More dyeing and recycling

This is the rest of the pics I took this weekend and at the beginning of the week. First, I repeated the recipe for the really good dye job I did - 2 packets of grape at 12, 2 packets of cherry at 8, and 20 drops of blue at 3. I was curious to see just how different it would end up being!


Looks different already, doesn't it?


And here it is with the first one! First batch on the right, second on the left. Same, yet different. I'm just a little disappointed that the blue didn't come out as vivid on the second batch as it was on the first.


Here's 30 drops of neon purple on the right side and 30 drops of neon pink on the left side.


The purple didn't really come out. Next time I think I'll add a little blue. It's pretty nonetheless.


Next, I decided to try another technique: ball dyeing. It was a great way to dye all the little ends left over, the short lengths, but also the yarn that was used to join the various pieces of the shirt together - this one came apart so easily that I was able to keep even the joining yarn, which was slightly different from the main yarn. Frankly, on the photos, I can't tell them apart...

Wind (or re-wind) your yarn in loose balls so that the dye can penetrate somewhat. The lower right thing is not a ball; it's a hank with a big knot tied in it.


Dye everything blue. They take a long time to cool off!

Then, once they've cooled enough that you can rinse them safely (remember, you can't change the temperature too quickly or they'll felt!), you rewind them so the dyed parts are on the inside.

Here's what it looks like when you start rewinding. On this pic you can start seeing some undyed yarn at places where the individual yarns crossed each other.



Halfway point


Almost all done now! I was surprised this much dye made it to the middle.


All done!


Submerge them again (I ran out of white vinegar, so I used cheap cider vinegar - smells much better!)

And dye them purple! Because not a lot of fiber is exposed to the dye bath, it takes longer than usual to dye. This batch wouldn't clear so I left it in the slow cooker to cool overnight. The water was clear by morning!

Here's the final result! If I were to redo this, I'd know that the purple isn't quite as potent as the blue, and using 45 drops of purple to 30 drops of blue might have worked better. Pretty anyway.


I also took apart two sweaters



This second one was a big disappointment. Not only the shoulder seams are cut, which is the usual (if annoying) way of things, but the *armholes* are cut too, which means that at least half the shirt comes out in short lengths. It's a shame because it would have been really, really nice wool. Next time I get one like that, I think I'll felt it instead and sew something with it.

The worst part is that I seem to be allergic to that wool! I was in full-blown allergies on Sunday, hypersneezing fits and runny itchy nose and everything... I can't work on it more than about half an hour. Look at the colour of my hands after I spent something like 4 hours working on the shirt watching the last day of the Olympics! Didn't hurt, didn't itch, but the colour was very unnatural...


I shouldn't be surprised. I am, after all, allergic to most animals...