Author: Tricia

Adventures in yarn dying : some photos of the process pt.1

In the last post I mentioned being assigned the task of thinking about the colors I love. That was all preparation for the class I had the great good fortune of taking from Blue Moon Fiber Arts‘ Master Dyer Tina.

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The room was all set up and we spent a little time learning about wool and how the manufacturing/milling process changes the way dyes adhere. We worked with BMFA Socks that Rock yarn in medium weight and the same acid dyes that Blue Moon uses.

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Here’s Tina showing us first how to add the colors.

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She adds a second color and shows us how they blend together.

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After adding a few more colors she demonstrates the fine art of “squooshing.

She lets us loose and we start playing with the colors – oh what fun!

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This is IrishGirlie’s : Isn’t it beautiful?!

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Once it is all saturated and ready to go, it gets a squirt of vinegar and wrapped it up in plastic so it is all nice and snug.

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Here they are ready for the microwave (2 min) to set the colors, then they’ll dry.

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I can’t wait to see the results! Hopefully I’ll be able to share a few photos tomorrow when we pick up our very own hand-painted yarn.

Knitting and Kitten ‘training’ – Featuring Socks that Rock

Holidazed ginny

Our “Kittens” Ginny and Joey are now over a year and a half old but still have moments of complete spazzy goofiness every day. I have a “rule” of no playing with my knitting that Ginny has struggled with from the beginning.

‘Training’ looks something like this:
I pull out my knitting
Ginny jumps on my lap
Ginny grabs at the yarn.
I say ‘no’ and put her down.
Ginny jumps back on my lap – remorseful and innocent, eyes-wide, purring*
Ginny nudges my hand to pet her.
I pet her.
She starts to curl up on my lap and as she turns around…
Ginny grabs at the yarn.
I say ‘no’ and put her down. (Actually it sounds more like – ‘GAAAAH! I SAID NO PLAYING with the YARN!’)
[repeat from *]

There have been many many times where I just had to put away the knitting until she was crashed out dead asleep in another part of the house.

Holidazed and ginny cat

We seem to have had a breakthrough with this sock. Her desire for evening cuddles has won over her kitten instincts to pounce and chew. I am so proud. And yet at the same time…
I am cat furniture.

The sock is Blue Moon Socks that Rock sock club yarn and ‘Holidazed’ pattern from 2008