Saturday, January 28, 2012

Dyeing For Color

Part of my New Years Resolution was to cut back substantially on the time I spent knitting to be able to focus on new talents.  This year I decided to not only take on sewing, but also move to what I feel is the next step in my fiber journey; hand dyeing and by fall, hopefully spinning.
I love yarn and fiber and of course I love knitting, however, but I feel that to become an even better knitter as well as small scale designer, it is important for me to get a more personal relationship with my medium.  So, this year, I am only allowing myself to pick up my needles in the evening after all of the tiny eyes in my house are waltzing with the Sandman.  I have put the hand knits that go into my Etsy shop almost completely on hold.  Doing this has been very freeing for me and allowed me give myself permission to try some new things as well as focus on some older things that have fallen by the wayside.
Today I got to indulge in my first yarn dyeing, hand painting experience! As a girl who loves paint and her brushes, I thought that dyeing would be right up my alley and something I would relish.  I was right!

I'm so very lucky to have experienced fiber friends, however, to help me along the way!! Hand dyeing yarn is a little more complex than I thought it would be!  I think the toughest part about dyeing at this point is choosing the colors and knowing where to put them and it was quite nerve wracking and liberating at the same time, to put that first brush stroke to the fiber.
I love the way this first attempt turned out and can't wait to see what it knits up like! I have a project in mind, stay tuned!










1 comment:

  1. Oooooh - I'm sure that first stroke with the brush was a little nerve wracking, but it really did turn out gorgeous!

    Can't wait to see what it becomes!

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