Here is the yarn I bought at the Handweaver’s Studio. It’s about 235g (for less than £6 – bargain!)

Here is the yarn split into 3. I know i can make a pair of trainer socks (my prefered sock length) from about 75g of wool, so this should be fine. (Please note that only the top hank is properly tied up. I was intending the tie up the other two, but then in a fit of ‘omg must carry on dyeing’, after the Bluestockings meeting, I just dyes them as they were. BIG mistake. I ended up with two jumbled messes, and had to split them a number of times to untangle each ‘hank’.  My bad. But at least I learnt a good lesson – even if it was the hard way…)

Unfortunately I was so caught up in the actual dyeing that i didn’t take any photos of the process. However i used the very comprehensive knitty article, for reference – specifically the part at the end about handpainting.  I mixed up a dilute dye (about a pint or so) in a jug, and a concentrated dye (about 1/3 of a cup) in a mug, and dipped and dunked and held under, and dribbled until i got what i wanted.

Then, (because we don’t have a microwave) I put it in the pressure cooker, at pressure for about 15 minutes.

When it had cooled down I washed it (in water the same temperature as the yarn) and squished it in a colander to get most of the water out.

Then I hung it outside on our balcony to dry.

Here is the green yarn all hanked up.

And here is a blurry photo of a bit of it knitted up. I’m really pleased with the results, first attempt or no first attempt. *big grin*

So as I said, after my knitting group meeting – since it finished early – I decided to dye the other two balls using the rest of the kool aid.

This one has a much more solid colour, and it actually a quite light pink (i was untangling it late afternoon yesterday, hence the darker photo.)

Special thanks to Kx – my sister – who brought me back the kool aid from her New York trip last year.
xxx

—

I forgot to photograph my other purchase from the Handweaver’s Studio:

These were labelled as mixed, so i’ve no idea what’s in them, though they feel natural, and soft. They are about 2ply weight, and the three together cost about £1.20 which is incredibly cheap!  I’m thinking of knitting them with something else – maybe for the cuffs of socks, or an edging or something?  Eitherway they are lovely. 🙂