Études In Sea Green

My further experiments with wool dyeing. Last month I ordered 500 g of Italian bobbin merino extra-fine. A friend asked me to dye some yarn for her and as I wanted to experiment with dip dyeing, I made for her 200 g of dip dyed turquoise merino.

200 g is the optimal quantity I can dye in my designated pot. I wound the yarn in a long skein, prepared the hot dye mix of blue and a touch of yellow in a big plastic bottle and gradually dipped the yarn in the dye. Then, after most of the dye was in the yarn, I fixed the dye in hot water with added salt and vinegar for 1 hour and let it cool for another hour.

The result is pleasing, the yarn is very soft, I hope she would knit something nice out of it.

A few days later I wound the remaining 300 g into two skeins of 150 g each and dyed them, using my usual distributed method, with the turquoise mixture and pure blue. However I must have failed to stir well the turquoise mixture, as the second skein turned our much greener than the first one.

As I intended to alternate skeins anyway, I hope this wouldn't be much of a problem.

I intend to knit a cardigan or a sweater out of it in garter stitch, I made a small sample and I like it. So far I've narrowed my choice to Ysolda Teague's Vine Yoke Cardigan, which I've already knit in cotton/acrylic and love, and Hanako -  simple but pleasing free pattern on Ravelry by a designer, who's work I'm currently admiring - Tian Foley.