Category Archives: Working

Why I’m not dyeing this weekend (yet)

Knitivity Posted on by

Well… y’all know I dye yarn to earn money.   And y’all know that dyeing yarn takes a bunch of water.   And that I work in my kitchen.  And that’s where my water is.

This is the state of my kitchen sink at the moment.  That’s the top of the drain pipe, glaring up at me from the middle of the big gaping hole in the bottom of the sink.  It is supposed to be connected to the sink.  It’s not connected.  And I’m not dyeing yarn.

No photo description available.

I started noticing a leak when I would put dishes in to soak before scrubbing (makes scrubbing them so much easier — let the soap do what the soap does), and the water level would go down a bit.   I thought at first it was time for a new sink strainer/stopper.  I was mistaken, as I discovered when I actually heard dripping underneath and found the plastic dishpan in the cabinet full to overflowing.

It took a few days before Fixer-Dude came to deal with it.

I thought (and Fixer-Dude thought) it was just a worn gasket or something under there.  Easy fix.   So he got a new gasket thingie and set about to install it.  Turned out that one of the nuts was broken as well, so he went back to the hardware to get the other stuff he needed.  That was last evening.  I thought he would return sometime today to put in all the parts and get it all back together again.  He tends to work later in the day, so he may still come, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to be dyeing anything today.

I have my yarns ready to go, but I’m not putting them into the pre=dye soaker until I know I’m going to be dyeing.  Wet yarns tend to stink if they’re left in the soaker too long.

Anyway, if you’re wondering why I’ve not shown a new collection of Blog Reader Specials yet this weekend, this is why.   🙂

Meanwhile, since I’m not dyeing, I’m not making new money to cover all my regular bills due at the first of the month.  This is a problem.   So, if you see anything you like on the Blog Reader Specials page, send me an email with your selection of two or more yarns and include the word Drainpipe in your request and I’ll take 20% off your order.  This offer is only valid until the sink is fixed and I’ve posted a new collection of Blog Reader Specials, which will probably be Tuesday if I can dye tomorrow, or Wednesday if I can’t dye until Tuesday.

 

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Picture this!

Knitivity Posted on by

I just posted the latest yarns to the Blog Reader Specials page.  I didn’t feel like assembling the white box for taking pictures, as I’ve been doing in recent months.  Taking pictures on the porch allows me to take group shots, as well as shots of Twinsets.  My white box is too small for that.

Here’s this week’s group shot of unclaimed yarns.

My question is this — as you peruse the Blog Reader Specials page, do you find the porch pictures nicer than the white-box pictures, or not as nice?  Is one mode easier on the eyes than the other?  Does one type of background make the yarns more appealing?

I would seriously like your opinion.  Many of you have been with me over the years and you’ve seen how I do things.  I want to make your visiting experience as nice as I can, even without fancy equipment and extensive display options.

Feel free to leave your comments below or send me an email, if you’d rather not comment publicly.

 

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Melted Crayons – A Fuller Look

Knitivity Posted on by

Early last month, shortly before my last surgery, I dyed up a collection of Superwash Merino worsted wt. yarns.   One Twinset in particular, tickled me all along the way, as it reminded me of melted crayons as I sealed up the pouch, and the person who ended up buying that Twinset was kind enough to send me a couple pictures of these skeins being knitted up.  It is rare that I get to see the finished results of my work, so I am happy to share it with you. Thank you, Annie!  🙂

Here is what tickled me at the start, the Twinsets as it was sealed in its pouch before it went into the steamer:

And here it is after coming out of the steamer, the pouch burst, and the Twinset initially rinsed before going to the wash-rinse-spin cycle:

After the wash-rinse-spin, it was put up on the rack to dry, along with the rest of that week’s collection; here I have isolated the Melted Crayon Twinset for better viewing:

And then, of course, it had to be reskeined and labeled:

And now, I can show two pictures of how it is knitting up (pictures used with permission) by Annie.

I LOVE how there are just small blips of color, not a lot of pooling or striping.  Can you imagine a pair of socks, sweaters, scarves, or even a whole baby blanket done up like this?  No need for intricate stitching, you can let the yarn do the work to come up with a unique project!

This is a technique I will definitely be using in the coming year.   My first task, of course, is to try this on Phydlbitz Sock, and hope it works as well as it did on the worsted weight here.

 

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After Fourteen Years!!

Knitivity Posted on by

I have been using canning jars for mixing dyes ever since I started this journey.

Sometimes I have to use boiling water to prepare the dyes to ensure the dye powders fully dissolve, especially when I am mixing two colors together, or when a single dye is actually a composite powder made of several dye colors blended at the factory to create a single color when wet.

When I have to use boiling water, I always always always put the jars into a deep stainless steel tray, just to avoid spilling hot boiling water on the countertop.  Then I can move the whole tray to my workspace and individually put the jars into place where I need them.

So, today I’m preparing the dyes to re-do one of the custom jobs that I didn’t do well last week.  Soon as I poured into the straight navy blue jar, I heard the tell-tale crack of glass.  Oh, SH*T!!!!

I stopped what I was doing, just waited a minute.  Then I lifted the jar out, and you can see the bottom of the jar in the upper right corner.  And you can see where the dye poured out into the tray soon as I lifted the jar out.  ALLLLL OVER!!!  Thank Wisdom I used the stainless tray for “just in case”, right?

And now, I’m going to fix a cup of coffee and let the entire thing cool down before attempting to finish the rest of the jars and get the mess cleaned up.  That means lifting each jar out, rinsing off the outside of each one, and then CAREFULLY pouring the mess in the tray through a sieve to capture any glass shards.   I’ll let it cool an hour or longer.  I have no interest in handling hot jars, broken glass, or loose navy blue dye.

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