Dyeing & Reskeining Issues

I am consistently having some of the same issues when I am dyeing. I really need to figure out if it is something I am doing or if it a product of the dyes I am using.

I had been using Dharma Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes. I think they are working very well.

The problem is they seem to take forever to rinse out. It takes several hours. I am soaking them for 15 minutes, then swishing them around, trying to work the dye out for under the tied points. I empty the sink and do it again. I generally have to do that 5-6 times before the water is light enough that I can wash it.

Then I wash it with Synthrapol. I have to wash it at least twice with this. Again, there is even more color coming out as I rinse it.

Then I wash it with Milsoft. This softens the fibers and gives back some of the feel the yarn had. But there is still color coming out during this part of the process as well.

This all takes 4-5 hours. So if I want to dye, I have to have a complete weekend at home. Saturday is dye day, Sunday is wash day.

So all that is done, right. It is done. Right? Nope.

Now comes the nightmare of reskeining/making balls of the yarn.

Thing is, I haven't had an easy time of this either. I had hoped the swifts would really resolve this issue. It didn't.

I suspect part of that is about the way I have been tying up the skeins. I have been tying them all together. For instance, with this last batch there was 3 different pieces of yarn. I think it is a big problem that I tied them together. So they get tangled into each other. So it makes a mess. I suspect that is part of the issue. The next batch each length of yarn will be tied off separately.

I also fear that part of it is about the way I wash the yarn. I am trying to get the dye out from under the tie points. I think that by moving it around with my fingers, it is tangling the yarn under the tie points. Thus making a mess of it.

Here is a pic of the tangles:

This only happened at the tie points. Not at the parts where the yarn was loose. So I think that by working at those points, it is making things worse.

I really want to make this process better. I do love dyeing yarn. I love creating interesting colorways and playing with the colors. It is very free form and a lot of fun for me.

The problem is that I am not sure it is worth all this time and frustration. Every time I am pulling out my hair by the end of the reskeining/ball process. I spend hours untangling yarn. And it doesn't seem to make any sense.

I keep wondering if it isn't something in my process that is doing this. I can't imagine anyone would dye yarns in small batches to sell if they go through all this.

But part of me just keeps wondering if this isn't more about the fiber reactive vs. acid dyes. And also wool yarn vs. cotton/bamboo/etc.. I am hopeful that there is something in my process I can change so that this doesn't continue to be such a headache.

Hand Dyed Yarn Batch - Undertow

This is the batch of 100% Bamboo yarn I dyed.

It is in different greens with a bit of blue. So I named it undertow. Just reminded me of seaweed & the water.

I should have taken some pics before I tried to wind it into balls. It would show all the colors. Ah well.

Tangled bits after dyeing:

Yarn:

Sarah's Yarns 100% Bamboo

Dyes:

Dharma Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes

Skein:

Large skein made with swift. Given I had it on the largest size I could get, it should be around 12' I think.

Color Length:

Colors are in 2" to 6" sections. Random. Not self patterning.

I dyed this yarn for my sister-in-law who loved green. I used the forest green dye as well as mixing two other greens & a weaker mix of the forest green. I also added azure blue.

I like the shimmer/shine that the bamboo has. It doesn't take the dyes as deeply as the cotton. But they look really good.

Overall, I really like this batch of yarn a lot. I am hopeful my sister in law will like it as socks.

I admit I am nervous about making her socks. I am still not sure about the bamboo yarn having enough stretch. Though the swatch I knit had a lot more give than I figured it would. So I am hopeful.

I am leaning towards a simple rib for this. Mainly because I am not sure what else would have enough elasticity to it to be sure it will stay up on the calf. Open to ideas though.

I will probably do these as toe up shoes to make sure I have enough yarn to complete them. I keep wondering if I should make my bamboo socks first to check out the yarn. Or if I should just dive in on Jennifer's. Decisions decisions. *grin*

Misc. Knitty Bits

I am glad I caught up on my knitting project babble & pics. That is progress. Now for the various babble bits.

Swifts!

Paul made me two swifts. I need to take pics when I have them set up. They are pretty cool. They are the windmill type. I figured that would work better. He did a really great job though of course, he isn't happy with them. *shakes head*

Carrie/Dharmafey from the Socks in the City podcast mentioned on Ravelry that she uses two skeins to help with her dyeing. I figured I would give that a try.

I was hoping that it would work for creating a long skein. It didn't honestly. I tried but it was not working for the long skein. They work beautifully for a typical hand dyed skein though. It just doesn't work for creating a super long skein for self striping yarn. I really think I need to create a warping board that is bigger to see it that will help.

I dyed a smaller skein batch of the Sarah Yarn's 100% bamboo yarn during my vacation. I did it in various greens with a little bit of blue. The thought is to make my sister-in-law Jennifer some socks for Xmas. She doesn't like wool as she gets too hot.

Thing is, my sister-in-law Tee is making her some socks already with some Panda Cotton in Roses. Which is actually my fault! *laugh* Jennifer mentioned that Tee *might* make her some socks. I thought Jennifer said Tee *was* making her socks. *chuckle* Ooops.

Tee is a super-experienced knitter. So of course, the socks she is making are looking really good honestly. So I am hesitant. I also feel like I have been taking on a lot of knitting for the holidays. I will see. If they get done, great. If not, no worries. *smile* Or hey, give Tee the yarn and she can make them for Jennifer? *laugh* (Just kidding if you read this Tee.)

NY Sheep & Wool

I am excited that NY Sheep & Wool is so close! *wiggles happily* I am going up this Saturday. Spending the day, though not staying overnight.

I really do hope I don't get too overwhelmed. It does seem like there is so much to see.

I have been reading the Ravelry boards about it. Getting lots of helpful hints for the NYS&W newbie.

The consensus seems to be:

You can't see everything so don't stress it.

I know I want to see everything, but good to know I probably won't.

Buy things you like when you see them.

They probably won't be there when you go back.

Bring cash.

Not all the vendors take credit cards. (And hey, it is probably better not to get into too much trouble frankly!)

Wear mud resistant shoes.

It is a fair ground. So if it has rained at all recently, it will be muddy.

Take lunch & snacks with you.

The food lines can be really long. So it helps not to spend time online. And hey, more money for fiber. Though I may not be strict about that. I love lamb and all. And you can rarely get it. But I heard the lamb burgers are like hockey pucks. So I will definitely skip those.

The fried artichokes are worth the wait.

Might have to find out... *grin*

Get there as early as you can.

Things sell out throughout the day. The later in the day you get there, the less vendors have. Though I know Paul isn't getting up at 7 am no matter how much I want him to!

I am sure there is more.

I want to go to a couple of the after parties. Seems that Morehouse has one. They are the people I got my nifty dragon scarf pattern from which I love.

The Ravelry folks are talking about having one. But there haven't been any details posted yet. I doubt I will go as Paul will kinda want to do other things with the evening.

He will probably spend the day at the Aerodrome museum. It actually looks cool. Though they won't have the air show this Saturday. It seems that stopped this last weekend.

Missing the Yarn Harlot

I am sad. The Yarn Harlot and a bunch of other authors will at NYS&W on Sunday, but not Saturday. I am going on Saturday so I won't get to see the Yarn Harlot speak. On the other hand, more shopping time, right? *grin*

I do want to see her speak sometime. But she has just finished up a new book so I suspect she will be doing the rounds again when the new book is released. Her publisher really does seem to have her working hard.

The Never-Ending Scarf

I really think the cable scarf for Kyle is the bane of my knitting. I am knitting at least 8 rows a day. It is my homework. And it takes about 15 minutes for the 4 rows. I am guessing I am a very slow knitter. Thing is, I was praying it would be long enough at the 4 skein mark so I could use the last skein for a hat. No such luck. I can't recall if Kyle wraps his neck once or twice. But either way, it just isn't long enough to wrap. It would be fine without a wrap. But I know how he wears his scarves. So I have started #5. *sigh*

Mind you, it isn't terribly challenging. It is just taking soooo long.

There should be a link on the side with a pic and such so long as I am working on it. *Love* that I have my works in progress from Raverly in my side bar. Soooo cool.

Teaching a Coworker to Knit

I spent my lunch hour trying to teach a coworker to knit! I really hope I explained things well. I am not sure if I did.

She ordered a cupcake kit from Etsy. I have the same kit which I am planning to do for my neice for Xmas. Thing is, the vendor shipped the completed purse. The coworker's daughter loved it so much she didn't want her to return it. Mind you, she isn't sure if she could have gotten the order wrong anyhow. And given it was a Friday at 5:30 when I was talking to her about ordering it, it could have easily been mixed up.

Instead I am doing a hat with her. She has a 4 month old son who is wearing 24 month old clothing! He is a big boy. He was 10+ pounds at birth. She doesn't have little babies! All three of her kids have been 10+ pounds. Wow. *shivers*

So I figure we can do a rectangle that will become a hat. I mean, I found a scarf a good starting project. But the Yarn Harlot and others say that is a lot for a beginner to take on. The hat should be small enough to be manageable.

I hope it comes out alright. I took the measurement for a 24 month old head, added 1/2-1" and did it according to the gauge. She is knitting kinda tight. Which I so get as I did too. But I think it should still work. Hey, we can always add a panel if it comes out too small and say it is a design element, right? *grin*

Okay. I think that mostly catches me up with any new stuff. Not sure but I am heading off very soon either way. The NYC Homebrew club is meeting tonight. Paul and I haven't gone in ages. So I figured it would be fun. Off to that.

I think I might have too many expensive hobbies between knitting, beer & bellydance. Though have to say, it has been ages since I have gotten to bellydance class, much less spent money on it. Ah well. Maybe I will get to class *this* week!

Drops Socks with Cables in Alpaca

I cast a new pair of socks on last Sunday, the 7th.

Pattern:

Drops Socks with Cable pattern in Alpaca

Yarn:

Catalina Baby Silk in Claret

4-ply Worsted

70% baby alpaca/30% silk

2 skeins with 100 grams (3.5 oz)/218 yards each

Needles:

Knitpicks size 5 & Boyd size 5

Doing it two socks on two circs method

Front:

Back:

I am hoping to complete these for Raverly Sock Knitters Anonymous Oct. sock knit along. Hope to finish in time. Though the good news is that the deadline for the knit along is Nov. 30th. Just has to be cast on during October.

The pattern is definitely interesting. It is originally in Danish or another Scandinavian language. It took me nearly an hour to transcribe the chart & lay it out in Excel. I think it will be worth the time.

I was a bit intimidated but the complexity, but once I got used to it, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Though the cabling in the pattern on the front is a bit odd. I have never done single stitch cables with it moving between knit and purl. So that has been interesting.

The pattern is really beautiful. I really hope mine will come out well.

I think there are a couple flaws in the pattern. In the M.3 chart, it says 16 rows. In fact it is 18, just like the M.1 pattern right beside it. It also appears that in the 11th row from the top of M.2, one of the knit stitches is in the wrong spot. It should be one over from there.

I should post the chart & the written out directions I made soon. It might be helpful to others. Though I am guessing that if a knitter doesn't bother writing out charts, they would probably be fine with the pattern as it is. I just don't work that way. I like it written out.

I have about 21 1/2 cm out of 25 done for the leg. They are close to knee high. Something I hadn't done before, so it is interesting as well doing calf shaping. Though it doesn't require as much as I feared. So that is nice.

I am going to change to a size 4 needles for the heel flap & the bottom of the foot. I do worry that these won't wear very well. I am hoping the silk will help the wear, but I am not certain if it will. But hey, they are attractive and I like that they should be warmer.

Best get some things done for work. I hope to post more later today.

Ravishing Socks

I am still working on the ravishing socks. These are out of the hand dyed yarn I did. It is Elann Esprit Cotton w/Elastic yarn.

I am happy to say I have turned the heel and completed the gusset. So now it is just the foot to complete.



The yarn has some nice give. The elastic gives it some great spring. The only downside is that they are handwash. *pout* I wish I knew why they aren't machine washable. I am not sure.

The Milsoft made a huge difference in how soft the yarn is. I am definitely a fan of the Dharma Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes. They really seem to be vivid. And so far as I can tell, the color holds well. It has so far with my bruise socks.

Don't think the colors are as bright and vidid as they seem. Problem is that I took the pics with my phone so they aren't as good. I really need a new camera.

It is the basic sock pattern from Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.

I am using the basic pattern, but doing it 2 socks on 2 circs. The needles are Knitpicks Options Size 5 & Boyd's Kit Size 5. I figured since I had two size 5 Knitpicks, I was going to do them on two Knitpicks needles. But I am finding with the socks I am doing for Paul that it is way easier to mix up the needles when they are the same. So despite the join not being smooth on the Boyds, it is worth knowing which is which very easily.

I feel like these socks are taking longer. Not sure why I am feeling that way. I just checked! I started them on the 23rd. It hasn't even been two weeks yet. Doh.

I am loving Ravelry. If you have access, here is the project on there. And note the shiny Works in Progress in the side bar!! I am so thrilled I was given a spot to test the code. It is so cool.

Books I Want to Live In & Other Babble

A few of the knitting podcasts talk about books you want to live in. Not necessarily books you want to knit the patterns, but they look great. I think I want to live in Scottish Highland Knits. I suspect Paul would love most of these items. I suspect in reality they would be too scratchy for me, so the fantasy is better. *grin*

I have to pick up some Knitpick needles. I need size 1s for the bamboo yarn so I can cast on those socks. And Knitpicks has some great prices on their needles. Debating if I need anything else from them.

I keep thinking about getting enough yarn for a cardigan. I really want to make a black cardigan. But I keep coming back to the price. *sigh* So far, I can't see doing it for less than $40 with any yarn I want to use. While that is reasonable, I just don't know about that right now. On the flip side, I have next week off. So maybe I could get started on that which would be very cool.

I might just wait for the NY Sheep and Wool Festival on the 20th. Problem with that is that as the name states, it will mostly be wool. And while that is great for knitting for other folks, it isn't great for me. But I can always see. I think I am good with alpaca, so I might find some stuff I like.

I still need to knit up the superwash wool to see how I respond to it. I have been told that most people with wool allergies can use superwash wool because of how it it treated. I am not sure honestly. But my mother in law was sweet enough to give me the leftover sock yarn she had from an present she has completed. If it doesn't irritate me, it will open up a lot of possibilities.

I did go to the Smiley sale in NJ this week. It wasn't 1/4th the size of the Manhattan sale last year. *sigh* So I am disappointed with that. But the Manhattan one is the week I am at conference. So I can't make it.

I did get some cheap yarn. But most of it is largely for using for tying up stuff for dyeing. And the remainder will work well for baby items & charity stuff. It is mainly acrylic stuff. I only got one bag that was wool. That is for some mittens. But it is for a fair isle pattern I want to try. So I need another yarn to go with it. Ah well.

I am hoping to get some dyeing done while I am on vacation. I ordered some more bamboo yarn as I love the feel. I am debating doing up a batch for my sister-in-law Jennifer to make her some socks for Xmas.

Though I am also trying not to take on too much Xmas knitting. I am only about 2/3rds done with Kyle's Xmas scarf. And Paul's socks aren't anywhere near done.

I also have a cupcake purse for my niece that I haven't started yet. But that one is really a quickie project. I am probably going to knit it at work with a coworker. She wants to learn to knit. I offered to teach her and she picked up a cupcake kit as well. So I can do it with her.

I need to get some things done. Back to work for me.

More Batches of Yarn Dyeing

I did two bunches of yarn dyeing this weekend. This makes my second & third batch of hand dyed yarns.

Second Batch

I wanted to do a yarn that was self patterning & stripping in red & black with some variations on the red.

The good news is that I think it came out pretty well. The red is bright with a good deal of depth. The two other reds I mixed look good too. It worked out well.

I also loved the warping board. Paul made it for my birthday. The design is taken from Scout's site. It helped lay things out. I am not sure if it saved any time, but I think it might have. I didn't time it. But it was certainly a lot easier to lay out. And it took up so much less space than the long skein method. So I am happy with it.

I did it with the Dharma Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes again. The red is the fire red. I really like it a lot.

The down side is that there are a couple spots where I didn't get the dye deep enough into the yarn. Though overall, it actually looks pretty good. I think when it is knit up, it will look okay. And heaven knows, the variation might be nice.

I am curious to see how it looks when it is knit.

Third Batch

I think the color in the photos is a bit off. I have tried tweaking it, but it isn't working very well. The colors don't seem as light as it looks in the photos. It is deeper.

But I do admit, the blues were lighter than I anticipated. They were supposed to be deeper, more midnight. I really think the cyan dye looks darker when it is painted on the yarn than it does when it is washed. I should just get a blue I want and use that more.

That said, I still really like the way it came out. It is the 100% bamboo yarn by Sarah's Yarns. It is pretty interesting. I really can't wait to see how it knits up.

The bamboo definitely takes the dyes different than the cotton. It seems like less of the color holds onto it. But there is this shimmer to it that the cotton doesn't have which makes it so lovely.

I did this batch a lot more free form. I decided that for a couple reasons. One was that I didn't want to reskein the yarn. I figured it came in a skein and it would be easier to just use it as it was skeined.

The other was because I am really not sure how this will knit up. I tried a sample of it. It feels amazing. But I do have some doubts about how it will work for socks. The site says it is great for socks. I am just simply not sure it will have enough give. So if I need to frog any socks I try to make with it, I would rather have it in a color and design where there won't be an issue about the patterning to the yarn. The colors are just large enough to make little spots, not whole lines. So it could look very interesting.

Doing Two Batches

I think it will be a while before I decide to do two batches at once. The only way I might reconsider is if they are the same yarn & I can wash them together. It took eons to wash both sets of yarn the next day.

Part of this is about hand washing & rinsing. It is time consuming. I keep wondering if there is something I am not doing correctly. But I don't think so. I think it is just about how long it takes to wash out the dye that is on the yarn and not in it. It took about 5 hours between the two batches. Heaven knows, I think the dyeing only took about that long.

Reskeining the Yarns

I hope that I somehow goofed big time with the warping board. Because trying to get the red & black batch of yarn out of the tied skein into something I could make into balls what a nightmare. I seriously spent 6, yes 6 hours trying to untangle it and get it into something useable. *sigh* I suspect it was a couple factors.

I am really thinking about a different design for the warping board. I spoke with Paul about it before my birthday. Thing is he was already making me Scout's design. He did offer to make a different design for me. I have some ideas and I think the variations I want to do will make things a lot easier in the future. I should do a drawing and post it for suggestions.

The good thing is that both skeins are now in pretty little center pull balls! Woohoo. I got a ball winder. Knitting-warehouse.com as them for $24. I figured it would actually be more useful with the reskeining from the warping board. But because of the tangles in the yarn, that didn't actually happen. But it is actually great being able to make balls so quickly. I think it will help once I figure out what's up with the skeining issues.

More Pics to Come

The camera is literally coming apart. The battery flap is broken. So we have to hold it shut to take the pics. Most of the time Paul takes the pics as his fingers are strong enough to close it (he took the pics I have).

I took more photos with my phone. But there is some weirdness with my Palm. It won't actually transfer the photos.

I want to scoot home. I hope to have a resolution on the photo issue tomorrow. Maybe I will post more then. I took pics of some works in progress (WIPs) that I want to share too, including the socks from the first batch of self patterning yarn.

Second Socks Pics

I finished these last Friday. Nearly a week ago. I really meant to take pics sooner. But I couldn't resist wearing them the day after I finished them. Seemed bad form to photograph dirty socks! *chuckle*

They are made out of Panda Cotton Jet Black yarn. It is 55% bamboo, 24% cotton, 21% elastic nylon. Has nice give and feels good. I am wearing them again today. And they are even softer after the washing. Hooray.

The pattern is 4-stitch elongated corded rib from Sensational Knitted Socks.

I know it is hard to see them as they are black. So a lot of the detail gets lost. But the pattern is pretty and was very simple to do. It is a 4 stitch pattern with 8 repeats and only 3 of the rows were actually different. It was mostly a 2 x 2 rib with 2 rows that were different.

I did learn how challenging it is to rip stitches with a pattern like that though. I had to go back when I did a row of the foot wrong. I think that there is an area when it can be seen if you look super close. But I don't think anyone is getting that close to my feet! *laugh*

I have to say, I love the 2 socks on 2 circular sock method.

But I also have to say, do not expect Sensational Knitted Socks to do any hand holding. If not for the wonderful Cybersocks tutorial, I would have never finished these at all. Though the beauty of it is that now that I have done it once, I understand how to tweak the regular patterns for the 2 circ method.

And the best part?! No second sock syndrome. Woohoo! I am a happy girl.

Warping Board Birthday Pressie & Dyeing

My darling hubby Paul made me warping board for my birthday. Woohoo!

He worked off the pattern on Scout's site.

I really love it. It was cool of him to make it. He did a great job on it.

Though it is funny, I was talking with him about ways I think I would want to modify a warping board to make it more adjustable. Of course, this was *after* he had already started this one. Oops. He did mention he would still be willing to do that which is very sweet of him.

I did a batch of dyeing this weekend with the board. The board makes skeining the yarn for dyeing so much easier. It took longer to layout. But it also meant things where all measured out and tying off sections was faster. So I think it worked out well. I also suspect I will get faster as I get use to it.

With the first batch, I had to wind it between 2 chairs to create a 40" loop! It also meant that the yarn stretched a lot. So the socks I am currently knitting do not line up right. Some of the areas are longer than others. I still love the yarn and it was great for my first time. I also don't think anyone but me and fellow knitters will notice the dyeing issue.

I dyed two batches on Saturday. I did the second batch of the Elann Esprit which is nearly identical to Cascade Fixation. It is cotton with 2% elastic.

I really like it for dyeing. It takes the color really well. The first batch was kinda stiff after I dyed it though. So this time I used Milsoft from Dharma Dyes. I think that really might have helped.

The new batch is red & black. Going to my gothy roots. *grin*

The second batch is the 100% bamboo yarn from Sarah's Yarns. I decided that I wanted something less formal with this batch. I am not sure if the yarn will have enough stretch for socks. So I decided to go with a pattern that was not self striping. So I just did different colors. Red, purple, deep blue. Though there are pieces that aren't so deep. I am very curious how it will knit up.

I need to take some pics of the yarn. I didn't take them yesterday. I will wait til it dyes. It should be dry tonight.

And I got a ball winder! It arrived today. So I should take pics tonight and make some balls.