Today's Episode: Girl meets yarn. Girl falls for yarn. Girl embarrasses herself, but it seems that things might still work out between them.
When I went to Rhinebeck in 2006, I was on a mission. I wanted to find yarn that I could dye with Kool-Aid. I remember reading about it on other people's blogs, and it looked really fun. After researching all of the natural-colored yarns I could find (for softness and price), I ended up with some of Green Mountain Spinnery's Green Mountain Green. Perfect.
When I was purchasing the yarn, I asked the sales lady if I could use Kool-Aid to dye this yarn. And she winced. Later, when I was remembering what happened, I was sure that I must have projected that wince. Kool-Aid seems like such a low-brow way to dye yarn, and I was was feeling a little insecure.
In the summer of 2007, I started entering my yarn into Ravelry, and I happened to read the tag on my Green Mountain Green yarn.
Fibers for this yarn are GREENSPUN using vegetable based soaps and oils in the processing and then washed gently to preserve the natural sheen and resilience. To retain the chemical free nature of this yarn wash gently in lukewarm water using vegetable oil based soap.
Wow, I had a laugh at that. I wanted to take this yarn that was lovingly processed chemical free, and dye it with Kool-Aid. I still giggle a little bit when I think about it. I decided that I would find another way to change the color, and after eating some wonderful locally grown beets this summer, I had my solution.
Incidentally, I bought more of this yarn at Rhinebeck 2007 (for my Cobblestone pullover) and the sales lady remembered me. She admitted that she did, in fact, wince. We had a laugh, and I told her about my beets plan, and everything was good.
The next step was gathering the the supplies (and the courage) to dye the yarn. I had been putting it off for months, but finally on a whim and a Wednesday night, I got started.
I can't wait to see how this turns out! What was stained? What color did the yarn end up? Were the beets tasty??
Posted by: stacey | February 14, 2008 at 11:55 AM
Heh. Love that story. And I really loved when the woman at the GM booth remembered you!
Posted by: Jessica | February 14, 2008 at 11:55 AM
I'll be watching and can't wait to see what happens!
Posted by: margene | February 14, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Great story! Can't wait for part 2.
Posted by: Oiyi | February 14, 2008 at 12:19 PM
I can't wait to see the end-result!
Posted by: Linda | February 14, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Hehee, that was funny! Can't wait to see what happens next. :-)
Posted by: terhi | February 14, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Ah, a cliffhanger episode! It's so funny the saleslady remembered you. Given that she did, it seems really nice for both of you that you had the opportunity to put her mind at ease. I'm looking forward to hearing how the beet dyeing worked out.
Posted by: Jean | February 14, 2008 at 12:57 PM
I agree, beets sounds much better suited to that yarn. Can't wait to see the results!
Posted by: Stella | February 14, 2008 at 01:20 PM
You left me hanging! I can't wait to see how this turns out. Got a laugh at the wincing thing. It's like taking a bunch of organically grown, locally farmed veggies and dousing them in Velveeta cheese sauce. I admit that I've done this. Naughty maybe but tasty.
Posted by: Kim | February 14, 2008 at 01:27 PM
Oooh, I love a good cliffhanger!
Posted by: kseio | February 14, 2008 at 02:17 PM
When I was in art school, I took a natural dye class. It was a lot of fun to know that not everything has to be colored via chemicals. We were warned about a few dye materials that seem to work but that don't last. Beets were one of them. Beets dye yarn a beautiful pink color and never stay. They wash out as soon as you rinse the yarn. If any color stays it will end up fading very quickly especially when it comes in contact with light.
For a stronger longer lasting red/pink color, I recommend brazilwood, cochineal, lac, or hibiscus (dried works wonders). There are many more but those give consistent non-fading colors.
If you are looking for something that is food safe and you can do it in your kitchen, I recommend the hibiscus. You would mordant the yarn with cream of tartar before dying it. This will hold the color much better than the beets but will eventually fade also.
The brazilwood, cochineal and lac will last the longest amount of time in relation to fading. If you still want to use the beets you can over dye the yarn with one of these dye materials to make it more color fast.
Good luck. Have fun with this.
Posted by: Chrispy | February 14, 2008 at 03:34 PM
Wait, what! That's it!! You can't start off with a great opening like that and leave us with a cliffhanger of a post ending! There wasn't even a picture of beets bobbing in boiling water (or whatever you do to extract the color). If you start turning your posts into some sort of serialized business, I might have to revolt! I am curious now. I want to know if the yarn will be red-red, pink-red, or brownish-pink...well, maybe that last one is a stretch...
Posted by: nova | February 14, 2008 at 04:25 PM
Oh, this will be interesting, can't wait to see - sounds so rich and fabulous already!
Posted by: Stacey | February 14, 2008 at 05:14 PM
Good for you! (And that is a great story, too.) I can't wait to see how it turns out . . . I just love a good story.
Posted by: --Deb | February 14, 2008 at 06:49 PM
A cliffhanger? Naughty!!!!
Posted by: Dave | February 14, 2008 at 07:18 PM
....AND THEN?! :D
Posted by: Sacha | February 15, 2008 at 10:09 PM