Archive | Dyeing Yarn

Wool, Wonderful Wool and Wool Giveaway

By Linda on April 5, 2012 in Dyeing Yarn, Spinning, Wool

The dyeing process is finally finished, I really enjoyed it, the wool has come out a gentle, light reddish brown colour with flecks of grey (that aren’t showing up in the photos at all) but I can see them and I am so happy they are there. It has a whole Autumn feel to it… I think I’m going to cast on my Tea Leaves Cardi tonight, I can’t wait!! I have never knitted from such a huge pile of wool before, I dyed an extra 3 skeins for just in case.

I have started a new pattern, this one is for a Rhino…

The super wash wool is finished being spun, I was going to knit a hat, but Kye has asked for ‘white mittens’ instead, (he loves the book called The Mitten) so I am going to offer this skein as a giveaway.
If you would like to win a skein of super wash hand spun rainbow Merino wool, please just leave a comment below:)
~~I will announce a winner on Saturday in this post.~~

Congratulations to:

vicarno’s mamaApr 5, 2012 09:32 AM

I am a wool addict, so it would be great to win this!!! Love the colour of your self-dyed yarn, it has a ‘tenderness’ in it, a bit of slow beginning of autumn…

Please could you send me your postals address and I will send off your rainbow wool, you can reach me on lindadawkins@mweb.co.za

Hope your day is filled with some kind of wonderful.
Linda

143

Natural Wool Dyeing with Rooibos Tea

By Linda on October 12, 2011 in Dyeing Yarn, Natural Dyes, Rooibos Tea Dye Bath, Waldorf

I have been needing to dye up some Rooibos Tea Merino wool for a Labrador dog that I am going to knit for someone and I thought I would share the process with you. Dyeing wool is such fun and I enjoy natural dyeing because I am using something from nature and that makes it very special to me.

So here we go, just grab some wool and tea and we are off…:)

Materials:

Some Rooibos tea bags, I used about 6

100 grams / 3.5 ounces of wool

Vinegar

First I soaked my wool in some warm water and added a little liquid soap, I left that to soak overnight and then the following day, I squeezed the water out of the wool and placed it in another basin of water and added some vinegar, this helps the colour to stick to the wool. I left the wool in the vinegar water for about an hour.

On the stove, I heated up enough water to cover the wool (once added, not yet) and added the tea bags, brought the water to the boil and let it simmer to release the tea from the bags. Once the water was a lovely rich tea colour and had cooled down quite a lot, I squeezed the water out of the wool in the vinegar solution and added the skeins to the pot. You can remove your tea bags if you wish, but I always leave mine in the dye pot. I slowly heated the dye bath until it was very hot but not boiling and then I turned it down to simmer for about an hour or so. I removed the pot from the stove and allowed it to cool, I usually leave my wool in the dye bath for a few hours and then remove the wool from the pot and place it in a basin of water to rinse out the remaining tea. Keep rinsing the wool until the water runs clear and then hang up to dry.

And there you have it, lovely golden Rooibos tea skeins of wool! Such fun:)

I had a few extra skeins, so I have added them to my shop:) The wool is DK and can be knitted with 4mm / 6 US needles.
Happy dyeing,
xo
Linda

Gardening and Dyeing Yarn Naturally

By Linda on September 6, 2011 in Dyeing Yarn, Family, Gardening, Natural Dyes

Yesterday, Caiden started a new Spring homeschooling block all about gardening, planting, insects etc… The block can be found on this wonderful Yahoo group called Waldorf Home Educators, it is an amazing homeschooling resource that is freely available on the internet. It is Marsha Johnson’s beautiful Yahoo group. If you haven’t already joined as a member, it really is a wonderful place to visit. You could quite easily put together your own curriculum from everything she offers in her ‘Files’ section, under ‘Age Specific Curriculum’.

Caiden decided to plant his own veg garden, he chose the veggies that he wanted to grow and then I found some craft sticks. He labelled each stick with the plant name and the date of planting and put these at the end of each row of veggie seeds. He really enjoyed planting his own garden. Now he will be able to know by looking at the date on his sticks, when a good time will be to plant again for succession planting. He is also going to save some seeds for next years planting.

Labelling his veggies…

I was so excited to discover this little Lady Bug on one of the broad bean plants. All the beans are healthy and there is just one that has aphids. Sure enough, this little bug was there getting rid of the aphids from the plant and restoring balance. This was such a lovely learning experience of how nature swoops in when she is needed without us doing a thing

Green…

Today, I custom dyed some mohair yarn for someone to be used as Waldorf doll hair. I dyed my yarn with Eucalyptus bark. It has come out a lovely honey blond colour. I am going to dye up some more for the shop too.

I just had to share this beautiful bear with you. My brilliant and very talented friend, Heidi has designed this wonderful African Flower Bear Pattern, the bear’s name is Lollo, isn’t she just gorgeous!!! The pattern has just been made available for purchase on Ravelry, I love it!! The pattern is so detailed and wonderfully written, I can’t wait to start this project:)

I am off to start preparations for my mom’s birthday tomorrow, Caiden’s 10th birthday on Thursday and our trip to the farm…

Take care
xo
Linda