adventures in dyeing yarn

Last month I signed up to the latest FibreShare yarn swap. As part of my swap package I decided to try my hand at dyeing some yarn. 

It's something I've been wanting to try for a while and I thought it would be nice to include something handmade and unique for my swap partner, along with the other fibre goodies.

I've shared a little about the process I followed below if you are interested. 

I thought I'd start on a small scale so I picked picked two 50g balls of eco cotton yarn, one in a pale blue and one in a pale lilac. My aim was to try some ombre effects with the dye and I didn't want a pure white base colour to begin with.

I separated out each 50g ball into two (very approximate) 25g skeins and tied each skein in various places so that it wouldn't get too tangled whilst dyeing.

Next was the fun part! I chose a sunny October saturday and set up a couple of buckets of dye in the garden. The dye colours I chose were emerald green and burlesque red, although as you can see they ended up more like blue and purple.

I dip-dyed segments of the yarn for different lengths of time to try and achieve some different colour effects and I dyed a couple of the skeins in both dye baths to create some colour gradients.

Once I was happy with them I rinsed the dye out in cold water and then hand-washed the cotton with some detergent, just to wash out any colour that wasn't fixed. Then I hung them on the line to catch the end of the day's sunshine (which unfortunately didn't last very long so I had to bring them in and dry them inside overnight).

Once they were dry I wound them up into small hanks, which did involve getting in a bit of a tangle, but they ended up nice and neat in the end.

Here are the finished results... 

I'm really happy with how they all turned out, and love the fact that they're all different. I sent a couple of them out to my FibreShare partner and kept a couple for myself. 

I can't wait to see how they look when they're knitted. Shame they're all quite small, but it'll make a good reference point for future attempts. It would be so nice to knit a cardigan out of my own hand-dyed yarn.

Next I want to try dyeing with natural materials. 

We've already started collecting up our onion skins!

a work in progress

I've recently been finding myself with a lot of projects on the go that I've started and am yet to finish. So I thought I'd make a conscious effort to encourage myself to crack on by sharing some of my projects in progress here, with an aim to finish them off one-by-one over the coming months.

1.  I have a huge pile of these crochet sample squares which I've been building up since way back in 2011. I've got a few other colours and stitch patterns I'd like to try out but I'm almost there I think. I'd better be anyway...

2.  I started making these crochet flowers even longer ago than the squares. The plan was to make a flower garland to decorate my bedroom, inspired by one made by my friend Yumi. Well, I've moved house about 3 times since then and still no garland. The good new is I think I have enough flowers made - I just need to chain them all together.

3.  Thankfully this project hasn't been in the making pile for as long as the previous two. More crochet, but this time on a large scale. I'm working on a rug for our living room. It's nearly finished...I just need to complete a few more rounds. This one is top of my to do list - I figure once one thing is ticked off the others will follow.

4.  This sweet monkey embroidery is from a kit I bought from Kirikí Press - so cute. I actually bought two, with this being the easier of the two to make. I only started this project about a month ago and I've been doing a bit of stitching every week or so, so it should be finished soon.

5.  This is a small part of a larger knitted piece. I'm knitting a new cardigan and this is the beginning of the first sleeve. The back and front panels are already off the needles and I'm hoping to have the finished cardigan completed for Christmas at the very latest. Hopefully much sooner.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 

Phew, I feel a bit better now I've shared my work in progress and set myself some vague goals.

Watch this space for some finished projects coming soon...

a rainbow chair

It was Brighton Pride last weekend and I decided to decorate my desk chair to celebrate, after noticing that the holes in the back were perfectly placed for a rainbow shape.

It was a really quick little project, and nice to make use of some of the underused (very bright!) colours in my wool stash.



I'm really pleased with the end result - I keep turning round to look at it. And it's nice and tactile too.



I'm now thinking about whether to take it one step further and decorate the seat of the chair...
A project for a rainy day maybe. The perfect time for a rainbow.

a festive wreath collection

I made some wreaths for Christmas this year.

It was a nice project for the winter evenings and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. In fact, I wish I'd made more! I'm going to give a couple away as gifts, but one is a keeper I think.

To make them I used some polystyrene rings as a firm base and then decorated them with wool and felt. I wanted to experiment a bit so they are all a bit different...


Crochet lace ring



This one is based on the simple statement wreath found on Lisa's blog, Good knits. It was so easy to make and I love the fact that you crochet straight onto the ring.

I can definitely see myself making more of these, in any number of colours. Who says you can't hang a wreath all year round.


Pompom party



I started this one by wrapping wool around the based until it was completely covered, then I glued on loads and loads of mini pompoms - I think they look like snowballs!

Thanks to Ben for helping out in my pompom factory - it was quite satisfying to spend an evening creating a big pile of woolen puffs. This is a pretty busy wreath but I think it's nice and cheerful.


Holly leaves



This one I also started by crocheting around the ring. Then I made some holly leaves and pompom berries to add as decoration. Nice and festive.


I really like how they look when they're together. All ready for Christmas.

making on a small scale

I'm not sure what's changed but I've been having trouble finding time to make and draw recently.

Luckily, at the weekend I had a few hours to spare so I made some beaded necklaces, and had a play with the watercolours.

I must do this more often.

cold hands, no art

I've been pretty unsuccessful at getting much done lately. The arctic temperatures are leading me to spend a large number of my evenings either huddling under blankets or escaping to the warmth of a local pub, or even the swimming pool.

I'm going to take inspiration from Lucy though and try and set myself a making challenge. For every evening I spend at home I will try and make/draw/cook/start/finish something new. No more getting into bed early to keep warm. Active fingers = warm fingers.

In other news, it was a big shame to hear about Whitney Houston. This one is a favourite.

piñata

It was Yumi's birthday this weekend, so we took to the park in the (almost) spring sunshine to bash the piñata we have been making over the last few weeks.

We had grown quite attached to him so it was quite traumatic to see Derek decapitate him in one bash. Poor Johnson! It was lovely to see the glitter and streamers blowing in the wind though.

Lots of fun to make, and lots of fun to break. And a long-term new years resolution ticked off too.

building work

I'm working together with some friends on a book shop window display at the moment.
The best bit is eating homemade soup in the warm whilst it snows outside.

Next week I am going to be much more productive than I have been this week. You just watch.

you crack me up

On Friday night me and Yumi made some crackers to take back home for christmas - we tried and failed to come up with festive jokes (there was one new addition though which I can take no credit for).
But we had fun filling them with surprises - although I'm not sure my grandad is going to be too keen when a handful of dried pasta explodes all over his Christmas dinner.

Good making!

let's make christmas treats

Last night we visited the open studios at New England House and picked up some treats in the Sukie sale. Then we all gathered at Yumi's for a christmas making session.

We were planning to make crackers but failed due to lack of joke inspiration. Instead I made some gift tags (thanks to lucy for the reminder) and cut some robins out of paper.

I also found my mini wooden christmas tree yesterday so put it up in our living room! (Hopefully it'll distract us from the damp patches).

clothes horse

I think I want to do a dressmaking course. Does anyone know of any good ones in Brighton?

12 pumpkins and an acorn squash

Happy halloween!
On Friday we hosted a pumpkin carving evening at our flat.
It was a grand old time. I carved a Tom Selleck pumpkin.


I hope you all had a ghostly good time!

let's make a sock puppet

Yesterday Yumi hosted a puppet making session in her garden:


I won't show you my finished puppet as I set a sock puppet brief for miss stacey's summer school and the deadline isn't for another week and a half. I can tell you his name is Humphrey though.
x

my week

Here are some bits & pieces to report from my week:


On Saturday my friend eleanor hosted a clothes swap party where we each took along some unwanted items of clothing and then had a rummage in the BIG pile that accumulated for some new bits. As you can see I came home with a few lovely pieces. I especially like the green/blue top & conveniently matching belt.

On Monday I sat down to watch a film and managed to cobble together this little fella:


The pattern is courtesy of Annalisa and as you can see my attempt doesn't look all that much like her example. I think he'll do though (and Derek mentioned that he reminds him of a certain someone mentioned in my previous post).

I went home to visit my family this week and my mum gave me this wonderful picnic basket:


I especially like the lining!

Oh, and last Friday I went round to Yumi's house for a mobile making evening. We had cookies & tea & smoothies and I even had a quick bounce on her TRAMPOLINE! so much fun.
I didn't get around to making a full mobile in the end but I did make a selection of origami birds & this paper ship:




Next week we are going to make sock puppets!!! I can hardly wait.
x

things that i find pleasing

this AMAZING cuckoo clock my dad brought back from switzerland for me:


flowers on my wall:


RSPB charity badges:


lucky finds in the open market:


I found this cardigan for £2. It needed a bit of fixing up as the sleeves were very wide, but I've put some elastic in now and it's looking much better. Perfect for keeping warm at an evening barbecue on the beach.
and finally...a JELLYFISH costume for my end of year party (here are some sneak peeks):




I'd just like to thank jane asher!

x