Water from Lourdes Cures Dyeing Knitter!

Well, no water from Lourdes was involved. I do wonder what water from that source would do to the color of the finished project. If you are into dyeing, you know that the content of the water affects the color you get. However, Here's what I did at my spinning class on Monday:

Dyeing with Judy

The white yarn shows my (ick!) spindle-spun white yarn before dyeing. The dark brown yarn was pretty much unchanged. The gray is the next one, with more muted tones. Our teacher put white roving in the bottom of the dye pot, which was full of hot water. We added our yarn and some uncarded fleece in lingerie bags. Then we added a little powdered dye in each of three colors. We put each color on one third of the surface. Then it cooked for about 40 minutes or so, while we had a lesson in producing natural dyes, using mordants, and their effect.. Then we took our fiber out, rinsed it, and added more uncarded fleece to the exhaust. That's how we got the lavender, which also cooked for a while. Next week we will bring our wheels and spin the roving that came out of the pot. It has the same colors as the yarn. It will be interesting to see how that turns out. Sometimes you get something completely different when you spin it.
Those of you who have been reading my posts know that I'm having difficulty with my thumbs. (Some Lourdes water would be nice, if anyone has any.) I think it's from drop-spindling the very sticky fiber we used for the class. Anyway, I'm letting my hands rest a bit (even limiting posting) and reading some books I've been wanting to get to. To reward my restraint, though, I received a nice Knit Picks order yesterday. Well, it's not all the kettle-dyed Essential KP has to offer, but it's enough for 9 pairs of socks. The book came, too. My next order has Cookie A's new sock book, which should make some great socks with this yarn. The rest of my order belongs to my friend Georgette.
I have to add a great, big "Thank You!" to the nice people at KP customer service. I had placed an order right before I found out that the Classic Lines Cardigan had started. I set my alarm to get up early, and was able to get them to add the needed yarn to my order.
I have about two weeks before my next KP order will arrive. That will give me time to rest my thumbs, which I will be doing...unless someone has some Lourdes water for me? Happy knitting/spinning/dyeing, everyone, and Happy April Fool's Day!
Note: Most of the information in this blog is true.

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