- Toy Knitting Machine
- yarn blank, more like snake
The goal of yarn dyeing was to create a skein of yarn with gradual color changes. So now that I conquered the first experiment which while very satisfying was not the end product I was looking for, now it was on to another trial. To do this one I purchased a toy knitting machine to make up a yarn blank. Unfortunately after about 2 hours the handle broke, grr, I had to complete by turning the pink needle part. It worked but was very hard on my hands.
Once the yarn blank was complete I put about a sixth of it in the remaining purple, bright pink & pink Tulip tie-dye dye I had from my first experiment on the stove in a steel pot and brought the temperature up to a simmer. After about 5 minutes I put in another sixth of the yarn blank so I would get a darker patch of color at the end and less color nearer the next color change. I continued to simmer the yarn/dye mixture until water was clear. I then put in yellow food coloring and vinegar in the pot, I didn't note how much coloring I used, but it was a good squirt, how's that for scientific? I then put in the next section of yarn making sure to overlap some of the original dyed yarn. I did the same as before simmering until the water was clear. I also added some red food coloring near the end to make orange, it didn't work as well as I would have liked but overall I am pleased with the yellow section. The last section was done with red and blue food coloring, I was trying to achieve purple. I did get purple but not the bright purple that the Tulip dye gave me, this is more a soft grey dovie purple. Happy experiment overall. Now I just have to save my pennies to buy a real knitting machine $150 versus toy price of $20.
- 2nd Experiment, long color swatches, other side of yarn cake
- 2nd Experiment, long color swatches
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