My Sewing and KnittAntics

Frenzied Sewing and Hand Knitting Antics jazzed along by Machine Knitting.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Dyeing to Knit



Still obsessing about the Phildar # 448 bustier ,but as I have no stash yarn to match , I decided to call an outlet which often stock high end yarns at bargain basement prices.

Not wanting to spend any money ( or as little as possible?) asked about cheap DK cotton yarn in a summer colour.
Yes we have some Yellow DK soft cotton yarn. Think Marigod/Sunflower bright hue ala Van Gogh ( clearly for a tropical summer )

Not wanting to miss a bargain , ordered the 500gm hank and then spent the next 10 minutes or so doing a virtual telephone yarn rummage.I was looking to bring the postage cost down by buying unwanted yarn.Lots of just describe that to me , maybe not , hmm yes please the order was placed and paid for.











Postman drops a package two days later with an assortment including
Fine Cotton Silk tweed yarn.
Purple DK Cotton yarn.
Indigo Aran wt Pima Cotton
Hank of Sunflower Yellow Cotton.

Pulled out and wound a 50gm cake of yellow yarn.It looked and felt just like R DK HandKnit Cotton or a very close relative ,it also knitted to same gauge.
Washed dried and remeasured the swatch ( lost 10% in length) but hand was still good , the ribbing kept their own.


Yikes I thought I really dont wear yellow.So off to pick at MacCulloch & Wallis catalogue in search of cellulose fiber dyes.

Mmmm have I been thrifty? Why not just buy the required Phildar yarn and be done with?
The sad truth is that I am a sucker for a bargain.The cost of the huge yarn pack including postage was the same as the original required yarn,the added bonus of having yarn to experiment on the knitting machine for free.

Now for a crash course on turning yellow cotton to sage/khaki or terracotta

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