Long Color Repeats #1

The first couple pictures suck...  I fixed the white balance after.

I wanted to try some long color repeats.  I did this a bit ago to make some self striping sock yarn.  I used a different method to make my mini-skeins which I liked better.  I'll blog about that another day though.

This time I used my niddy-noddy and wrapped 4 times before pulling off the loops, tieing in a few places and then doing it again (and again and again).  

 Here's my re-purposed canning pot with water in it getting hot.

I'm REALLY glad I test fit my yarn while it was dry.  The first jars I tried were not big enough.  I know you're supposed to soak the yarn first - but I've tried to move/untangle wet yarn before and it's a nightmare.  So I decided to do this my way and see what happened.  

 I filled the jars and then heated everything and let them soak for an hour.  (That seems like a good time.  It was a bit unintentional since it was while I was trying to convince my kids to go to sleep...)

My dyes...  I have a sad.  I wanted to make up a 0.3% DOS solution for the 1/3 of the skein that each dye was going to be used for.  I CAREFULLY figured out how much dye powder I'd need for each dye for 1% DOS.  Then I divided that to get my 0.3% solution.  However, I forgot/got distracted and neglected to divide by 3.  So - I got really nice bright colors when I was going for pastels.

All heated up.

I added the dye slowly.  I diluted my mixtures quite alot so that I could vary where I added it.  I used a large syringe to start at the bottom with some, then mix with a stir stick.  Then I added more and more and stirred trying my best to get even coverage.  

After it cooked for the suggested times, I added the citric acid and my dye bath nicely exhausted.

Drying.

It's growing on me.  It was supposed to be light blue, pink and purple - but I like this too!

Cake Dyeing

I've tried this once before and I really liked the effect.  So I decided to do it again and this take take pictures of the process. 

I'm using Greener Shades acid dyes and Knit Picks Bare. 

This is 1 skein of bulky and I think it will make an amazing hat for someone. 


Here's the cake warming up in my dye pot.  I use that paddle thing you can see on the stove to gently press it against the sides to remove the bubbles. 

Here's my dye.  I used 1% solution for 2oz of yarn.  That was more than I needed.  This was ~3/4 green and 1/4 black.   I then diluted it with water so that I had a good chance of even coverage.

The set up.

I used a syringe to  add the dye (mainly adding it to the water around the outside of the pot).  

Right after I added the dye.

I let it soak for a bit and then turned it over in the pot.

Then I added my citric acid premixed with water.  Then I used my paddle thing to press the yarn against the  side of the pot to help the dye permeate further into the cake.  It might look really dark on the  outside - but rest assured, most of the yarn isn't dyed. I took care not to squish it vertically because I want there to be white in the middle.

In the sink.

For this pic, I pulled the cake apart a bit and you can see what I mean.

I found that it took ALONG time last time for the yarn to dry in the cake.  So this time I pressed out as much water as I could and then started skeining it.  You can see that once I've removed the really dark outer layers, it looks really neat inside.  

This it the skein hanging to dry in the kitchen.There are probably 10 loops of really dark green, and then a really cool mottled effect on the rest of the yarn.  Dark bits where the yarn was on the top/bottom of the skein and lighter bits where it was closer to the inside and then while from the middle (horizontally) where the dye didn't reach.  

A close up..

New Directions

Well, I've also been meaning to post about this for awhile.

I finally opened my Etsy shop.  Asylum Knits and Yarn

: )

I've been thinking about this for awhile.  And, it seemed like in the middle of the school year would be a perfect time to get started. In many ways it has been a comedy of errors and far more complicated than I thought possible.

You'd think that after people have been selling stuff online for this long, they'd have figured out how to make it smooth and work well.  But I was stunned at how complex they have made it.

And then I had to make my product.  :0  That's the fun part.  And it would have been easy if I'd stuck to what I knew.  But I am never happy doing the same things over and over, so I decided to explore a new method of dyeing yarn using acid dyes. I have really enjoyed learning new things about how dye works and how to make it do what I want.

But the hardest part has been promoting my shop.  I want people to buy my yarn, and that means they have to find me.  I think I entirely underestimated the amount of work it would be to spread the word.  I try on facebook to post without flooding people.  I'm trying to play the games on Etsy.  I participate in the various methods they have to promote.  But, it's still hard.  And it's frustrating trying to figure out what tags to use and then annoying that other people use the same ones even though they are selling something entirely different.

Anyway - I'm planning to combine the insanity of school with kids and selling hand dyed yarn. 

And, here's my new button!

School with Kids

I've been thinking about posting something on this for quite awhile.  When people who know me as a mother hear that I'm back in school, they tell me I must be crazy.  When my classmates find out I have kids, they get this look on their face and tell me something about how brave I am and how much work it must be. 

So, what's it like?  It's really hard in the way that having lots to do with kids around is really hard.  But it's also easier in some way than working full time.

When is it easy?  When I only have classes for a few hours a day, I get to spend time with the girls.  And....  That's pretty much it.

When is it hard?  The rest of the time. 

There is some special provision to Murphey's Law that applies to people with children.  It states that otherwise perfectly healthy children will come down with an exceptionally nasty flu/cold/puking disease the night before a big exam.  Children who have been sleeping well, will suddenly cease to ever sleep as midterm/final week rolls around.  The children will go to bed easily and quickly on a night when you have nothing to do.  This is a nice break, but it does NOT make up for them being entirely incapable of falling asleep for hours upon hours on a night when you have homework/studying that just must get done. 

And don't forget that all the other student crap still applies.  Except now there are more factors at play.  Remember how it seemed that assignments and tests and other miscellaneous things would somehow manage to all happen at the same time.  That's still true.  But now add in kid's birthdays, special days at school, doctor's appointments, playdates and all the other engagements that small children seem to have.  

Do I regret going back to school with young children?  No.  I think that the way it shakes down is that it's probably easier that working full time.  The day starts a bit later, it ends a bit earlier.  The work can be done after the kids go to bed.  But, I won't be sad when I'm done and can move on.