Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Can't control myself!


Yes, I have again bought more yarn. Some of it though is for hand dying and possible resale, if it turns out pretty. I got 5 skeins of Knitpicks Bare-Superwash/nylon fingering weight. I have been researching dying fiber with Wilton icing dye. I have tried some techniques out and my choice is as follows: 1. soak wool in a combo of vinegar and hot water. 2. remove excess water from wool. 3. dissolve varying amounts of dye in simmering water. 4. either using dip dying or hand painting allow yarn to soak in dye. 5. wrap fiber in plastic wrap (good kind!). 6. place in vegetable steamer and allow to steam for 1 hr. Couple of tips: I don't put the steamer lid on completely, I did try this but found that it got too hot and bubbled up (I thought it was going to burst). Do not pack the steamer too tight, it will not allow the air to circulate properly.


I will keep you up to date on my progress and post pics of finished products. Here are some pics of my sample pieces. The color didn't represent very well, but give an idea of the great colors you can get.


By the way, here are some links were I got a lot of this info:






No comments: