On the aforementioned trip to Maine, several other colors happened as well. These are 2 of the first 3 skeins we dyed and are More Sock Yarn. The light gray/black skein came out of the dye pot before we added the blue dye. The batch was a practice run/proof of concept to make sure these blue-blacks were really what I was looking for. And they were.
By the way, steam doesn’t help when you’re trying to take pictures of yarn in the dye pot! This is really a pity because the colors are so gorgeous, especially after the water has cleared. All the different layers of color under the water’s surface was just mesmerizing, perhaps to the point of distraction. Stirring the dye pot was not actually encouraged for this technique but I really enjoyed it. I did not enjoy having to simmer the yarn and wait a whole 20-30 minutes before dumping, rinsing and hanging it out to dry. Waiting is not always one of my strengths… especially when there are pretty colors to be had!
Of course, it helps that my mother’s dye pot is big enough to hold several small children… but that becomes rather important if you’re trying to dye 8 skeins of bulky yarn all at once. Which was our next project.
It really never hurts to learn from an expert, I guess. I’m very very very happy with how all the colors came out! Not that dyeing is rocket science, but chemistry was also never one of my strengths either so having a practical demonstration I could participate in really helped.
Plus it’s fun to play with colors. Perhaps too much fun. As long as I don’t dye everything bright-frickin’-turquoise[1], we’ll probably be fine.
And, my mother is also a terrible influence. I bought a pattern book and a pattern plus some yarn at her new favorite yarn shop. Some of it is truly lovely green! Yes, I know, you’re dying of that surprise. Plus I snitched a bunch of books from her library. Some of which I am obligated to return. This is going to be a great test of my book borrowing skills as I am, in fact, terrible at returning books. (Oh, hi, Mum. You should have known that before now anyway.)
[1] It should be noted that there is an inordinate amount of turquoise dye in the possession of the myself and my mother.