Thursday, January 28, 2010

Yarn Dyeing with Brooke



We had a fun and exhausting day together dyeing wool for Brooke. We used acid dyes from Dharma Trading Company and lots of water and vinegar. Everything was dyed in the microwave, at 2 minute batches, checking to see if we needed more color. Sometimes we added additional color after the dye had cooled down and looked too close to another color. For example the lime green ended up looking too much like the yellow so we added more green to it. I loved her purple so much that I went and got another skein of sock yarn and dyed it purple too. (it's in the sink photo,  upper right)  But I should have dyed some of that lime green. It is so gorgeous.

20 comments:

  1. Judy from Northport5:27 PM

    Luscious!

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  2. Oh, Nooooooooooooooooooooo, you are addicted. You've found Dharma. It's one of my favorites.... Love your rainbow of colors. Very cool. I could look at them all night....

    Hugs and Dye on,
    Kate - The Garden Bell

    Yes, I'm addicted to dyeing yarn...

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  3. diane7:15 PM

    Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!!!

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  4. Wiping drool off my keyboard as I look at all that gorgeous yarn! It's almost a sensory overload...

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  5. Anonymous7:41 PM

    WOW! Beautiful colors!

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  6. SO beautiful! Can you give us a list of the color names? Love that turquoise. I could just sit here all day and soak in your beautiful colors!!

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  7. What yarn are you using?
    Love, love, love those smashing colors! !

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  8. I could roll around in all that colour!!!! Wow!!!! beautiful!

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  9. Oh, my gosh! Those colors!!!! So you! Brooke must be ecstatic!

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  10. Anonymous5:49 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  11. Anonymous6:51 AM

    Loooooovely, but you are not quite there yet. There are still a few colors/shades missing. Look at Attic24's box again.

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  12. Dear Anonymous,
    We were all about filling in the missing colors in Brooke's stash. She has more...don't we all?

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  14. I am estatic, and some of Attic 24 colors are not really what I wanted...altho they are lovely, I was looking for something different. And I got it!

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  15. Teresa9:08 AM

    I am with Darlene - I am drooling too! And I also would love to know what yarn you used. Did you use the dyeing method you have on your side bar? As a brand new crocheter (is that a word) because of you and Attic24 I can't wait to dye some yarn!

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  16. We used some old Paton's 100% wool worsted from Hobby Lobby ages ago. It is not really white to start, more like natural. But it worked ok.
    We used very large gladware containers. Fill halfway with warm not hot water/vinegar 50/50 and add a tiny bit of dye. It is sooooooo potent that a little goes a long way. Then after presoaking the yarn in shampoo to get out the excess oils, squeeze out the excess water and lower yarn into the dye container. Using a rubber gloved hand...press the yarn into the dyewater to get it all through the yarn. Microwave on high for two minutes and check to see what is happening. Move the yarn with a tongs to get it all dyed. You can add more dissolved dye to this mixture if the color is too pastel. It might be done after the first two minutes, but it can't hurt to zap it again for another two minutes. Be careful not to disturb it too much or shock it with cold water. Let it cool and then use shampoo and creme rinse for the wash.

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  17. These colors were so delicious I started salivating! I've just made my first sock, ever (the second one is still in process) and now I think I'm going to have to start dyeing my own yarn. Thanks for the beautiful, succulent colors!

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  18. I'll bet you can dye just about any textile or fiber on the planet, can't you? Your colors are just delicious!

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  19. these colors are so yummy i wish i wore socks!it would make me want to learn to knit!
    barefooted in the islands, really, sonja

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