Dye Jobs

It finally feels like summer, never mind that the calendar says September. Jim and I are both on vacation this week and the weather couldn't be better: sunny and warm without a cloud in the sky.

We're having another staycation and I had planned all sorts of knitting projects, but instead I find myself dedicated to churning out a pair of white lace socks. So relaxing! But there has been more color in my life, in the form of a couple more dye experiments. Here's what the kids called my Fruit Loop color way:

I tried the cold paint method, where you get the dye on the yarn cold, then heat the yarn set it. I wrapped the yarn in plastic wrap and put it in the crock pot with some water to warm it up. The dye leaked out of the plastic but the colors didn't mix. I'm learning that once the color goes on, it pretty much stays where you put it. I guess I thought there would be more transfer of colors within the yarn, like mixing paint on paper, but there's not. I also experimented with re-skiening and I like the effect. I'm very curious about how this color-way will knit up.

Today I dyed what I think looks like Summer Berries:

I find I go in with one plan of dying and end up doing things with colors on the fly. In this case, I used a spritz bottle to spray some blue on parts that I thought were too light. I don't know if I like the effect. The colors are a bit pale and muddy in places. Not in a bad way since at least I stayed on one side of the color wheel. The important thing is I'm learning about the way yarn and dye behave together.

I was wanted to see what the Kermit in a Blender yarn would look like knit up so I cast it on for my next traveling sock:

This green must have been beginner's luck because I think it is by far my best dye job. Perhaps I need to get away from the kiddie food color shades.

And lookie at this. A yarn prezzie all the way from Sock Summit! Aren't I a lucky duck?

Boy, I've got a lot to learn.