Dye Happy

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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

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 . . .

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.

Happy Independence Day, a few months early.

Adventures in Pin Loom Weaving—the March of Madness

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Some people call it browsing the internet; others call it research, shopping, etc. I was doing that thing earlier today when I ran across a marvelous, but unpurchaseable, contraption.

Hazel's Adjust-a-peg Loom (not associated Hazel Rose Looms. It appears that to be in the current loom market you need to have a color or two associated with your product--Hazel Rose, Blue Butterfly. Except for Zoom Loom.)

Hazel’s Adjust-a-Peg Loom. (Not associated with Hazel Rose Looms. In fact, it appears that to be a member of the current loom market you need to have a color or two associated with your product–such as Hazel Rose, Blue Butterfly. Except for Zoom Loom.)

I snagged a few pictures from http://www.knitting-and.com/blog/hazels_adjust_o/, but there are more. What an utterly spiffy little object! With this one loom “I could, dare I say it, rule the world” or, well, no, probably not. But I sure wanted to try it!

It occurred to me that I own an object kind of like it. My gadget is for shaping wire (a sport I gave up on some years ago).

Wild Wire implement

Wild Wire implement–with attempted 3-pin configuration

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Live and Let Dye

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Last Saturday I took a class called “Dyeing with Kool-Aid” at Harmony yarn store in Provo.

Strawberry, Pina, and Lemonade Kool-Aid combined on this 4 oz. skein of Lamb's Pride yarn.

Strawberry, Pina, and Lemonade Kool-Aid combined on this 4 oz. skein of Lamb’s Pride yarn.

Dyeing yarn was so much fun and the results were so amazing, I had to try it again . . .

Several colors of Kool-Aid combined to make these colorways.

Monday. Several colors of Kool-Aid combined to make these colorways.

. . . and again.

These skeins were dyed by my visiting teachers. From L: Cheryl Jean's, mine, and Tawny's.

Tuesday: These skeins were dyed by my visiting teachers and me. From L: Cheryl Jean’s, mine, and Tawny’s.

I dyed one more skein on Tuesday, but neglected to take a photo while it was drying. I used a weird pearly-looking Easter egg dye on it–one envelope of pink, one of yellow–but there wasn’t much dye, so added pink and yellow Kool-Aid too.

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Adventures in Pin Loom Weaving—Hearts and Diamonds Overshot

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If you’re not a member of the Pin Loom Weaving Support Group on Facebook and you are a pin loom weaver, you might want to join up just to see what’s going on.

What’s been going on lately, among other topics, is a discussion of overshot weaving. I still don’t have a clear, concise definition, but ignorance hasn’t stopped me from attempting these patterns posted and freely shared with the group. Thanks to Amber Vigil and Judie Eatough for sharing their work with us!

I fell in love with Amber’s Overshot Diamonds pattern and have tried it out in a couple of color combinations.

Overshot Diamonds--1st iteration

Overshot Diamonds–1st attempt

Overshot Diamonds--reiteration

Overshot Diamonds–2nd

Here are the instructions for Amber Vigil’s Overshot Diamonds (included here with Amber’s permission):

Step 1: Weave an entire plainweave square to form the “background”

This is what the mesh background looks like. Then you weave into it.

This is what the mesh background looks like. Then you weave into it.

Step 2: Weave the overshot pattern between each of the “background” rows. The overshot rows are variations of (u2, o1, u2, o3) or (o2, u1, o2, u3) with the repeat starting in different places within the row. While weaving, I would look at how the row started and then say 2-1-2-3 to myself as I wove over & under.
Row 1: u1; (o2, u1, o2, u3) x3; o2, u1, o2, u1
Row 2: u2; (o3, u2, o1, u2) x3; o3, u2
Row 3: repeat Row 1
Row 4: (o2, u3, o2, u1) x3; o2, u3, o2
Row 5: u3; (o1, u2, o3, u2) x3; o1, u3
Row 6: repeat Row 4
Repeat rows 1-6 until the end.

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Judie posted a cute pattern with hearts and diamonds, so I tried it out too. I wanted to try new colors, but I think I’d prefer the hearts in red . . . next time.

Hearts--front view

Hearts–front view

Hearts--reverse side

Hearts–reverse side

Judie’s graph can be found at: Handweaving.net

With her permission, I’m posting the instructions I typed out here. They’re slightly different from her graph.

Judie Eatough: Hearts for the Pin Loom

Create a “mesh canvas” by weaving layers 1-4 with thin yarn (MC). Then go back and reweave layers 2 and 4 with a thicker, HIGH CONTRAST (CC) yarn between the existing rows. (Use 8 1/2 wraps of yarn around the pins.)

Row 1: O1, U1, O4, U2, O1, U2, O4, U1, O4, U2, O1, U2, O4, U1, O1
Row 2: U3, (O2, U2, P3, U2, O2, U3) x 2
Row 3: U1, O1, U4, O2, U1, O2, U4, O1, U4, O2, U1, O2, U4, O1, U1
Row 4: O3, (U2, O2, P3, O2, U2, O3) x 2
Row 5: O1, (U1, O2, U2, O2) x 4, U1, O1
Row 6: Rpt R2
Row 7: U1, (O1, U2, O2, U2) x 4, O1, U1
Row 8: O3, (U2, O2, U3, O2, U2, O3) x 2

Repeat R1-8 three times, then R1-6 once more, for a total of 30 rows. (You can weave Row 7 one more time [for a total of 31 rows] to complete the point at the top of the last section of diamonds, but this will give you a loose, unfinished-looking edge at the top of your work. I recommend keeping the overshot weaving to a total of 30 rows between the rows of underweaving.) (I suppose you could plain weave that 31st row with the CC. I still think I prefer the overshot threads encased by the mesh threads.)

Both Amber’s and Judie’s patterns can be downloaded from the Facebook Pin Loom Weaving Support Group.