Dyeing Fibre & Yarn

I've been messing in the dye pots again:


A knitter's Paintbox, Part I
Merino Superwash High Twist Yarn
Fingering weight
Gradient dyed
Part 2 & 3 coming soon!

Nor' Wester
Merino/Bamboo 80/20 blend
150g

Purple Rain Gradient Set.
Superwash Merino
100g











The lighting in the photo's is not so good but the colours are showing pretty true to life.

I've also been busy sorting out stock, packaging alpaca fibre and dyeing a few extras for a craft fair on Saturday. I plan to take my spinning wheel and hopefully get in a couple of hours spinning time.

Merino & Bamboo Fibre, Bambino, Meriboo ~ Dyeing Fibre for a Gradient Yarn

I bought some natural 80% merino 20% bamboo fibre to see what it would look like once dyed. I wanted a gradient colour scheme:

I've dyed this blend in a yarn base before but never as combed top. I'm in love, it's squishy and soft and I love the way the bamboo takes up the dye differently to the merino. I'm planning on spinning a laceweight 3 ply yarn. Really loving these pinks and purples at the moment.









Here's how I did it:
Divided the fibre into 5 x 20g lots and soaked in cold water + 2 tablespoons of white vinegar.
Mixed up some red, blue and black dyestock.
Pink = 1 teaspoon red dye
Mauve = 1 teaspoon red + 1/2 teaspoon blue
Lavender =1 teaspoon red + 1 1/2 blue
Purple = 1 teaspoon red + 2 blue + 1/4 black
Black/purple = 1 teaspoon red + 2 blue + 1 1/2 black

It's a beautifully sunny Spring Monday here in Selwyn, I even managed to get a couple of hours out in the garden - weeding, tidying and mulching, the work outside never ends whatever the time of year.  These little beauties are springing up all over the garden ~Trilliums. I love everything about these:

The colours of the Trillium inspired me to dye this Polwarth:

I mixed up the deep purple red, yellow and green to match the shades in the flower and painted it onto the fibre, once the dye had exhausted I poured on some other random colours I've had sitting around for ages, this is a great way to use up all your bits of dyestock that are lurking about. It's often surprising how the colour turns out.
This is 200g of NewZealand Polwarth, all ready for spinning into a very very colourful yarn.

Hikoo CoBaSi...

I recently received some beautiful yarn that was something totally new to me, Hikoo CoBaSi. It's a blend of cotton, bamboo, silk and elastic. The yarn looks very tightly spun when it is in the skein. I had 2 skeins of chocolate brown and 1 of olive green:

So I just had to knit a pair of two-tone socks, I used exactly 1 skein of each colour. This is a very easy pattern. This pair are for my hubby and I made them slightly smaller than I normally would due to the elasticity of the yarn. Once knit up it has very good stitch definition and forms a nice smooth fabric.

I have one skein of the brown left and I'm tempted to order another skein of a different colour, maybe pink, and make a pair for myself, but I'm still on a yarn diet!

Knitting Up The Stash...

Way back in January I decided to go on a yarn and fibre diet, my stash has got way out of control and is slowly taking over my house. So ~ no yarn purchases for me unless:
1. It's for a swap (is being sent away)
2. I need to purchase something to finish off something made from my stash yarn and fibre.

So far so good. I have started knitting these, all from the stash:

1. Cockatoo Brae

I knit the body parts of this on my knitting machine then picked up stitches and hand knit the ribs. I haven't seamed a sweater for years and quite enjoyed doing it the old fashioned way.
I'm still not 100% sure about the colours I chose for the patterned yoke, they are all oddments of Knit Picks Palette yarn. The main body yarn is a soft fingering weight Colourmart merino that I've had for years. Not far from the finish line with this knit.




2. Low Tide:

This yarn is merino/bamboo sock yarn I dyed in blues and greys a few years ago, it was always destined for another knit but I could never get the right gauge or a fabric I liked with it. Seems like this pattern and yarn were just meant to be together as I got gauge first try on the specified needles and love the knitted fabric!








3. A handmade gift for a swap I'm taking part in over on Ravelry. I can't say or show what it is just in case my swappee sees this but will post a photo after it has been received.

I also sorted out this yarn to knit a snowflake sweater for myself:

The grey is DK weight Gotland and the purple is sublime merino. Grey for the body and purple for the yoke. I'm looking forward to wearing these in the colder weather, and as today is officially the last day of Summer.......









I also finished off knitting my entry for the National Exhibition, it was a real labour of love. Here's a peek: