Kettle Dyed Alpaca Yarn

One of the advantages of having a Mum who raises alpacas is that I can indiscriminately steal borrow from her yarn stash.  It's easier to justify this Misappropriation of Fiber when I'm using the stolen borrowed yarn for Mum.

(I'm giving it back, just in a different form.)

Because I didn't want to knit Mum's Unknown Project in white yarn, I decided to dye it, a harrowing process fraught with much nervous anticipation and occasional heart palpitations.  (To be honest, it wasn't that hard, but working with $60 worth of fiber that can turn into a gelatinous mass of fuzz at any moment isn't exactly a zen activity).

First, I soaked the yarn in lukewarm water.  (Before I added the yarn to the pot I tied it in a few extra places so that the skeins wouldn't unravel).

While I let it soak for a few minutes, I prepared my dye.  I used Cushings Acid Dye in a color called Myrtle, and added about a teaspoon to a cup of very hot water.  Once the dye was dissolved into the water, I added a bit of cold water to the glass.

I moved the pot of yarn to the stove, added a quarter cup of white vinegar so that the dye would set into the yarn, and then began "splotching the dye onto the yarn in sections.

After the dye had slowly dissolved into the water, I turned the stove on a medium heat.  Once the water in the pot was just to boiling (not quite, but close), I let it simmer for 30 minutes and then turned off the heat to let the yarn cool slowly.

It's important not to "shock" the yarn with too drastic a temperature change, as that would cause the fibers to felt, equaling disaster and tears and general weeping and gnashing of teeth.  (As I am having assorted tooth problems right now this would be doubly unfortunate).

Once the yarn had cooled, I hung it up to dry.  I wasn't sure how it would look once dried, so I decided to go with a lighter shade of Myrtle before I tried altering it.

It was an okay shade, but I found I was trying to convince myself to like it, which is never a good sign.

I'm so glad I decided to darken the yarn, because when I repeated the whole dyeing process (this time adding a bit more dye so that the color would be more concentrated) the finished color was exactly what I was hoping for.

It's a bit of a spruce green with hints of blue, and the color is so vibrant it almost seems to glow.  Alpaca fiber is fuzzy and soft, so I wanted a vivid color that would contrast nicely with the natural hazy affect of the alpaca fibers.

I was hoping still for a bit more variation in the skein, but as this was my first time dyeing the yarn, I decided to go for uniformity of color among the three skeins rather than a more kettle dyed look.  (I think it would be easier to achieve the kettle dyed look with only one skein to worry about).

Hope you like it Mum!

(There was a brief interlude when I seriously considered strangling Handyman.  He was trying to make me tea, but didn't realize he'd turned on the pot of yarn instead of the kettle.  Thirty minutes later the yarn was boiling merrily away and the kettle was cold.  I was freaking out that he'd ruined all my hard work, but thankfully the yarn didn't felt.  Handyman was soooooo lucky, because I would have cheerfully hacked him into pieces and buried him in the garden.)

Fiber Arts Fair

Every spring a tiny town next to our own tiny town hosts a nice little Fiber Arts Fair.  It's mostly geared towards spinners, and as you walk in the eye is drawn to bags and bags of beautiful wooly fiber. 

 

Miss Boo came with me, and in between begging to try her had at the spinning wheels, she managed to catch a bit of alpaca time with a little stuffed animal that was for sale.

Despite my best efforts, I didn't manage to leave unscathed.

I fell to temptation.

Again.

And again.

Temptation and I are old friends, it seems.

Handspun Organic Alpaca Yarn

My parents have a wonderful little place in the mountains called Kuwili Windmill Alpaca Farm (which translates to "The Dancing Windmill").

My Mum has some absolutely luscious handspun yarn available for sale, which I told her I'd list in my Etsy Shop for her.  There are several Cafe Latte skeins of yarn from Alice in a sport weight yarn (click here),

as well as some extra-high quality yarn from Einstein, also hand spun into a sport weight (click here).

I can firmly attest that this would make an awesome gift for a knitter or crocheter, and you'd only need one skein to make a scarf (each skein is about 190 grams).  Alpaca isn't like wool, which can often be scratchy.  Rather, alpaca yarn is light and airy but wonderfully soft. 

Sighhhh, I have a skein sitting on my dresser, and every time I pass it I have to stop and pet it.

For that matter, just buy a skein for anyone knitter or non-knitter and they can use it as an all-natural stress reducer.  Just think of the money you'd be saving on therapy!

Etsy Shop Update

Here's a sampling of some of the yarn that we dyed the other day. The kids had so much fun, I had to join in and do some dyeing myself!

The stuff listed in my Etsy shop has free shipping, so check it out!

Miss Boo's art work, a worsted weight 100% merino
Peter's Artwork, a worsted weight 100% merino

"Spring Fling" Merino/Alpaca fingering weight blend, in self-striping colors of pink and green
Carter's Artwork
"Ice Blue" Merino/Alpaca fingering weight blend, in self-striping colors of pale green and blue
"Candyland" Merino/Alpaca fingering weight blend, in self-striping colors of pink and yellow - SOLD
Hunter's Artwork, which we've started calling "Smurf"
"Wicked" Merino/Alpaca fingering weight blend, in self-striping colors of green and deep purple
(All-Natural Mama's kids also dyed some yarn, but I didn't have a chance to take a photo of it before they took it home.)

If you'd like to see a more complete tutorial on Kool-aid dyeing, view Knitty's site here.

Goodies in the Mail and War Correspondent Update

Hmmm, that is an odd title, isn't it? I bet the FBI found my blog! Do you think they're perusing it for terrorist schemes? Hey, it's as good a place to look as any, as I personally believe I have three adorable little terrorists running around all day at my home.

At least, they often terrorize me.

Speaking of terrorists, Handyman was in a absolutely deliriously happy mood when he came home and found . . . .

. . . . he'd finally caught the ground hog.

Mr. Groundhog didn't seem very happy. He looked even more miserable after the torrential downpour we had that evening. I think Handyman was snickering in his sleep all night. Pity and empathy aren't Handyman's strong points. Especially towards groundhogs.

Handyman spent the rest of the evening making sure that I understood that he (Handyman) now had four points more than Mr. Groundhog. I didn't realize how much it irked Handyman when I gave Mr. Groundhog three points and Handyman only one! Apparently now that Handyman has successfully trapped his arch-nemesis, Handyman's confidence in his amazing brain skillz is restored.

Although, as a friend of ours later noted, Mr. Groundhog was released into the wild to fully enjoy the rest of his life in the lap of nature, while Handyman still has to deal with what's left of his garden . . .

I made sure not to pass on this information to Handyman, as I wanted to keep him in a good mood so that I could inform him that I had bought more yarn online.

Now on to the goodies in the mail part of the title . . .

I won something from Jennifer's blog! Look what she sent me. Isn't it great! Not only did she include the yarn she had posted on her blog, but a really nice bag (I like bags. Did you know that? Yes? Oh.) with some MORE yarn! Heee heee, haaa haaa, now I'm REALLY rubbing my hands together in glee . . . . Thanks Jennifer!

Goodies in the Mail

I have discovered that our US postal service only steals socks that are already knit. Thankfully, they leave the pre-knitted socks (i.e. yarn) alone. This is good, because if my mail order yarn started disappearing the US would have a serious matter on their hands rivaling any terrorist attack imaginable.

(This is the real reason why knitters are allowed their needles on aircraft when liquid insufficient to douse a match is not. Knitters deprived of their knitting have a Jekyll and Hyde tendency towards destruction . . . Have you seen previews for the movie "The Hulk"? Just imagine that . . . combined with sharp, pointy objects called needles.)

I purchased some yarn from Knit Picks, and I'm really pleased with the result. They're starting to carry some lovely kettle-dyed Essentials Sock Yarn, just perfect for knitting a pair of these socks for my Dad's birthday present. (I can mention this here, because he never reads my blog. Too much knitting content fogs the male senses, I think.) This is my first foray into Essentials yarn, but the kettle-dyed shading is lovely.

Then, imagine my surprise when I got not one, not two, but THREE knitting-related packages in the mail! It was like Christmas, only better, because I don't usually get knitting stuff for Christmas (hint, hint to family members . . . I know, I'm terrible. Thankfully you're family so you have to forgive me.)

Second to be opened up was this lovely Opal un-dyed sock yarn from blogger friend Lin, a gift to me because she's nice (and knows that yarn is great therapy for over-stressed mothers of young children). See, I got this cool brainstorm idea of how to use up all those 120 + yards of leftover sock yarn - alternate it with plain white, and use it to make striped socks! (Heh, heh, at least I think this is a cool idea. We shall see if it's worth the agitation of switching yarns every inch or so for the length of an entire sock.)

Then, I got an amazing gift from another blogger friend, Kerry. She knitted me the most ADORABLE pair of baby booties for Gabe. What a cool pattern, and knitted with some luscious cashmere/cotton yarn. I tell ya, the kid has expensive footwear! I have to be content with $2 Wal-mart slippers!

Here's a closer photo. Aren't they cute? The best part is (every mother knows this is essential) they stay on his feet. Plus, due to the smart design, they can expand to fit him for quite awhile. Kerry, can you share the pattern? I'd love to get this pattern for future baby gifts for friends.

Not being content with spoiling my son's feet lavishly, she sent an extra skein of yarn so I could knit a hat or something to match. How cool is that?

Then, just so I wouldn't get jealous of my baby (because, while I love him to distraction, he'd better back away from my stash or else), she sent this luscious, tasty, absolutely edible and calorie-free Malabrigo. Can you tell that I have a weakness for Malabrigo? It ranks right up there with smooches from Handyman and dark chocolate. Excuse me a moment, as I'm feeling weak in the knees . . . All this fibery goodness makes me short of breath . . .

Yes, I know, I'm pathetic.

Tea-dyed Yarn

A few weeks ago I saw this pattern from Knitspot, and although I've got waaaaaaaay too many projects going right now, I just had to purchase it immediately. I blame it on pre-delivery depression, therefore the cost is accrued to therapy expenses. Completely understandable.

I love colors, but for a shawl I think I prefer something that will match with everything. Therefore, I opted to purchase some lovely 100% Merino Skacel laceweight yarn in a solid white color and tea-dye it for a semi-solid affect (MUCH cheaper than purchasing it that way already).

To do this, I first soaked the skein in cold water for 30 minutes until it was well saturated. Then, I gently wrung it out and put it in my kitchen sink. (My sink was semi-clean. Ahhhhh, just notice and admire. This will most likely not happen again.)

While the skein was soaking, I boiled a pot of very strong black tea. I drank some. Then I drank some more. When I felt happy with life, I took out the tea bags. By this time, the tea was cool enough to pour over the skein with no danger of felting the wool.

Since I'm going for a semi-solid affect, I only poured the tea in three spots on the skein, each spot about 4 inches wide. I poured enough tea over these spots until all the yarn in that area was well saturated.

When I was satisfied with the saturation, I gently wrung it out. I had to be careful not to let the tea sections bleed into the un-dyed sections. Then, I just hung the skein outside in the sun to dry.

"Ahhhh, what a nice warm day to get a tan . . ."

Here's the finished skein, all bundled up and pretty-looking.

"Why thank you! I'm a natural semi-solid, I can assure you!"

Wool is such a diva.

Fiber Fun!

What a wonderful day I've had today! Andy had the kids all morning while I got some much-needed alone/free/childless time to myself.

First, I ate breakfast at my favorite local restaurant, Amigos, where I got to enjoy an entire meal without any spilled drinks, arguing, or having to cut up anyone's food into tiny portions. It was rather astonishing how much better food tastes when you actually have the time and spare concentration to taste it!

Then, I went to our annual county Fiber Arts Fair, something that I've been looking forward to for about a month. It's not a very big fair, and there's really not much there for you if you don't spin your own yarn, but it's still a lot of fun for me. This year, I was rather disappointed with the selection of yarn that was for sale by the vendors. The vast majority of yarns were 100% wool, which I can't wear. (I heartily envy you people out there with iron skin.) Thankfully, however, my favorite vendor from last year's fair was there, and I splurged at her booth. (This is a scarf I made last year from Sandy's yarn, which she called Single Worsted.) All the yarn I bought was from her booth, which you can also purchase through her online store.

I bought four skeins of this plum colored yarn, which amounted to about 1,800 yards. I'm going to try to come up with some sort of light summer top for this. It's called Merino Sox, and is deliciously soft.

Then, because I just couldn't resist the cool colors, several different skeins of her Pair of Sox, a wool/nylon blend that's hand dyed in the most amazing colors. This particular skein I really liked, because it reminded me of some of my favorite irises which should be blooming in the next month or so.

This skein rather reminds me of African violets.

And finally, lest you think that all my color inspiration is stolen from flowers, I got this skein purely because it looked so "Van Gogh".

Now the real question is how long it will be before I give in to the temptation to cast on a pair of socks with this lovelies!