Sunday, October 26, 2008

Adventures in Dyeing Sock Yarn Blanks, Part 1

Yesterday, the Third Star Fiber Guild had a dyeing workshop at one of the members' houses. I thought it would be cancelled, due to the fact that the hostess took a tumble down her basement stairs and broke three ribs (and a toe), but no. PattyAnn insisted on carrying on with business as usual. Ouch, ouch, ouch. If anyone has a minute, head on over to her blog and send some rib-healing-vibes her way.

Here is a shot of some of the ladies dyeing the sock yarn blanks. Busy, busy, busy.


Viola - the first one out of the steamer bath!


A shot of about half of the sock yarn blanks. Some had already gone home, and mine was still in the steamer bath.

Here is a shot of mine. It was supposed to be red, white & blue, but the blue dye ran as I was rinsing it. Oh well - it's all good. I just soaked it in vinegar & water to "set" the dye, so hopefully it won't bleed any more. Just in case, I'll probably keep the socks made from this yarn for myself. I don't really want to give the gift of blue feet.

You're supposed to be able to knit two socks at a time from the dyed fabric. I'm not so sure about knitting with yarn that looks like those crinkly Chinese noodles, so I separated the two strands and wound them on a swift.
I'm going to soak the skeins and then hang them out to dry on a really handy-dandy yarn dryer thinga-ma-bob that dad made for me a few years ago. Stay tuned for Part 2!

6 comments:

Criquette said...

Wow! I'm not sure how it would have looked if the colors hadn't run, but that looks bee-yoo-te-full - can't wait to see how it knits up!

Donna Lee said...

That looks like lots of fun to do. Maybe now I'll buy one and try it. I've never dyed yarn, just roving. Are all the blanks that crinkly when you unravel them?

Lapdog Creations said...

Hey.. I believe the trick here is to NOT unravel the blanks.. you're supposed to knit directly from the "flat" blank - not unravel it first. :)

silfert said...

Oh, but it's fun to see it in a hank! Or is that held by a hunk? I need more coffee.

These blanks would be a reason to get a knitting machine. You could whip up blanks to dye, then knit the socks by hand.

Natalie Rush said...

Oh how fun!! I want to do that too!! I hope to order some in the near future to dye!!

Anonymous said...

Does your group take orders? There are quite a few of the sock blanks shown that I love! Yours looks so cool, it's too bad the blue ran, I wonder how the sock will come out with the little triangles inside the lines. I also love the purple one on the left of the group shot, as well as the polka dot one...oh and the blue one with the watery-looking blue stripes. You guys did a great job!

What did you use to dye them? Koolaid? Natural dyes? Chemical dyes? Food coloring?