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Sunday, August 05, 2007

 

D'oh!

Mantra: "It's only my first try." Repeat until the anguish subsides.


Here is yesterday's dismal failure first attempt at dyeing sock yarn with jacquard dyes. Going back over my instructions from Hello Yarn, which by the way are good instructions, no accounting for operator error, I realized I could have done any of three or four things incorrectly. Today, I'm going to retrace my steps, doing the following things differently:

  • Plenty of water for the initial soak, using kitchen sink instead of plastic basin.


  • Way, way, WAY less vinegar in the dye solution! No kidding, the kitchen smelled like there was a major spill at the Summer's Eve factory. Yeah, I know, "eww", but I'm really struggling here.
Last post, Kathleen commented about my serendipitous Kool-Aid dyeing results. I can only ascribe it to plain old dumb-ass beginner's luck! I mixed the colors double strength, and unlike the yarn in the photo above, I used the right amount of vinegar. If there's too much vinegar in the solution, it will make it too acidic and the dye will "strike" (am I impressing the heck out of you with my technical knowledge? I can only thank the authors of the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook) too quickly, resulting in white spots all over your prettily colored yarn. Which is what happened to me.

The other skein I attempted to dye yesterday--I'm afraid I killed it. It moaned weakly for its mama, then flatlined. It looks so much like ass that I can't bear to even take a pic, much less post one. I really don't know if it's fixable.
Because I don't want your eyes to hurt from the first photo, here's a cute dog picture to look at.

A shout out to trek for bringing me into the 21st century by passing on instructions on how to do the crossing out words thingy. HTML--Hell Yeah!


Knitting: something I know how to do.



Yarn is from stash, honest! It's Lorna's Laces "Shepherd Worsted". The first person for whom I made lace-up fingerless mitts has a birthday coming up, and she has expressed a wish to have "garter" socks. And indeed, Knitty has a pattern for just such an item. Worsted on size 2 needles?! Yes. Not quite instant gratification, but almost.



And finally, here's some Monkey business just getting under way.





Only one pattern repeat into it, and I am already convinced that it is the coolest sock pattern ever.

Must go now--I think the poor tortured skein has soaked long enough. Let's see how else I can screw up exercise my creativity today!








# posted by Sharon @ 11:22 AM
Comments:
I know it wasn't exactly what you were going for, but it is still really pretty, kind of hippie tye die ish...
# posted by Blogger flutter : 1:49 PM
 
I am sorry for the premature loss of your yarn skein. It is so difficult to accept the sudden loss when they flatline like that. But you are right, the dog IS pretty cute.
# posted by Blogger Quail Hill Knits : 3:59 PM
 
Aw, at least you know what you did wrong and got that out of the way. I love the socks! I'm almost convinced to make some monkey socks now. Might as well hop on the bandwagon too! Btw, Cecily did get her swap package but she lost her camera cord, hence no photos. She loved her stuff. I hope you are doing awesome.
:)
# posted by Blogger Fancy Pants : 5:07 PM
 
Oh, kah-wit! You sound like you're learning a ton, so the "mistakes" can't be totally worthless. Hard to look at, maybe. But let's keep in mind that there are professionals out there who dye dreadful yarn and then manage to sell it even when it appears to have more in common with road kill. Yours is more like...clown vomit.

BTW, what's the LL colorway? Rainbow? I think I found it is sock weight somewhere, and I'm thinking...yes, definitely...monkeys would look kinda cool in those colors.
# posted by Blogger Mel : 12:21 AM
 
clown vomit? um...thanks, Mel! ;)

You're right, the Lorna's Laces colorway is Rainbow.
# posted by Blogger Sharon : 11:47 AM
 
I like your dyed yarn...it reminds me of tye-dye, very groovy man. Your dog and cat are much too cute!! I can't wait to see your finished monkeys, too!
# posted by Blogger Kiki : 5:57 PM
 
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