A Wheel-y Exciting Day

ducks

Seriously, though, these past couple days have been pretty awesome.  Yesterday, Darren brought home a bag of alpaca fleece.

Hi, Betty!

I wish i'd included something for scale, but imagine a standard household black garbage bag with enough room to spare that you could tie it shut.

It didn't look like much stuffed into that bag.

And yet, Betty managed to cover my dining room table and then some.  Her fleece is doubled in most spots in that picture.

I spent an hour or two picking out the straw (there wasn't much) and the second cuts (there weren't many) and resisting the urge to dive in face first.  The dust stopped me, but the floof was hard to resist.

I'm really glad i didn't dive in

I plan to wash some tonight and possibly be spinning by Sunday.

Oh yeah!  I almost forgot (not!).  I got a new wheel in the mail today.

Chip inspects the strange box.

So, of course, i immediately...


...went for a walk.

What???  It's a beautiful day!

An hour later, i began unpacking.

first peek

laying in wait

I know, this is totally boring, but i don't care.

unfolded and ready for the Mother-of-All

all the accessories toys.  clockwise, from top:
Lazy Kate with three bobbins
regular Mother-of-All with bobbin
fast flyer
"plying" or Jumbo head with big bobbin

fully assembled

regular head with drive band

I'm a little nervous.  My spinning experience is limited to a slow wheel, my Ashford Traditional with one ratio, 6.5:1.  I have tried a Majacraft Rose very briefly, but i was spinning cotton for the first time and the speed was a little terrifying in that case.  I must now dig through my fibre stash for something to play with this evening.  Maybe i'll play with some of the fibre we prepped during last year's beginner class.  I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm Addicted to Colour

I think i've jumped off the deep end.

Here's KC's wool, soaking wet and ready for the dye pot:

I soaked the fibre overnight in a stock pot so that it would absorb the dye relatively evenly.  Not too evenly, though.  I wanted a little variation in the finished colour.

I mixed all this Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid with a potful of cool water and squeezed in a bit of Mio Cherry Blackberry.  The red was to dull down the green a little so that i would end up with something more leafy and less Lego.

I wish the picture showed better the way the dye broke into layers inside the pot.  Through the yellow green, i could see blues and red on the bottom.  I was a little nervous, at first, since i hadn't realised that Lemon-Lime could break, but it turned out okay.

the yarn immediately after submersion...

... and after about ten minutes (the colour in this shot is closer to actual)

The pot took a long time to heat, but as soon as it reached a simmer, the dye exhausted and my yarn was done.  I let it sit for several hours (the agony) until i could stick my hands into the pot comfortably.  Then i rinsed gently and treated it as i would any finished spun or knitted object (soap, rinse, rinse).

And here is the finished product, hanging in my shower!

The colour doesn't represent perfectly on screen (this is a little yellow here), but it's very close--a nice, subdued green just as i wanted!

Of course, i did say at the start that i jumped off the deep end, didn't i?  You see, i wasn't satisfied with dyeing just my handspun today.  No, no.  After all that research into dyeing methods, i had to try something else, something a little trickier, something a little more colourful...

KnitPicks Bare Stroll Top, superwash wool and nylon

I really wanted to use my crockpot for this one.  I coiled one third of the dry top on the bottom of the crock, sprinkled 2/3 of a Grape Kool-Aid packet on top, and poured 2 cups of cool water all over it.  I did this again with the next third of dry top, but this time i used one packet of Lemon-Lime.  The last third sat on top of everything and i sprinkled it with more Grape--the rest of the first packet and another whole packet.  I added more water and pressed everything into the crockpot, but not too aggressively.  I wanted white bits and colourful bits.

this is what it looked like before i put on the lid and turned it on high

After 45 minutes, the water was clear, so i shut it off and let everything cool enough that i could handle the fibre comfortably.  This went much faster in the crock than in the stock pot.

I learned something dyeing the top.  I had wondered why dyed top looks fuzzier than natural top and the reason seems to be the handling of the fibre while wet.  It stuck to my hands and would pull away.  I was relieved that the ropes of fibre held their shape despite this.

you can see how the purple broke up a little into blues and reds

the green broke, too.  i wonder if this is more likely when sprinkling dry powder on dry fibre.

I'm absurdly pleased with myself and already planning the next project.  I look forward to spinning my very own colour creation.

Step 2--How Do I Choose?

After simmering yesterday's samples in the crockpot for ~8 hours and then cooling them for another 12  they looked deep and dark inside their little jars:

Rooibos and Coffee

Earl Grey and Chamomile

I dumped them from their dye baths and "rinsed" them in several changes of lukewarm water.  By rinsing, i mean i lifted each sample from one lukewarm, clear water bath to another, careful not to swish or shock them too much.  I soaked them individually in warmish soapy water for an hour.  The wash water came out surprisingly clear.  Then came one more hour long soak, this time with a splash of vinegar:

Clockwise from top left: rooibos, coffee, Earl Grey, chamomile

Now i have a dilemma.  I like all the colours.  What a big change from the original, undyed yarn:

Natural Canadian wool

I tied the hanks with some superwash wool.
Notice the differences in colour between the hanks and the ties. 

The chamomile made the least difference to the original undyed yarn, but i like the subtle yellowish green tones:

Chamomile sample

The coffee wasn't quite as dark as i expected, but i do like the colour.  Maybe if i soaked it longer...

Coffee sample--look how dark the tie is compared to the yarn!

I was led to believe that the rooibos would turn the yarn green, but it is decidedly orange in tone.

Rooibos sample--I did much fiddling with the white balance trying for true-to-life colour.  I came pretty close.

The Earl Grey was my favourite before rinsing.  It looks just as good dry.

Earl Grey sample--this one smells the nicest.  It may win on that basis alone.

Any opinions?  What colour should i dye my yarn?  Should i pick my two favourites?  Try for all four?

Dyeing, naturally

Woohoo! I'm so pumped about this! A lovely friend gave me 250g of wool roving. I separated it into ~25g sections to be spun into singles.

This stuff was very pleasant to spin. What i initially thought were neps were actually bits of VM (vegetable matter) that had gathered up bits of fibre around them. I spun it long draw.

After spinning four singles, i began pairing them in plying balls.

Singles 1+4, 2+5, and so on. I think i might've screwed up at one point, but i don't think anyone will notice. Aren't they pretty? I'm so pleased that all five six (including the sample) skeins ended up so similar. Each is a sport/DK weight 2-ply.

I knew that i wanted to dye these suckers and thought, at first, that i would use Kool-Aid. After a day and a half of reading dyeing threads on Ravelry, i decided to experiment with other beverages instead. 

My desire to BEGIN IMMEDIATELY overpowered my desire for bright things. I chose coffee, Rooibos, Earl Grey, and chamomile and split my sample skein into four pieces.

Here they are, soaking in cool tap water with a splash of vinegar.

2 bags of Twinnings Chamomile Tisane to 2 cups of boiled water. 

Let cool completely while bags steeped.

Brewed 6 "cups" of water with 6 tablespoons of Kicking Horse beans. Let cool after brewing.

2 bags of Tetley Rooibos with 2 cups of boiled water. Let cool while steeping. 

2 bags of Twinnings Earl Grey Tea with 2 cups of boiled water. Let cool while steeping. 

Do any of you have any idea how hard it is to wait the two hours necessary for hot water to reach room temperature? Argh. I spent the interim wandering around on Rav, bemoaning the fact that i made only four dyeing samples from that little skein. Black beans! Beets! Onion skins! So much household dyeing potential!

Finally, the dyes cooled enough that i could move on to Step 2. I rounded up four 500ml Mason jars and placed a well-soaked sample in each jar.  I placed the jars in my crockpot and added the dyes. Then, i filled the crockpot nearly to the dye level in each jar.

Clockwise from top: chamomile, coffee, rooibos, Earl Grey.

I've put the crock on low and now i wait for my pretties to simmer and set. I've gotta find something to keep me busy in the meantime or i won't be able to resist peeking! At least the lid is clear glass and i can watch them transform.