FO: Fuzzy Feet

There's the change in my dye batches- I think the flash of my camera made the shift in color stand out more than I noticed when I was working it. (For example, the sheet in the background is a deep teal/marine blue color)

I also can't figure out why one fuzzy foot has more distinct striping than the other, if 90% of the skein all came from the same dyebatch. But each foot looks a little different. But three washes later, I don't think the change in dye is quite as noticable (on the right foot):

G let them dry over a pair of socks and after an hour or so, they were dry and shaped really well. He gave them a thumb's up!


Final stats: Fuzzy Feet

-Hand dyed Lamb's Pride

-1 skein plus a tiny ball of a second skein (maybe 1/10th of a skein)

Time: 2 weeks, but very intermittently. I can see myself finishing a pair in a week, even with school/work.

Project notes: Easy knit that went very quickly, considering my limited time to knit. I do plan to do again, at least twice.

Nearing the end of my fuzzy feet, part two.

I did not have enough yarn, as it turns out. (argh)

Luckily, I had dyed a second skein of the tan in that color scheme but it was not only a different weekend when I dyed it, but completely new dyes I mixed up. I'm not sure it will match. Not to mention I was saving that skein for my own set of fall colored fuzzy feet and now I am out of camel tan to overdye.

But finally, I broke into that skein because there was nothing else I could do. I still had an inch left and the toe decreases to do. (He seriously better love these fuzzy feet) I guess I will dye some green to use for my own cuffs.

All that is left is the toe grafting and felting tonight, since I am on my way out to work right now.

At wit's end...

I'm on the second fuzzy foot, watching the remainder of my one skein disappear with each row. I have four inches left to do, plus toe decreases. Will it be enough?? I'm determined to find out tonight.






Also, an outdoor picture of my handdyed sock yarn for the Red Sock KAL. Well, half of the yarn anyway... the other half was accidentally tangled up into a mess that I've not had a chance to sort out. The outdoor light helped capture the color more accurately, I think. I didn't want a solid block of color, so there is just light shifts in shades throughout.





And of course, my partner in crime.

Weekend Update

I dyed again... this time, the yarn was inspired by a dear friend that I have known for years. She is an artist and has such a vibrant, rich personality, she has certainly brightened my life up in the years I've known her.

I overdyed this for her yesterday afternoon and was dying to tell her when we spoke last night (I am the world's worst at keeping secrets... ) but it was still drying and I wanted to make sure the colors were true to life. So I managed to wait until today.

Both of my dye experiments lately have worked out well- I've approached them knowing what overall 'look' I wanted to make and both came extremely close to my original vision. I knew I wanted to do a woodsy blend for G, and this sort of vibrant, lush berry blend for her... something about all the shades just remind me of her in all her many moods. And I'm finding I really enjoy creating colors that remind me of the people I am dyeing them for.

I will be making her something out of the yarn. In the meantime... this is how my first overdyed yarn knitted up into a fuzzy foot.

Dyeing

I wrote this up for someone who was asking about dyeing... I overdyed more this weekend, so I'm including some pictures along with it. I am still learning as I go, but here's what I did (specific to painting yarn):

I skeined up the yarn using a niddy noddy, lightly tied it with some scrap wool yarn, and soaked it in a splash of Synthrapol and water for about an hour. I did not move the yarn in the water at all. (note: on later batches, I soaked in vinegar/water mixture)

When I couldn't wait anymore, I pulled out my face mask and gloves, and mixed up Jacquard acid dyes with vinegar/water in squirt bottles (however, I have used this technique with KoolAid in plastic cups with sponge paintbrushes before). I mixed the powders over damp papertowels to pick up any stray dye.

I gently let the water run out of the sink and squeezed the excess out, and laid it out on the plastic wrap. I used the squirt bottles to place the dye with spaces in between each color so it would not muddy when the dyes traveled.

I used less dye than I expected, figuring it was easier to add more dye than to try to remove extra dye. I squished the dye in place with my hands to make sure the yarn was saturated, and checked to make sure the bottom side was covered in dye. (Thank goodness for rubber gloves, I did not dye my hands this time!)

I mopped the extra dye off the plastic wrap with papertowels, tucked in the ends and sides of the plastic wrap and rolled it up, placed into a pyrex dish used just for dyeing, and microwaved it in two minute intervals (two minutes microwaved, two minutes resting, two minutes microwaved).

By then, the dye had exhausted, so I set it aside to let it come up to room temperature (about an hour, just to be safe). Then I rinsed it gently in room temperature water, and let it soak for a few minutes in water with two glugs of vinegar in it. I rinsed once more to remove the vinegar smell, squeezed out the excess water gently, and let it airdry overnight.

I also made some red sock yarn, using an immersion method.