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The sun is finally out and my workshop dyeing photographed. It’s about time on both counts, since the workshop was almost a week ago, and the sun’s been gone for about a year and a half.
immersion dyed merino and bfl
The workshop was great. We did a range of kettle dyeing, hand-painting, and immersion dyeing. I stuck mostly to just a few colours: turquoise, yellow, and magenta. Upon arriving at home, I looked through the powdered dyes I optimistically bought last year and haven’t had the time or space to use. And guess what colours? Yep, turquoise, yellow, and magenta. Sigh. Foresight? Coincidence? I hope everybody likes these colours because that’s what I’ll be dyeing with for the next while.
kettle dyed handspun
The kettle dyeing was the most challenging; my pours were blotchy and my colour choices less than inspired. But I’d like to get better at this technique because I think there’s real potential for unique colour combinations and variegation.
hand-painted silk in mermaid colours
Felicia’s studio was a fantastic place to learn to dye; she’s very generous with her knowledge and crammed a ton of useful information into 3 hours. I’m so pleased that I keep dreaming up colour combinations for my next knitting projects – for once, instead of wanting to buy yarn I want to spin and dye it myself! Check out the bamboo and merino roving. The bamboo, being a vegetable fibre, was left undyed by the acid dyes that coloured the wool. This one, I’m excited about spinning.
hand painted bamboo and merino roving
I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but I had to buy the 25g bags of tussah silk. When Karin showed me the pattern for a baby sweater she wanted to make, I suddenly knew what to do.
It’s a 50/50 blend of silk and merino that is so light, soft, and shiny that I know it will be great to spin. The carding process fluffed the fibre up into batts about five times the original size. I don’t think I’ll dye this – it’s so pretty and light the way it is.
carded merino and silk
ready for spinning
I’m very excited about my upcoming workshop with Felicia at sweetgeorgia on dyeing protein fibres. In preparation, I’ve been spinning as much as I can in my scant spare time. As pristine and lovely as they look now, I hope these skeins will look even better after immersion dyeing and handpainting with acid dyes next weekend.
from front to back: merino, polwarth, blue faced leicester, and a silk sample on top
toasty leg warmers
Whew…even bloggers need a holiday. It’s been awhile, but I’m excited about 2009 and all the new projects it brings.
Thanks to an unheard of amount of snow this holiday that kept me housebound for a few days, the leg warmers are finished, buttons and all. As I said before, I was surprised at the challenge of writing my own pattern, despite the simplicity. After wearing them for a day, I’ve discovered a few things that I would do differently – more overlap at the buttons and smaller button holes for sure. But they were true to their name and kept my legs toasty warm all day.
While I’m still working on the never-ending cardigan, I’ve been spinning like crazy in preparation for a dyeing workshop I’ll be taking at the end of January. I’ve also signed up for a second round of spinning at Place des Arts and await the arrival of my lovely new spinning wheel. After a trip to the amazing Weaving Works in Seattle over the holiday, I’ll need it to spin up all the wool and silk I now have.
My number one resolution this year? Buy less, make more!
