Trying Something New

This last week I finished spinning my BFL top and the socks I made for my friend, leaving me with quite a bit of crafting time open. So like any good crafter, I filled the time I had been using to work on those two projects with 5 more.

Most of them are just knitting, and I will post photos when they start to look like something other than a cast-on, but I did try some dyeing and started spinning some of my hand processed Bella Wool (so called because that is the name of the Cotswold/Border Leicester sheep it came from).

 I started by pulling about 50 grams of locks, and letting them soak for a few minutes in warm water. Then in a microwave safe bowl, I mixed a packet of Black Cherry Kool-Aid. I put the wool in and let it sit for a few minutes before I put it all in the microwave. The result was something that would work very well for Halloween or a horror movie.

I set the microwave on 50% power and ran it in 3 minute bursts.I didn't want to go too long or too hot because I couldn't control the temperature in the microwave like I could on the stove and I didn't want it to start boiling and felt the yarn.

I checked it every 3 minutes to make sure nothing was boiling and everything was working out.  Once the "dye" was exhausted from the water, I took it all out of the microwave and let the wool cool in the bowl, as the shock of going from hot dyeing water to cold rinse water will felt wool too.




After the water had cooled, I rinsed the locks in cool water, letting them soak a few minutes. Next I washed the water just using dish soap to get any extra dye out. I guess I must have really done a pretty good job of heating it because I didn't have any dye wash out leaving pink water.




I needed a place for my locks to dry. At first I tried just laying them across the rim of my bowl, but I saw very quickly that there wasn't enough room. So I went and got my ironing board and pulled the fabric off and set it underneath to catch any drips that might come out while drying. It worked quite nicely and everything was dry by morning, leaving me with some nicely dyed locks ready to be combed and spun, but that's another story...