Wednesday 10 October 2007

A Good Day to Dye

Or should I say....how to fix a really bad dye job......NO!!!!! I'm not talking about my hair.

I'm talking about 400 grams of a merino/silk blend.
I bought this fibre about 5 years ago from the lady who taught me how to spin. I loved it so much that I didn't let this stuff age in my stash, I spun it right away. But there it stayed until I could decide what to do with it.

Recently, I was playing around with some dyes and muck
ed it up royally. So I left the "skeins of shame" hang where they would be a constant reminder to my dyeing inadequacies. Frankly, they were screaming louder than any UFO ever could.

Let's just say that over dyeing is a wonderful way to save my bacon. What I did to it was just down right criminal...makes me shudder just to think of it. To make matters worse, the teen would ask what I was going to do with that ugly yarn. It is 70/30
merino/silk and doesn't deserve this. So, without further ado, here's what I did...in reverse.......

A close up of my hand spun.
The finished skein.What do you mean, you use your salad spinner for lettuce? It's a good thing DH and the girls like sauerkraut, I need the big jars for dyeing. Now you can see why I needed to over dye. We've had a long talk and the skeins have decided to forgive me. I'll finally be able to sleep at night.

Until next time
Yours in Yarn,
The Fibreholic

6 comments:

MadMad said...

OK. I realize I'm not the arbiter of all things tasteful.... but I liked the original yarn. Of course, I probably loved even more the fact The Teen said "What are you going to do with the ugly yarn?" though now I'll have to clean Fresca off my keyboard for snorting it out. Oh well. Good thing I know how, then, right? Oh, and also, the new and improved yarn looks great!

TinkingBell said...

Love the yarn (but didn't mind the original either!!! (What a great use for a salad spinner!!!!)

Georgie said...

Yeah, have to agree that the new dye job is better than the old one, imho.

Now, whats it gonna become??

Kate said...

Thank goodness you left the ugly photo for the last - although I can't help but wonder if it would have knitted up purty.

Your comment re marking inheritable items on Taphophile's blog made me laugh. My great Grandmother did this with a permanent marker underneath beautiful handmade furniture her husband made just after WW1. Mum has a couple of pieces with the original recipient's names underneath. Great way to learn the family tree!

Denise said...

Good rescue job, although I'd have liked to have seen how the original dye job would have knitted up. The reds are lovely :)

BRILLIANT use of a salad spinner (casts eyes cupboard-wards at my Zyilss spinner, which scuttles into a dark corner....)!

Nancy said...

Hi:
I found your blog site on my granddaughters blog, Kristen.
I like the yarn with the new dye, but I have to admit, I love the yarn right as it comes off the animal. I have pictures of some I
bought in Holland direct from a lady who raised the sheep and spun the yarn. I really want to spin, but I haven't yet braved that.
Nancy