Hibiscus'

And then, I thought, I'd do one for me. I wanted one more dusty purple.

This was dyed on 200gms hank of Manukau Wools Ltd, Sierra Lana 8 ply DK.

I've called it 'Goodbye August'

I really do love it. And August, I'm glad you're over.

That enough for now? (I actually have a sneaking suspicion that there might've been another one in the dye-pot...but can't recollect it right now)

We Have Swift-Off

Sometimes my husband drives me nuts, and other times I think he is the best thing ever!

This week I've been thinking he's pretty fabulous since he made me a swift

It's a doo-dacky for winding wool into (and out of) hanks. I LOVE it and since he made it I've been dyeing up a storm for both my sisters birthday and a swap I'm taking part in. Pics of the yarnage tomorrow maybe :)

But here is my new baby

(since the photo though it has had a few more holes drilled and a couple of stabilising blocks added)

Transformation

Take a cone of 2ply merino, in the colour 'maize'

Hank - now hanking 160gms of 2ply without a swift takes a wee while... I won't bore you with a picture of it wound around chair legs.

Dye - this was kettle dyed using food colourings

Dry and then ball up ready for knitting. Now, the balling took forever, thank goodness for Blair being in a really good mood that night! He patiently sat there for about an hour and a half with his arms out as I hand wound the ball, fixing any snags that we had along the way. Then using the wool winder I reballed so I could have a centre pull ball (and so it was nice and tidy). I called it 'Emerald City'

And then the fun part - the knitting...

This is a large sized Ishbel named 'Arohanui'. It's going to be given with much love.

My first real lace and 2ply knitting, as well as my first time full on blocking, using and inserting a life line and my first time reading a chart. Crazy, I've been knitting for probably 20 years but I've been playing it a bit safe I think ;)

Get this though, there is still something like 110gms of the hand dyed yarn left!