nope, spur of the moment dyeing :D

i didn’t quite envisage the blood-soaked bandage effect when i started, i’m hoping (praying!) it evens out a little in the steam pot (25 mins down, 20 to go). i’m hoping the dye will bleed (heh) a little more and create pinkier areas inbetween, but of course i now remember that diluting this red dye just makes for light red rather than proper pink.

it all started this morning with madam’s wistful “i wish i had a scarf” as i put mine on. i realised this was indeed a terrible oversight in such a house of fibre. i fancied a bit of cheering up, and the pile of paperwork awaiting me failed to offer any such prospect, so i turned to food dye and fluff to do the job.

the yarn is one of the first things to come off the wheel, a merino/tussah blend (although i can’t see much obvious sign of silk). it may be enough for matching hat or mitts too. the process is dead straight forward: soak the yarn well in vinegar and water; squeeze out most of the wet and lay onto cling film; paint with food dyes diluted with vinegar and water (plain water/vinegar can be used to blend and further dilute the colours); wrap cling film up (package can be wrapped again to prevent escapage) and steam for 45 minutes; wash, rinse.

i’ve applied the dye fairly randomly and in short stretches because i definitely didn’t want a striped effect for this yarn and tbh i’m not particularly keen on variegated yarn in general. i was hoping for a more pointilist or tweedy effect with very short stretches (ideally single stitches) of the lighter colours, a gently speckled effect. i’ll be interested to see whether the plan works out and will post it as soon as it’s knitted, i get really frustrated seeing all these yarns about that look so beautiful in the skein but i suspect might look rather nasty once knitted up, but never getting to see the finished article.</p> will update later, its time’s now up.