1) Soaked the alpaca for 2.5-3hrs in vinegar to mordant
2) after letting it semi-dry, put it into cochineal dyebath:
3) after around 3 hrs, i moved into a steel vessel and put it top heat on gas (no micro here)
4) I let it cool in the vessel itself. and once cooled, washed it with running water and hung to dry:
5) So when it dried it looked like this:
6) and finally got it ready to store, to be used for some future project
What I learnt:
* It’s great fun!!!
* It is work.. do not take shortcuts, the results will also be a shortcut.
* if you use expired/really old dye, dont expect the original color to show up. be prepared for surprises
* Learn to live with the surprise 😉 (I’m NOT a pink person)
This was a lovely quick project! I started a couple of days back, and here I’m DONE! 😀
This pattern has been designed by Elena Nodel, and was contributed to the Project-a-Month group on Ravelry.The hat is made with 2 colors, and is a great beginner project for using different colors as well as cables. Made with DK weight yarn, it definitely knits up fast! Of course, I didn’t really buy DK weight yarn, I just went ahead and used 2 colors of fingering weight held double. What a wonderful way of emptying my stash! 😉
It actually is paired with a cowl, which would help my chances of winning an exclusive dyed merino Skien from Elena, but I’ll have to forego that. I really don’t have the need for a cowl in sunny Bangalore! 🙂
A few days back I stumbled upon a page (literally, from stumbleupon.com) which was a tutorial on how to use a nosty, or nostepinde. This handwinding tool is used to wind wool from skeins into fancy balls, without the used of bulky yarnwinding machines. The concept was very nice. But where one earth would I find a nosty here in Bangalore? I left the idea at the back of my mind, just in case I came across a nosty in a shop here, and wanted to buy.
A couple of days back i came across another article where an enterprising young lady (not sure who though) used her lotion bottle as a nosty. Very nice idea, I thought! and promptly pulled out my own lotion bottle and got winding. The result of that exercise would probably give competition to a bird’s nest. 🙁
The Bird’s Nest Yarn
Last night, however, I was struck by the idea of using my deo bottle. The idea was that I probably got the type of container wrong. While it may have worked for the other lady, the fear that I may squeeze the bottle too hard while winding, and thereby spray lotion all over myself and the yarn prompted me to hold the yarn a little too loose. With the metal container I was now planning, I would get a better control on the yarn, and be able to wind it firmly.
The idea turned out to be inspired! I now have lovely looking yarn balls, with a lot less effort!!!
The process is this:
Take a deo bottle, preferably one with a lid to hold the yarn.
What you need!
Wind the end of the yarn to the top, and place lid over it to hold the yarn. This allows you to have a center-pull ball of yarn.
Wind a bit to the nozzle
Wind the yarn neatly around the bottle up to the width required. I normally keep it to 2 inches.
Wind neatly for a couple of Inches
Now start winding the yarn at an angle, from the right top of the base threads to the bottom left of the base threads. After a few times, change direction to right bottom to left top.
start winding at an angle
Be sure to wind firmly, but not tightly. Tight will only ensure your yarns stretches, and that’s never good!
Once done, remove the lid, and unwind the inside end from the top. Gently slide off the bottle.
Lovely balls of yarn!
And viola, you have a lovely ball of yarn! This method takes a bit of practise, but not that much.. you’d get the hang of it after the first ball itself!
