Dyeing for Norwegian Sweater KAL

Almost Done << Main >> The Dyeing's Done

Hi all. I hope everybody had a good holiday.

I have been resting up so I could tackle the dyeing of the contrast color for the Norwegian Sweater KAL. Things take me three times longer to do these days. I thought I could call my friend to see if she wanted to come by and do some dyeing while I had all the stuff out, but the times I felt up to doing it were in the middle of the night. It took me an entire evening just to wind of the one pound of yarn into 4 hanks. That took me out of commission for a couple of days. Then, it took me most of yesterday just to get set up.


I stared playing with the colors around 6 pm and it was 4 am by the time I had painted the skeins and had them wrapped for steaming. I was toast and I slept all day today until 5 pm. I'm not sure if leaving the "uncooked" skeins full of acid will be good for the yarn, but we'll see. I finally was able to get them steamed by 9 pm. I'm letting them sit until tomorrow and will wash and rinse them then. I'm hoping to have gotten the jewel tones I was looking for. The color on the bottom photo look pretty close to the actual colors. I think they will look good no matter what color they turn out to be. I did take notes, so I should be able to recreate it if I want.

When I first started dyeing, I made 64 half-ounce samples of the mix ratios of my three primary colors and their values. It sure has helped me when I have wanted to do dye certain colors. Saves a lot of time and supplies. I still want to take the time to do more samples. The basics are good but not near enough. That might be a good summer project so I can do it outside. Right now, my worktable is the concrete floor, which isn't so bad, but all the cups of dye just wait to be kicked over while I'm working. I lucked out last night.

I'm hoping to hear about the loom I was looking at first thing on Wednesday. I left another e-mail of questions, but they are on holiday until the 2nd. I'm really excited and impatient. I will post pictures and info as soon as it's "mine". I don't want to jinx it. :)

Well, I hope all who celebrate New Year's Eve have a safe and happy time and to all, have the best year ever.