Inquisitive Felines and Fibers

I’m behind on posting this as life has just been very busy this summer with one thing or another. On the 2nd of August myself and 5 lovely women got together in my back yard for the first dyeing party in what I hope to be a long line of dyeing parties. The day started out overcast and misty which caused a bit of concern, but since we’d all decided that a little dampness would melt us we got down to business. Early Saturday morning I had set up 2 turkey fryer frames and tanks which Doug had sorted out on Friday. One of them now lives here thanks to Lindsey (the frame) and Doug (the new tank) and the other was borrowed from a friend for the day. I also set up 2 tables and made a table out of a piece of wood and 2 saw horses. It was quite the vision.

Over the past few years I’m scoured tag sales and thrift shops to get the necessary items to dye my yarn at a frugal price so that I could have more yarns to dye…a trend which keeps rolling onward. I had a crockpot – for the Kool-Aid dyeing I did both this weekend and a couple of years ago – a big enameled pan, several sets of measuring spoons, wooden spoons, tongs, towels, and glass bowls. We had masks and gloves, which in retrospect may have created a show for the neighbors that was a bit alarming, so that we didn’t inhale or wear anything evil for days. I’m not sure if the masks were used, we were outside and it wasn’t windy, but the gloves were in use all day.

We had two acid dye sets and a couple of tie-dye kits. I through some yarn into the crockpot with Kool-Aid and another friend brought turmeric and lily blossoms stating that if they dyed her hands then maybe they would dye some yarn. The turmeric was a lovely color and I’m adding it to my wish list. I think it would be a lovely color for woven curtains in my kitchen. The lily blossoms didn’t do so much, even after adding iron oxide to the mix, but it was a fun experiment. A couple of women tried kettle dyeing and that was amazing.

We all had a great time and I’m really looking forward to seeing the yarns worked up. I will post more pictures of the actual dye pots and finished yarns soon. This is an event I would like to get into the habit of doing several times a year as much for the yarns as the camaraderie and the learning experiences. We all approached the dyes with different ideas and the results were fantastic. So much to learn and so much fun doing it. Oh, and the nibblies and homemade wine were quite good too! So, what was your last wool related learning experience?