Sunday, January 3, 2016

Lets try this again.....

I've been meaning to get on here and post regularly, but something always prevents me. Some excuse of self-doubt that my writing skills won't be up to par or that my work isn't good enough or very plainly that I will have nothing to say. I'm trying this again......we'll see if it sticks this time.

Last year I meant to blog about the different yarns I was receiving with my YarnBox subscription. (www.yarnbox.com for those interested. I highly recommend it). Clearly by the lack of posts on this blog I never did get around to it.

I had that subscription for 6 months and it was extremely fun each month to get my new box and see what surprise was waiting for me. There were all sorts of color ranges and fiber types. I still have yet to find a project for all the skeins I received. The subscription did come with patters designed specifically for the yarn in a specific box, and they were all very wonderful; I just like to see what else is out there to my liking.

For Christmas this year, I received my first yarn dying kit. As my knowledge of knitting grows deeper it amazes me all the different avenues that sprout off from knitting. The possibilities seem endless. I became interested in yarn dyeing because I usually purchase hand dyed yarn because of the depth of color and range of fibers that are available. Don't get me wrong I like the acrylic store bought yarn as much as anyone else, but once I touched the world of fiber it's been hard to go back.

The kit is the Greener Shades acid dye kit and there are 3 skeins of the bare Precosia yarn (100% Merino Wool and purchased separately from the kit).  All the materials were ordered from knitpicks.com. Knitpicks is a favorite haunt of mine for yarn, needles, and now dye.

From everything I've been watching on youtube it's easy enough to use kool-aid to dye yarn and some people like it better because whatever pots you use to dye the yarn can be used again for cooking.  With the dyes pictured above, I had to source out a dutch oven like pot and measuering tools that I would never use again for cooking.  Thankfully I got a ton of measuring cups when I got married so I had some to spare.

So far I've dyed two skeins of yarn two different ways. I've kettle dyed a skein and I've handpainted a skein. The handpainted skein is currently drying in the bathroom. I'll post pictures of that one once it's dried and hanked.

Overall the dying process isn't very glamorous and to those who aren't as in love with the craft as I am might find it a bit dull.  I however find it fascinating. It must be tapping into my inner artist.

I'll post pictures of the two skeins I dyed in future posts. Hopefully the promise of that will keep me committed and dedicated to sticking with this for 2016.

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