Ravelympics underway

So far so good! I have finished my 4 ply (3 singles were spun before ravelympics started) and I am very very pleased. It is my most even yarn to date. 2 singles each from Southern Cross Fiber Polwarth "Katoomba" and "Funhouse". Probably destined to be a shawl but not sure right now. Finished Spunky Eclectic Wensleydale "Cold Front" today - no pictures yet. Also finished up the left over singles from the 4 ply - Funhouse in N-ply and Katoomba 2 ply. Now off to get some more knitting done on my Twilight Trees Fingerless mitt!

TA DA!

Here are the pictures of the dried fiber from my 2 kool aid experiments. (Check yesterday's post for details) I am pretty happy with them both. With the first I really wanted no white so when I spin I wont get pink. The fiber is arranged in the picture as it was in the dye dish. There is a bit more variation in the color than the picture shows but I think when it is spun it will look kettle dyed. I should have used more grape to get a darker purple in the middle.

My second also made me happy and I am really looking forward to spinning it. There is quite a variation in colors so my spinning decisions will make a big difference in my finished yarn. The bowl I used to dye was round, smaller on the bottom. I am excited how the different layers (bottom of bowl is top left in picture - go clockwise, top layer in bowl is at the bottom left)maintained the different colors I poured. Looking forward to spinning this!

A Better Month

I am happy to say that I am making progress knitting, spinning and dyeing! Today I did my first Kool Aid dyeing. First 4 oz. of Merino for the Ply by Night group on ravelry. The colors voted in were Black Cherry, Grape and one of the reds, I had Tropical Punch and Cherry. My process was:
1 - Mix the Kool Aid with water: 2 packages of Tropical Punch, 2 Grape , 4 Black Cherry.

2. After soaking 4 oz. of Merino, squeezed water out and placed one layer (back and forth from one side to the other) in rectangle corning ware dish. Then I poured each color on a third of the fiber, squished with my gloved fingers to ensure all was soaked, added water to almost cover then sprinkled with one package of Cherry on top. Covered dish with cling wrap.
3. I microwaved 1 1/2 min. several times with at least 5 min cooling period between each go around (about 4 times). I was too nervous about putting the fiber in the microwave to do 2 min at a time) until the dye was exhausted.

Project 2 was a combination of colors I wanted to try - Lemonade, Orange and Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade. Again I dissolved the dye in water. I used 5 Lemonade, 2 Orange and 4 Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade.

After the Merino/silk (50/50) soaked for over an hour and was squeezed out water and coiled one layer at a time in a round bowl. I poured dye on each layer. Bottom was blue, for the next layer I mixed blue and yellow (half and half), for the third layer I added some orange to the blue and yellow, the top layer I poured what blue was left, then what yellow was left followed by a little orange (did not use all of the orange dye). Pictures tomorrow of the dried fiber, of current spinning projects and knitting projects!