Remotely Dyed

Or: 2nd Annual Fiber with Friends Event

It was so exciting to be reunited with Oogy and LW for another dye fest, even though we weren't able to replicate all of the elements of last year's in-person event.  Our remote event exceeded my expectations--it was fun, informative, affirming, and fruitful!

Before I show you my meager product from this year, I offer an update from last year: 

Iris yarn with 2020 irises

This is yarn that I spun from last year's dyeing event.  I still don't know what I'm going to do with this yarn, other than take pictures of it next to the irises in my garden. That's not much of an update...

This year, we preempted the fun by dyeing yarn to send to LW so that she had it to ogle while we met remotely.  I had some dye left over from that, so I used it for a base coat on this roving.  Then I made Oogy and LW pick the other colors.  

Shetland top with a base coat of clay.  It is speckled with twilight,
cornflower, golden yellow, and grape juice.

Nice job you 2!  I can't wait to spin it!

When your guru says "speckle"

you speckle.

By now you know that my fiber guru is Oogyknitter, and you also know the array of fiber adventures upon which she has encouraged us both to embark.  Spin your own yarn: done.  Dye your own roving, yarn, sock blanks: done.  Add beads: done.  Do gymnastics in the form of knitting 2 socks at once: done.  So, no surprise when she gives me a new challenge a few months ago: speckle dying. 

The dare was cast when she gave me 2 skeins of speckle-dyed sock yarn for Xmas 2019. She took materials we had left-over from our Memorial Day dye-intensive weekend and with the guidance of a YouTube video and probably some adult beverages, generated this gorgeous yarn.  I recognized the colors, but the dye effect was new.  So beautiful.  Did I take a picture of the beautiful skeins?  No.  But I have made a pair of socks and a pair of wrist warmers that are absolutely awesome.

These colors say Spring to me.

Inspired by such newly-acquired skein beauty, I made my own attempts.  I understood the concept, but it takes some experimenting to achieve the right density of color. I’m not sure I’m there yet, but I have generated a great deal of dyed yarn in the process.   

Potential

There is something so exciting about trying out new dyeing techniques, as long as you accept that it might not work out so well.  I have a sock blank in my dye studio (messy basement with fermenting dye in jars) to remind me of just how very fugly things can get.  Do not ask me to show this to you—it is too disturbing. Not deterred, I forged ahead.

I decided to let the dye get more densely distributed.

These squares of machine-knitted Franklin, pictured below as skeins, are in the process of becoming short socks.

I will keep developing my speckle-dyeing skills!