Pictured are
- Resources: Besides D-S-K-Along hosts Margene and blogless Karen, my guides into the unknown are The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook by Lynne Vogel and Spinning in the Old Way by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. I bought the beautifully illustrated Twisted Sisters some time ago just for the section on colorwork knitting. Now I'm enjoying the other two-thirds of the book that deal with dyeing and spinning! Spinning in the Old Way is a recent acquisition, but an instant favorite, particularly valuable for its emphasis on top whorl drop spindling and its distinctions between spinning techniques for weaving and spinning techniques for knitting.
- Fiber: a generous bit of Finn top, purchased from Halcyon Yarn in Bath, Maine (once DH and I figured out the shop is in the opposite direction of the mighty shipworks). Priscilla Gibson-Roberts writes that Finn is her favorite fiber, having a blend of long hair and short hair that is ideal for soft yet durable socks. It seems somewhat scratchy to me, but I'm giving it a go. After all, Plan B is to buy undyed fiber at Rhinebeck. [g]
- Dye, otherwise known as Kool-Aid. Seems like a harmless enough way to dip a toe in the pool. I don't think I'll like the residual fragrance(s), so preferentially wanted to try Easter egg dye, but that's a seasonal product and not currently available. Soon ditto Kool-Aid, I suppose. I have some vague scruples about playing with (= wasting) food, but maybe Kool-Aid isn't really food. Curiously, all the formerly blue and green flavors seem to have gone colorless ("invisible")... er, did I miss an FDA memo about unsafe food colorings?
- Spindles: my Made By Ewe Golden Leaf and my red cedar Bosworth Featherweight, both currently occupied spinning that never-ending braid of jewel-toned Blue Face Leicester (notice how different the colors on the spindles are).
Reading ahead, the directions for steaming a batch of dyed fiber sound rather ominous (two turkey roasters? bricks??). I wonder if my old wok will do – after all, it's designed for efficient steaming. Has anyone ever tried this?
5 comments:
Good for you! I didn't join that because the dyeing just isn't practical for me. (My mother freaks at tomato sauce near her white sink--actual dye? Not an option. And really, there's not a single "dye-proof" sink in the house, so . . . I was planning on knitting up that handspun of mine as a supportive gesture, though! (Wheel-spun, too, of course. Really, I'm not out and about often enough to be able to get any real amount of spindling done, and at home, well, I'd rather be at my wheel!)
I just tried Kool Aid dying for the first time this past weekend. We did both the microwave and the stove top method. I think I prefer using the stove top just a bit. Green - I used something like Arctic Green and we got a nice blue with maybe Berry Blue (I have everything written down for a future blog post but of course the notes are at home and I'm not). Any questions, please ask.
Wow, scared of you...
If you don't want to use kool-aid, you can use regular food color. Try the Wilton colors from AC Moore. Chef Central in Paramus also carries a different brand of food colors.
Kathleen
that twisted sisters book is magnificent. i've had it for years, and it's how i knit my first socks. . . flat!
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