Sometimes when I am dyeing yarn I have a plan. Sometimes I have no idea what I am doing. Sometimes I just make it up as I go. This is one of those occasions. And spoiler alert: I am so enraptured with this colorway. Hold on to your horses, and let’s see what happened!
I’m using Fannie this week. I like the crispness of this 100% Superwash Merino Wool. It coordinates nicely with Zitron Lifestyle yarn.
As I was preparing for a day of yarn dyeing, I was tying the hanks with bindings so they don’t get all tangled. On this one, I decided to do something weird. I folded the hank in half and tied it into bubbles. I tied it tight because I was interested to see what the tie resists do.
I soaked the yarn bundle in water and 1 tsp citric acid for 30 minutes.
The soaking wet hank was placed into my crockpot with no additional water.
To make the colors, I pulled out some teacups and put a few drops of the Neon Blue, Neon Purple, and Green into individual cups. I added a few drops of the Blue into each cup. The teacups were filled with water, but I didn’t do any mixing.
I poured half the cup of dye water over a bubble.
I repeated that process with the purple and green alternating the blue.
Taking a leap of faith, I figured the crockpot wouldn’t burn the yarn because it can only get so hot. I covered it with a lid and set it to high heat for an hour. I knew the runoff of the dye would make mud on the bottle of the skein, but because green, blue and purple complement each other for the most part, I wasn’t too worried.
After an hour, I fished the yarn out of the crockpot with tongs and let it cool in the sink.
I cut off the ties (look at the resist!) and rinsed the yarn.
And off it went to dry.
This is where I did my happy dance. The dye broke! What does that mean? It means the individual colors of the dye separated and set at different times. For example, the purple broke into purple and pink, which is a delicious watercolor effect. I don’t know where the navy came from, but I love it!
Just another example where it shows its pays to not have a plan!
Stay tuned for next week and another I-have-no-idea-what-I’m-doing experiment!
Ready to make your unique colorway? Hop on over to Makers' Mercantile® and pick up your undyed yarn and supplies. We can’t wait to see what you make, so tag us on social media with #makersmercantile!
About Tara
Tara Warburton is the former graphic designer for Makers' Mercantile® and a fine artist. She specializes in watercolor and colored pencil illustrations. She lives with her two cats, who are not helpful when knitting.
Looks gorgeous! Experimenting is so much fun😍