I realize that pictures of freshly dyed yarn drying on a rack can lose their appeal after a while, or awhile (long time/short time). Yet the thrill of doing the dyeing does not die. How many times have I dyed now? I feel like Phil in Groundhog Day.
Today’s harvest
The two hanks of yarn on the outside edges were once what we call white in the wool world, though off-white, or natural, is more accurate. In the past several days, I’ve woven up the other yarns I dyed and noticed I was lacking a yellow representative, so I MADE MY OWN! (Yeah, yeah, I made all the others too, but it still thrills me that I can make what I need right here at home.)
Yes, we’re also missing blue and lavender squares. This will never do . . .
The two skeins in the center of the drying rack photo were gray–hand spun by yours truly. That emerald green is not my usual fare–I have to make mistakes to get out of my comfort zone–it was meant, ahem, to be blue. So, great news, I still have some dyeing ahead of me. And, to get the colors I want, I’ll either have to buy more Wilton cake decorating gel dyes or actually mix up the Pro Chem stuff I bought last year. (Which do you think is going to happen first?) In the meantime I’m spinning up my undyed merino wool so I can truly own this project!
In other news, I wove a Fourth of July tree with beads (and yarn). It’s a toss-up between weaving with beads and dyeing–which I enjoy more. Luckily, I don’t have to choose. I can do them both!
Happy Independence Day, a few months early.
I was thrilled to find that I can hack up some osage orange wood or purple heart for dyes. I can smuggle all the fruit I want, but branches might be a challenge. I’m not ruling it out though!
Looking forward to trying natural dyes myself some day . . . 🙂