kitty: dye class with Cider Moon gals!

What better day than Friday to post some yarn candy on the site. I was lucky enough to get into Cider Moon's yarn dyeing class at the Knitters Connection Convention here at Columbus Hyatt Regency this past weekend. The convention was pretty small, only 24 merchants in the buyers room. Though with any convention I guess it has to start someplace. I ended up buying some amazing lace weight yarn at Skaska Designs. That booth alone was worth the trip to the convention. I bought far too much lace weight I fear. I only wish that I could have taken her Orenburg class. Maybe next year, the dates are already set. June 11 - 14, 2008 is the next convention, so mark your calendars. So what did we do in class; Gail and Jacki went through a very brief overview of dyeing with acid dyes; the covered the materials that you would need, stressed the need for a microwave for dyeing only, and the safety issues you will face if you dye at home. They provided us with a copy of a dye catalogue from their favorite supplier. Suggested that you check garage sales for your glass supplies to cut down on the cost of reusable materials. The class was broken down into classroom section and then a hands on aspect of the class. Where they went over two different techniques for dyeing yarns in the class. (Smooching and painting) The batteries on my camera died when I finally got around to taking photos, but you can catch some here: Spastic Shephered Knits - Cider Moon or just general photos from Knitters Connection at T-Town Knitiot

One hank of super-wash wool dyed with the smooch technique

The starting colours were yellow, red, and black. They really changed as the dye mingled in the water as you smashed it down to mix the colours.

This was a hank of multiple fibers so you could see how the different fibers take on colour differently when dyed with the painting technique.