Sunday, February 19, 2006




Greetings!

So I'm finally getting my Blog on the road. I hope it gets easier as it's just taken me two hours to get my photo into my profile!

Dyeing my fingers

I spent an afternoon this week, dyeing wool. I've done this before, using acid dyes and boiling on the stove, but this time I wanted to space dye in order to get a variegated effect. I'd bought some undyed sock wool for this purpose, during a shopping trip to Get Knitted in Bristol, and soaked it in vinegar solution while I researched technique. My son was very disappointed as he thought he was having spaghetti for dinner!

I mixed up an assortment of dye powders with water in jam jars, covered a tray with clingfilm and lay out the skeins of wool. Then I poured over the dye in blocks of colour, made an enclosing parcel with the clingfilm, and steamed over a pan of boiling water in a steaming basket balanced on a jam jar. I also dyed some pre-dyed sock wool that was not variegated enough for my taste. I was really thrilled with the results.

I've started knitting Grumperina's Jaywalker socks from MagKnits (sorry, can't do links yet) You might guess that I like blues, turquoise, purple....

The colour is pretty fast - my fingertips and nails are still somewhat turquoise some five days later!






7 comments:

Jess said...

Good luck with the blog!!

Liz Plummer said...

Welcome to Bloggerdom, Sue!

Unknown said...

Well done Sue,
you made it

Zaz said...

great stuff! sue! well done on getting it up and running !

now I can enjoy news of bristol!

sara

Unknown said...

Welcome to the world of blogs :) Love the colours of the wool. Helen

Ambermoggie, a fragrant soul said...

welcome to Blogger Sue and love the yarn you dyed:)

Digitalgran said...

Welcome Sue. It looks good!
Did you really dye that sock wool yourself? It's a lovely colour.
Clever girl.