To help our buddies out for the Dye-O-Rama Swap they asked us to do a little meme. So here are my answers….
Your favorite colors? apple green, orange, brown, teal, hot pink
Preferred yarn weight (Fingering, Sport, DK, maybe even Worsted)? I’m willing to try anything but fingering scares me just a bit. I imagine myself trying to knit with needles that are the size of sewing needle.
Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? I like both
If your buddy is able to do so, would you like a variegated, self-striping, or self-patterning yarn? Whatever they want to try is cool.
Would you be interested in a wool blend sock yarn (nylon, tencel, silk, acrylic, alpaca, etc.)? Sure, but also washable is good.
Imagine the perfect colorway. What would you name it?
What was the biggest appeal to you for joining this dye-along? To see what other people come up with.
General yarn/fiber questions
Have you dyed yarn/fiber before? Yes If so, what’s your favorite dye and method? I like to hand paint with acid dyes.
Do you spin? Yes
Have you knit socks before? Nope
Do you use sock yarn for just socks or in other patterns too? I’ve used sock yarn for non socks.
What are some of your favorite yarns? Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride
What yarn do you totally covet? I have a shopping problem so if there’s something I coveted I probably already have it
Favorite patterns? Not that I can think of.
Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? Nope
Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? I make a lot of hats so I love my addi turbos
If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? Noro Transitions
Nothing to do with knitting/yarn/fiber in any way but seemed kinda fun: Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? I love milk chocolate. Cadbury mini eggs are my all time favorite, but its not easter anymore 
What’s your favorite animal? Liger?
Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages? I have a kitten named Lola and she going to be 1 at the end of the month.
If you were a color what color would you be? turquoise
Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s).. green melange ringer t-shirt that was my mom’s when I was in girl scouts. It has pine trees on it and says “lake hiawatha girl scouts is a good place to grow”.
What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? Snow covered mountains
Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read. “A life lived in fear is a life half lived.” – Strictly Ballroom
Do you have a wishlist? no
My dyeorama buddy asked me to post up on my thoughts on colors. So here goes…
I like my colors to be colors. They can be subtle, but not pastel.
I am obsessed with bright apple green. I like hot pink, brown, orange, teal. My colors are the ones that are funky and fresh.
I am not afraid to make a statement with color.
Of the 280 people who signed up for dyeorama I was one of the 80 who didn’t get an email with their buddy’s name after the host thought they were spamming. But it was in my mail this morning!
I bought some Wool2Dye4 Supersock Merino for this project. Damn this stuff is thin. It nice, but I don’t know if I’d buy it again because you are going to have to knit with size .025 needles with this. However it was half of the price of Louet Gems Pearl.
I have to remember to email my buddy when I get home and can access my gmail accounts. I need to find out her color preferences.
Dyeing roving with Tissue Paper (in French)
There was a link to this site on the Dye-O-Rama blog. Its in french and the translator sucks at translating it. It looks like a rather nifty technique so I might have to give it a try. Maybe I will write the Tutorial en Anglais.
I just signed up for the dye-o-rama swap. You get 6 weeks to dye 350yds of sock weight yarn and send it to your recipient. I can handle that. Sign ups end on saturday at 6pm. This is my first swap ever! I figure dyeing only takes an hour to do, so it’s better than those swaps where you spend hours making stuff.
sidenote: man..today is like the day o’crafterati posts
I intended to just pick up brown dye, but instead I came home with 10 jars of Jaquard Acid Dye from Pearl Craft. It was $3.59, rather than the $4.49 list price, so how could I resist. When I live somewhere with a real workspace I think I will get into real formula dyeing, but for now I just don’t have the room. I need to clean so I have a place to do some dyeing tomorrow.
So I spent this evening dyeing up a storm. First I took all of my Washfast Acid Dye kit and made stock dyes. I knew I was drinking all of those 1L bottles of ginger ale for a reason! Then I while the fiber was soaking I started planning my dyeing according to Deb Menz’s dyeing book.
The first few I did, I was very scientific. I tried microwaving but it wasn’t going so well, so I switched to the stove. That didn’t work too well either. So I reread the Washfast direction and it said if in the end it doesn’t absorb all the dye to add some vinegar. A ha!
I was out of white vinegar so I used some apple vinegar and then it all started coming together. I also abandoned my scientific approach and just started throwing dye together. I have a pretty good eye so that usually works out for me. So in the end…I had 2lbs of domestic wool dyed in 11 lovely colors. If I just had red I would have had a nice rainbow.
I have to go to Long Island tomorrow for a christening, but hopefully I’ll have some carding time before I get ready.