Microwave Fun

After spending the last three days helping DH with the barn project (a subject for a later post) I decided today to have a little fun. Following Eunny's very helpful instructions on how to make self-striping yarn I dyed up a couple skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock for a pair of Jaywalkers. So as not to have to think very hard I used the same stripe sequence that she used in the tutorial. If this works out, next time I'll put a bit more effort into coming up with my own sequence. This yarn started life as Pale Pink. After making probably one of the sadest looking warping boards ever (so sad in fact that it refused to have it's picture made.) I wound both skeins of yarn on and tied off the different color sections. I then tied color coded snips of yarn frequently throughout each section so that I would know what color each should be dyed. I left one section undyed, dyed two sections with Wilton's violet, and the largest section with Wilton's Royal. I placed the sections in their own microwavable bowls including the one without dye. I placed all three bowls into the microwave before pouring the dye mixture in. I'm a bit of a clutz so this was critical. I'd have to leave home if I spilled dye on the kitchen floor and ended up with violet and blue grout. With all three bowls safely in the microwave I carefully poured the dye mixture (with a glug of vinegar) into the respective bowls and plain water in the undyed bowl. The plain water is just to keep the pink yarn from drying out and possibly burning to a crisp. Nuke for two minutes and check. Nuke two more minutes and suprisingly the water is clear. This is the newly dyed yarn in it's Eucalan bath.

And here it is hanging to dry. Before hanging I put it in a laundry bag and ran it through a delicate spin cycle in the washer.

One thing that surprised me about the dye was the fact that the royal separated into blue and violet. The reason this was surprising is because the violet usually does that and it didn't this time. So my royal stripe will be variageted but who knows it may look great once knitted up. I can't wait for it to dry so that I can get to knitting.