Sunday, April 13, 2008

dye day


last week i chose to go our spring fiber guild dye day instead of the california women's roller derby championship in sacramento. i always wanted to be a roller derby queen! i had dreams of starting a league on the ridge-hubby thought i'd get killed and i didn't get many takers except for neighbor rhodie.instead i had a wonderful day of non-violent happy fiber fun. but my results were less than desired. first of all i didn't bring enough fiber. then i didn't listen to directions. i just assumed it was like years past. soak your wool the night before in warm water, soap and vinegar. not so. we needed to soak our wool in straight vinegar when we got there-for the acid dye.-sounds like a report card-"does not follow directions." the beautiful roving that i named watermelon rind-when i rinsed it- was paler than pale. it looked liked antique lace that i dropped in the driveway and stomped on it in the dirt with my boots. maybe it was not steamed long enough or because of my vinegar problem.
then i tried to dye my handspun yarn in a gorgeous misty muted scotland highland purple-single malt- and i got this: heavy sigh-what ever-maybe i should have done roller derby?

3 comments:

soxchik said...

Shit Wooly, those roller girls look big and mean. I think you were better off dyeing.

Sharon said...

I think the colors are fine - just different than what you like to do. And they may appeal to a different buyer than in the past. If not, it was a lesson - yet another one. Doncha get tired of lessons~

Birdsong said...

Well, you didn't get injured... these colors will turn out to be very useful, even though not what you were hoping for. We can have our own Dye Day as soon as we can afford to collect more fiber!