getting ready for Skeinology

Did some dying a few weeks back and finally started working on getting pictures and then knitting up some different swatches. Just dying and winding the skeins started my thought process, how are these colors going to look, how will the colors appear in the different swatches, I don't have an idea!

These 4 studies are dyed from KnitPicks Bare Superwash Worsted Weight yarn. The first three were dyed with Jaquard dyes.

Here's the two color skein:

Here's the three color skein:

Here's the four color skein:

All balled up......there is something satisfying about the rocking motion of rolling up a ball of yarn, and the way they look, you just want to touch them. I love the way the addition of black as the fourth color changes the way the other colors appear.

This is a Skein I dyed with Wilton Icing Dye, the colors appear random, and not as stripes across the width of the yarn, so there shouldn't be any pooling or "bolts" of color.

Here is the random color skein:

And all balled up:

So now to finish knitting them up, I've got the circular swatches done, the small flat swatches done, just need to finish up the wide flat swatches, not what I expected at all! I'll get some pictures up soon, now to really study what is happening.

The hummingbirds are having a grand time with the new feeder, they really are remarkable.

skeinology

The study and art of understanding a skein of yarn. Ann thought I need to come up with a catchy name for reading a skein of yarn, there it is.

I've got the yarn dyed, balled up and started knitting, pictures soon.

Oh, speaking of pictures, here is wonderfull Marshall, Amy's new baby, he's wearing his little puppy scarf!

Reading a Skein of Yarn

I started venturing out beyond scarves about two years ago, don’t get me wrong, scarves are a great project, fast, easy, cheap and a great way to practice a new technique or patterns. Never mind the fact that I would be tarred and feathered if the girls in my life didn’t get their yearly Christmas scarf fix. But, it was time to move on.

I researched (and researched) knitting socks. I made many pairs and many different heels until I came across Mary Ann Beatie’s book. Now that I was able to knit the perfect heel I started concentrating on the yarn and patterns for the socks. That’s when I got stuck, eeegads, some yarn knit up something awful. It was the colors all mixed up in a small pattern or pooling with that darned lightning bolt.

That’s when a new yarn shop opened up, I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket from selling my old sewing machine table and thought I’d splurge on a big purchase, maybe a sweater, who knows. I found a most beautiful skein of hand dyed yarn with mustard and turquoise and maroon, I’ve lost the ball band so I can’t tell you what it was, but I fell in love. (I’ve learned since that you always save the ball band with your knitting journal) Took me about a month to finally decide on the pattern for a sleeveless shell and I started swatching. Wow, that wasn’t working, how about this, no, what the heck. Once knit in any length the colors all ran together and looked like mud, ugly mud.

I finally realized I should try this in the round, yep, looked great, but no socks this time, I made a pair of gauntlets (my very first design), there it is. This was really intriguing.
Well, that’s when I stopped buying “purty” yarn and really started thinking about what a skein was going to look like all knit up. That’s what I call Reading a Skein of Yarn. Then I realized that I could dye my own yarn, ya, that's the ticket. I've dyed and painted fabric, this can't be much different. Boy, I love to dye yarn, I will never be able to knit all those skeins up!

Now that I really am going to be an empty nester I thought I’d start a study of just how to read a skein of yarn, I’ve dyed a few skeins of yarn for the Ravelympics that will work.
Keep watching and I’ll post my progress and pictures.

Ravelympics

I signed up, I did it, now to follow through. I've posted that I will crochet an amigurumi Pomeranian in the Amigurumi n Toy Toss and dye or overdye 17 skeins of yarn for the Hand Dyed Hurdles.

Finished 13 skeins yesterday, they are posted as FO's and I feel great. Sometimes you just need a goal!

I will post pics later, maybe it's time to start that Etsy store.