Yarn!
So I know y'all want to see what I was up to with the yarn this weekend. The thing is, I'm going to show you a picture (of course I'm going to show you a picture - this whole blog is pictures!). The picture is going to be some beautiful yarn, if I do say so myself. But the most important part is that I had a LOT of fun dyeing it. At one point, Joe came through the kitchen and I just gushed "I'm so happy! Look at this yarn!" He, of course, gave me the look.
But let's look at some gratuitously cute kids first:
Jack is about six months older than Julie. Yesterday we took a walk to the park with Jack, his mom, and his little brother for a playdate. On the way back, Jack and Julie decided to hold hands. Awww.
So, uh, ya still want to see the yarn? Okay.
I made it through nine of the fifteen skeins I received in the mail last week. The ones at the top are my favorite. I love them because the color is a brown that fades into pale mauve, which is pretty, but also because the color was not what it said on the bottle of food color, and I was pleasantly surprised. These should make stripes in a sort of spiral swirl if I've figured it out right. The ones on the right are random orange-on-yellow splotchy. I made some like this a few weeks ago and two of my knitting friends both wanted to buy it. I sold that skein to one of them, and am going to give the other a choice of these two tomorrow. (Hi, Beth!) The three at the bottom are all the same colors - two striping and one random blobs. They are very electric/neon colors. Finally, the two on the left - just pretty pinks and greens, they are different shades from each other, and should also make swirly stripes.
These skeins are all destined for sale, and I can make more of any of them if the first ones sell. I think I'm going to open an Etsy site once I get the other six blank skeins I have dyed up, but in the mean time if someone is really hot to buy one send me an e-mail at shellyk at shellykang dot com and I could maybe work out a deal via Paypal - I'm thinking $18 apiece for all but the self-striping ones at the bottom, which would be $22 apiece, plus shipping. The self-striping ones take a LOT longer to make than the others, since I have to do a lot of winding and re-winding.
Everywhere I read about dyeing yarn, I see things that say "professional" dyes are more colorfast than food dyes, especially the Kool-Aid. I have my doubts about how true this is. I dyed and knit yarn into glittens for me and mittens for Julie last fall and we wore them all winter, and they're still pretty vibrant. Plus, I figure, this is sock yarn - they'll probably wear out and get thrown away long before the color will fade out. Still, I had some Rainbow Barf left over, and I whipped up a swatch on the knitting machine the other night. I think I'm going to throw that sucker in with the dirty diapers and wash and dry the hell out of it for the rest of the summer, then compare the swatch to the unwashed socks before I start wearing them in the fall. A knitting-related science experiment, if you will.
Oh, and here's a little yarn that is mine only because I bought it. I taught at the Yarnery tonight, and a few skeins followed me home.
That's the new Malabrigo lace weight. I have no plans for it yet - I just saw it on the Yarnery's blog a few days ago and knew that I had to have some in the stash. It is like two little kittens, it is so soft and cute.
That's the Fleece Artist Sea Wool. Because I don't have enough sock yarn, you know.
And that's it for tonight! Sophie's upstairs semi-awake, so I think it's going to be time for bed in a minute.
But let's look at some gratuitously cute kids first:
Jack is about six months older than Julie. Yesterday we took a walk to the park with Jack, his mom, and his little brother for a playdate. On the way back, Jack and Julie decided to hold hands. Awww.
So, uh, ya still want to see the yarn? Okay.
I made it through nine of the fifteen skeins I received in the mail last week. The ones at the top are my favorite. I love them because the color is a brown that fades into pale mauve, which is pretty, but also because the color was not what it said on the bottle of food color, and I was pleasantly surprised. These should make stripes in a sort of spiral swirl if I've figured it out right. The ones on the right are random orange-on-yellow splotchy. I made some like this a few weeks ago and two of my knitting friends both wanted to buy it. I sold that skein to one of them, and am going to give the other a choice of these two tomorrow. (Hi, Beth!) The three at the bottom are all the same colors - two striping and one random blobs. They are very electric/neon colors. Finally, the two on the left - just pretty pinks and greens, they are different shades from each other, and should also make swirly stripes.
These skeins are all destined for sale, and I can make more of any of them if the first ones sell. I think I'm going to open an Etsy site once I get the other six blank skeins I have dyed up, but in the mean time if someone is really hot to buy one send me an e-mail at shellyk at shellykang dot com and I could maybe work out a deal via Paypal - I'm thinking $18 apiece for all but the self-striping ones at the bottom, which would be $22 apiece, plus shipping. The self-striping ones take a LOT longer to make than the others, since I have to do a lot of winding and re-winding.
Everywhere I read about dyeing yarn, I see things that say "professional" dyes are more colorfast than food dyes, especially the Kool-Aid. I have my doubts about how true this is. I dyed and knit yarn into glittens for me and mittens for Julie last fall and we wore them all winter, and they're still pretty vibrant. Plus, I figure, this is sock yarn - they'll probably wear out and get thrown away long before the color will fade out. Still, I had some Rainbow Barf left over, and I whipped up a swatch on the knitting machine the other night. I think I'm going to throw that sucker in with the dirty diapers and wash and dry the hell out of it for the rest of the summer, then compare the swatch to the unwashed socks before I start wearing them in the fall. A knitting-related science experiment, if you will.
Oh, and here's a little yarn that is mine only because I bought it. I taught at the Yarnery tonight, and a few skeins followed me home.
That's the new Malabrigo lace weight. I have no plans for it yet - I just saw it on the Yarnery's blog a few days ago and knew that I had to have some in the stash. It is like two little kittens, it is so soft and cute.
That's the Fleece Artist Sea Wool. Because I don't have enough sock yarn, you know.
And that's it for tonight! Sophie's upstairs semi-awake, so I think it's going to be time for bed in a minute.
posted by Shelly Kang at 10:52 PM
7 Comments:
There is something just so nice about a skein of hand-dyed sock yarn.... Just in itself, as a thing.... I have some beautiful fingering weight merino yarn my sister sent over from Halifax, and I'm waiting for the perfect moment to start something with it, because I know I am going to miss it, all perky and full of potential, as it is now.
I'm so excited that you will be selling on Etsy! It's been neat seeing your progression over the past few months that I've been reading your blog.
:o) Actually, I cannot decide what keeps me coming back, the yummy yarn, or the cutie kids! :)
Great pictures! I still love the rainbow barf the best.
I love your blankie and I would love to join your KAL. I started making a blankie out of some of my scraps of handspun that I had languishing around waiting for some inspiration!
Your yarn is just beautiful!!
Beautiful yarn! My experience with Koolaid-dyed yarn is that the colors are absolutely washfast, but lightfast--maybe not so much. My Koolaid-dyed socks have maintained their colors just fine, but they are worn in winter, mostly covered up by my shoes and pants, and don't see much sun. I have a Koolaid-dyed soda bottle cozy that I use extensively in the summer, outside, where it gets lots of sun. After a few years (3? 4?), it is somewhat less vibrant than originally. So, as long as you don't put your socks out in the sun to dry, they should maintain their colors just fine.
Very pretty work! I look forward to seeing your etsy shop. And keep those gratuitous kid pictures coming, they're such a lift.
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