And that's why this is going to be a really long post. Today I'm going to make up for not posting in ages by giving you the post from hell. Seriously, go get another diet coke because this is going to take awhile.
First, that muted orange and blue fiber I was working on turned into this, and was immediately passed off to Jennifer. (She's a prolific knitter.) This is a snuggly, spongy 2 ply. I may have to borrow it back from Jennifer and hug it until she is ready to knit something with it.
Next, the Fishguts wool that my mom dyed wayyyy back in January and I had spun one crappy beginnerish 2 ply from it. Finally, I ran out of Blugly to spin and picked up the Fishguts again. I got three sizeable skeins of semi-worsted 3 ply out of it.
Which reminds me, the internet has revealed to me that most of the time handspinners create 2-ply yarns, I think because it's faster and you get more yardage out of the fiber, but I really like the twist I get from a 3 ply. (For now; I have a HIGH SPEED FLYER kit on the way for my spinning wheel, that may greatly change my spinning results!) And since I've given up sleeping, I have plenty of time to spin the extra singles for a 3 ply. (I finally got myself a 3 bobbin tensioned lazy kate so I don't have to Navajo ply unless I WANT to. Well, I always want to, but it's not always the right choice.)Speaking of Navajo plying, I dyed myself some more Blugly wool. You've noticed that I haven't mentioned the Mr. Greenjeans/Blugly sweater in some time, haven't you? Well, I've been quietly plugging away on it; I sort of put it aside in favor of spinning when I realized I wasn't going to get it done in time to wear end of winter/early spring, but it will be ready for me this fall! I have the button band to finish up and the sleeves. Button bands! Technically, I'm still a new knitter, and this was my first button band. I had to start over at least three times, and I'm still not sure if it's perfect, but I do not care; I am not starting over again. If it is ugly, I just won't look at the button band. And I am sure others won't notice because they will be blinded by the Blugly.
My next and proudest achievement this week is that I spun and 3-plied ALL of that leftover wool from Blugly. (You know, the stuff I demonstrated dyeing in my last post?) It is, so far, my favorite yarn EVER. I lament that I don't have enough for a sweater, but I did end up with about 380-400 yards of it. Come to think of it, I'm not above combining this stuff with store-bought wool in order to get a sweater out of it. Or I could knit a really nice bag or scarf or something? Maybe a Mistake Rib Scarf? What do you guys think? Suggestions, please! 
Next - and I'm pretty excited about this - is my very first attempt at hot pour dyeing. I had a batt of natural tan alpaca that I decided to experiment with because alpaca doesn't felt like wool does and I didn't have to worry as much about ruining it. First, I soaked the alpaca for 1/2 an hour - probably should have soaked it overnight - with a squirt of Synthrapol. I don't have a clue what that is, but the internet told me to soak my fiber with it, so I did.
Next, I mixed up my new, grown-up, Country Classics dyes in some pyrex mixing cups that will not ever be used for food, ever, because the internet says not to.
Then I heated the alpaca in my NEW DYE POT, to almost-but-not-quite boiling, and I poured the dye on in a stripe and tried to wait patiently for it to "exhaust" before I added the next color. I was not very patient. I was pretty sure I had not achieved the results I was going for, and when I hung the tangled, tortured mass of alpaca up to dry, Dug said that it looked like roadkill. Hmph.
However, once it dried, it looked like this:
You want to roll in it, don't you? You totally want to roll in Roadkill. You're sick. Naturally, I could not and will NEVER get a good, non-blurry picture of any singles-in-progress on the bobbin, but this is a current project and I'll try photographing it again this week.
Hopefully I'll post again soon with the alpaca finished and plied, the Blugly sweater's progress, some socks that I'm working on and...a bunch of other crap. That's right, stay tuned for more CRAP.
2 comments:
Hey Carey,
I used Synthrapol when I did my silk painting project senior year (remember, a certain boy said it looked like tie dye--ok, he was right...but still!) and I remember it as a fabric softener that removes excess dye...
From the interwebs: Synthrapol is a mild soap specifically made for removing excess dye so that dried articles may be washed with other laundry. When dyeing not all of the dye will react with the fiber being dyed. Excess dye, therefore, must be removed to prevent backstaining. Rinse the fiber as thoroughly as possible with a small amount of Synthrapol, then launder with one tablespoon per load. Synthapol suspends and carries the excess dye from the fiber.
Brilliant, thank you, Zoetrope! I have since discovered that they say to presoak fiber with a few drops of Syntrhapol because it is a "scouring agent" which helps remove unseen residue (read: FILTH) that would prevent good dye results. And did it ever; after I soaked the wool for The Next Sweater, the water was brown. Yick.
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