Adventures in dyeing

I am counting the weekends down to when we move, but I am not putting my life on hold.
It is so frustrating to make things in a small space when you know there’s a craft room bigger than your lounge room just around the corner. But I can’t not make things.

So, inspired by Jesse, (aka oocha and wee pleasures) I dyed some yarn.

And it was so much fun.

I have researched dyeing methods before and wrote it off as something to do once I had more space and equipment. But the chalk legs tutorial that Jesse pointed to is by far the easiest. As I had purchased some Moda Vera Pure Wool in anticipation of dyeing at some point I was able to do everything with materials I already had.

I didn’t follow the instructions very well the first time, and added ALL THE COLOUR at once. Which once I figured out my mistake I immediately took it out and then plunged the wool into cold water. And then I realised my second mistake, pure wool doesn’t appreciate sudden changes in temperature. Fortunately not too much damage was done. It felted slightly but it still ran through my ball winder ok.

All of the dying was done using McCormick food colouring. It comes with a handy colour mixing chart on the back and so I mixed the right amount of drops together in a spoon and then plunged the spoon into the water (or dye bath as it is known!)

It’s all really basic and really a lot of fun. And if the colours all look really hideous together please don’t tell me. They all look rather fetching to my slightly colour-blind eyes.

I did try to be inspired by something, but I don’t think food colouring dye charts are sophisticated enough to capture the Adelaide Crows complex palette.