I’m so excited to try my hand at dyeing that I just couldn’t wait to have all the stuff I need and decided to give it a whirl with what I did have. So I looked at all my skeins to see what one I might want to try changing the color of, and the only one I had that I didn’t like was this:

I won a contest for a free skein of yarn and I wasn’t given any choice of the color they sent me and so I of course ended up with the worst color possible….Pepto Bismol Pink. Yeah, the was a perfect candidate for my first yarn dyeing experience. No matter what color I end up with, I figured it HAD to be better than this.

So next, I looked around the kitchen to see what I could use for a dye. I found tumeric. Mixed with some water it looked like a definite possiblity. It looked like this:

That’s not bad. Better than pink. And I kinda like pink and orange together, so I thought I’d do a variegated colorway, part pink, part orange. I filled a large pot with the tumeric and water, brought it to a boil, then simmered the yarn for over an hour. The yarn is 100% wool and you have to be soooo careful when handling wet wool as it felts super easily. Anyway, after about 2 hours, I had this:

The orange was duller than I had expected, and maybe I should have mixed some vinegar with the mixture to brighten it, as I’ve read it’s something one can do, but I just didn’t feel like having the whole house smell like vinegar, especially since I have a couple of guys working here putting in a new boiler. (They probably thought it was strange enough that I had a pot of boiling yarn on my stove, much less to have a pot of yarn cooking, and a house that reeks of vinegar. ) To get the variegated color, I twisted the yarn back into a skein before I put in into the pot, so the dye could not move freely throughout the yarn. I let it drip dry over the bowl and into the sink for awhile, then hung it over a chair and let it drip on a towel. This morning, we have this:

Not bad, but not great. I decided yesterday that I liked it better but didn’t love it yet, and I decided to try some purple KoolAid to see if I could get a more interesting colorway. I dragged Emmet to the grocery store only to find that they didn’t carry the packets of KoolAid, only large containers of it. A large container would just go to waste in my house as we don’t drink KoolAid, so I came home disappointed. I’m still going to try it. I think I will go on another KoolAid packet quest later on. And in the meantime, I must figure out what acid dye to buy and where to get it from and I need to order some skeins of undyed yarn. I’ll make sure to post what happens when we dunk that thing in some purple.

Ok, the picture has nothing to do with anything, but this was us applepicking this weekend.

And here is the picture of Evan in his new hat, as promised.

So anyways, I’m getting really excited about a new endeavor. I’ve decided to dye yarn! I’ve taken out some books from the library and ordered one from Amazon. I’m taking notes and watching videos and after searching some garage sales this weekend for some equipment I’m going to need, I’m going to give it a try. My sister and I even signed up for a class in November. I’ll get some practice in and see how I do, and then, if all goes well, I’m going to try to start my own Etsy shop to sell it. I soooo want to do this successfully. It would be a dream come true. Are you all excited with me?

One of my very closest friends just shaved off all his hair. His head is going to be very cold soon. Awhile ago, I promised to make him a new hat. His old one had lived quite a life, and needed to retire. Evan’s birthday is not until December 3rd, but his head cannot wait that long.

And so it is done. I made it big, because he’s a boy, and they tend to have big heads. It does not fit me, so I cannot keep it, as I was tempted to do. Knitting a hat this size on size 1 needles….well, if I get carpal tunnel syndrome, I know which project to blame.

The name of the hat is 2×2 Ribbed For His Pleasure. HeeHee. Above you will see Mike wondering about the shape of the hat, which I must say is odd, and I was worried it wouldn’t lay flat on top of a head.

But it does! And I LOVE the decrease pattern. Simple, yet a little bit stylin’ at the same time. And the yarn I used is a bamboo mix, so hopefully it won’t be itchy on a bare head. When I give it to Evan on Sunday, I’ll make sure to take his picture in it for the blog.

And if Evan doesn’t like it, I’m sure Mike would be more than happy to keep it!

I LOVE things that smell good. And I love the soap I get from Orange Fuzz.

Large chunks of their homemade soap that never fail to make me squeal with happiness. These are the 3 I received in the mail yesterday. They’re made with essential oils and beer! (Well, some of them have beer, some don’t.) I used the black one (Detox Activated Charcoal soap) in the shower this morning and now it’s lunchtime and I can STILL smell it on my skin. Pure Heaven. If you love good soap, I recommend visiting their shop on Etsy (my favorite place to buy things). They don’t disappoint.

P.S. I think I will finish the hat I’m working on tonight and I’ll take some pictures and post them probably tomorrow. And I’m on Chart 5 of the secret project.

So, we had a hurricane a few weeks ago. Remember that? I never did get around to posting the pictures from it. Thank God, we came out of it just fine, only losing power for about 4 hours, during which time I got some knitting done and Emmet watched a movie on his battery powered movie player.  It could have been much worse. Especially if this tree directly across the street from out house had decided to come down straight, instead of diagonally across the road.

It managed to miss all the power lines. Phew! We all spent a lot of time looking out the windows at the insane wind.

And then Emmet got decked out in his finest raingear and went outside to experience the storm (once the worst of it was over).

He’s not exactly a fashionista.

But when you’re that cool, you don’t need to be.