Dyeing before breakfast

  

I had the yarn, I had the acid dyes and finally I had the urge. There were colors I needed in my stash, in quantity, and at every online yarn sale I saw, those were the colors that were already sold out. And/Or, the colors I wanted were very expensive. 

I also wanted to try speckled yarn, as it is currently the rage in knitting land and I watched enough YouTube videos to convince myself that I could dye it myself. 

One video suggested salt shakers with dye mixed with rice (uncooked) to keep it dry and flowing. It worked kinda...but the rice kept getting stuck in the holes of the shakers or coming out completely. My kitchen dye studio became littered with purple, yellow and fuchsia rice grains, which look like mouse poop.

  Here's what I did . I presoaked my Superwash merino wool yarn in warmish water and a tablespoon of citric acid powder (think non-smelly vinegar) and arranged it on a opened trash bag and sprinkled dyes over it all.

 

Then I wrapped the yarn in the trash bag and placed the parcel in a plastic bin and popped it in the microwave for 5 minutes. Then repeated the task on the reverse side of the yarn. This is the result. 

Meh. Not speckled exactly, more blobby. 

 Is it usable? Possibly, We'll have to see. I see very few speckles. Harrumph.

 

Starting again, I mixed up some pastel solutions for the cotton candy colorway I keep drooling over.

When using warmed-up citric acid mixed water, the dyes take almost immediately, and the excess water runs off completely clear.

 Here is the luscious result. Yay! Success.  

I have an order in for more yarn (vicious cycle) this time non-Superwash Capretta, a merino, cashmere and nylon blend. I will have to be careful with heat and movement so I don't felt the yarn. I believe I can do it. 

For a more indepth tutorial see this post: Dyeing Wool Yarn in 30 Minutes or Less

#12 By Jove!

 By Jove! I think she's got it! 

It's true, I've cracked the code, learned the trick, found my way and I am so happy and relieved. 

Here's the short version...I rewatched the colorwork tutorial (Summer Lee again) and this time I noticed one teeny little clue. Insert a stitch marker at the beginning of the round! Simple pimple and what a huge difference it makes. I never got lost on the pattern and everything lined up where it should. 

 I got so excited I had to try on the first sock as soon as I steamed it, still warm!

 Of course this isn't the most intricate pattern, but still, I already have ideas for more chevron designs in multiple colors. To make it really clear for myself I followed the pattern exactly and used the suggested colors. That may have been the most difficult for a maverick like myself. My confidence grew tho, so I am glad for once that following the pattern was the right thing to do to really learn the technique. As soon as the colorwork part was finished, I changed the leg to ribbing, and made the foot another color...and O, I discovered a new heel to try.

 This is the Dutch Square Heel in garter stitch. Very fast and easy and so squishy to wear. I followed the pattern but it was so intuitive that I didn't have to look at the directions at all for the second sock. 

 Here it is after blocking. It really cups the foot so nicely and is springy and squishy, which I just love.

So I learned two techniques which I know I will use over and over again. My own designs to follow!

64 stitches, needles #1 and #2, merino and nylon yarns. Lopi sock pattern from Summer Lee.

#11 and a half

 I thought I was ready to knit a whole sock in multiple patterns and multiple yarns.  I spent the whole day knitting this sock. It fits perfectly which is the nicest thing I can say about it. 

Could it be that I bit off more than I could chew?  I am not in love and really don't want to make the second pair. Is that giving up too early? Won't the second one be an improvement over the first? Perhaps, because the experience will help, but then the first one will always be a reminder of what I messed up. I'm not going to point out the mistakes as they are myriad, on the other hand they may not be visible as you rush by on a speeding horse.

 

They do feel wonderful on the foot. Cozy and soft after the miracle of steam blocking. 

 This sock project was meant to teach me new techniques and to improve my skills. I have learned a lot and now I am not afraid of things that once baffled me. More stitches per inch make a nicer sock, and casting on with magic loop has really made cuff down socks so much easier. Not to mention the cut through afterthought heel which I really love, no more holes at the corners. And best of all sock blockers and steaming are a revolution for the whole process. The finished socks are so soft and drapey after steaming and it's so fast compared to the old way of blocking. 

All that being said...I can always come back and knit the second one, but for now I will start fresh and try to remember that I never saved my homework from school and yet it still helps me today.

#11 Pinstripe Sock

 The second variation of  The Solution sock. This time I used my own hand dyed sock yarn paired with Knit Picks Chroma Fingering in Mocktail colorway, the main body color.  Both are merino and nylon and I used size 2 for everything but the foot which was size 1 needles. Cast on 64, which turns out to be the right size for my foot. Yay!  I attempted to match the main color and had to unspool a massive amount of beige colored yarn to get near to the same color to start sock #2. Close, but not close enough. Nevermind I still love these. 

 

Sock one starts light blue then yellow, and sock two goes from pale orange to blue. The contrasting yarn is multi-colored (the heel shows it ) and looks entirely different against the main color.

 Matching is overrated. 

 So glad I made these. Sigh.

#10 The Solution Sock

The problem : I have tons of variegated yarns which are irresistible in the skein but when knitted up they are... meh. They won't make a pattern and result in blobs of color that doesn't equal how beautiful they look when I fell for them unknit.                             

The Solution: Use two contrasting variegated yarns and let happen what happens!

Here's what I did. With the darker yarn in my left hand I knit Continental and in my right hand with the lighter yarn, I knit English. One stitch with one yarn and one stitch with the other.  It was tricky at first but I got the rhythm going and I was thrilled with what I was seeing develop.

 Even the inside of the sock looked wonderful. Those tiny circulars which I had hated became my best tool. I just love them now.

 Look at the patterning now! Vertical stripes, horizontal bands and wonderful color. Woowoo!

 The second sock was even easier because all the doubt and angst was gone and I could watch TV without getting lost. 

 I used just the darker variegated for the heel, toe and top ribbing. The foot was the same kind of yarn but solid Terra Cotta color.  The pair are in the 'brown' family but I still love them (not a brown fan). And the fit is perfect. Here's my trick for top down socks ( not my invention, but still) I cast on with long circulars and knit the cuff and then switch to the tiny circulars for the leg, and then for the foot, heel and toe, back to long circulars.

 I have so much dark and murky variegated yarn that I am considering buying more in lighter values. O dear, I'm falling down the rabbit hole, again!. 

Koigu Hand Painted Premium Merino and Prism Merino, Madeline Tosh Sock for the lighter variegated, size 2 needles throughout. Cast on 64. Afterthought heel.

#9 Peas and Carrots

  On July 10 I started another pattern by Summer Lee and got lost quickly and started over several times. I blamed the tiny circulars, and not being able to print out the pattern onto paper, and instead tried to read it off my laptop. Duh. I wasted a whole day trying to use other needles: two circulars, double pointed needles etc. to no avail. While this start looks good in the picture, it was way off the pattern and I couldn't figure out how to get back to the right place. So frustrating. 

So I ripped it all out and began again the next day. This time I made up a design
and was determined to make this work. Still trying to find the right needles and finally returning to the tiny circulars and lo and behold, I actually got them to work for me. The first sock was tedious as I was still learning, but by the second sock, knitting the cuff just flew! Amazing. 

When I finished the pair, it was bury the ends time and the first sock was a mess, but by the second sock I kept up with the burying as I knit. 

Cast on 64, Using size 2 for the cuff and leg, and size 1 for the foot, toe and afterthought heel. Various merino/nylon yarns.

 

#8 Ode to Barbara Socks

 O I love a project like this, where nothing fatal goes awry and I can sail through to the finish line, enjoying every bit of the knitting. This is another purchased pattern from Summer Lee, hence the name. At this time in my life I know of no Barbara, but nevermind. If I were to name this pair it would be Honeydew Melon socks, based on the yarn color. I used a heavier weight yarn for the cuff, toe and heel for added strength. Cast on 64 sts and used Magic Loop with size one needles. Afterthought heel, my fave. 

 The ribbing provides a nice fit.

 On the feet is where the sock yarn really performs. I used Knit Picks Stroll fingering, 75% Superwash merino, 24% nylon. These socks could be worn on a 98 degree summer day, as they are light as a feather. 

 My self imposed challenge was to read a lace chart and try to not get lost. This was a super easy chart of only eight rounds and I had no problems at all. Yay!!!

 I will definitely make these again and maybe repeat the lace panels around the sock. Just because I can!