Tuesday, January 20, 2009

It was historic over here as well!

So, like many of you, I was glued to the tv today watching the inauguration of Obama.

What a truly historic day.

We Canadians need a great leader...need some hope...thankfully this 44th president will affect our lives as well.



So history was made...

and

history was made in my kitchen as well!



I decided to celebrate Obama's inauguration by dyeing some yarn!!



This yarn my sister surrendered to me a while back. It was gifted to her from her boss who was visiting Ireland. I have no idea what it is...I am pretty positive it is wool...definitely not merino...I had no idea how much. So, I had to measure it out. After measuring everthing in the house, I decided to use the bottom front legs of a chair. I measured one skein (which was approx 8 oz)..it turns out I have about 1450 yrds between all four skeins.



I was hoping (key word hoping) to dye it a brown...but my fear of colour...well...let me tell you what I did.



I have wilton icing dyes in the house. The brown was not full...but I had atleast a teaspoon or so. I knew it would not be a deep brown. I mixed it with water giving me about 2 cups of colour.



ingredients



With so much yarn I had to work in batches.

I soaked 2 skeins in the sink for 1/2 hour.



yarn soak



Then I added 1 cup of the colour to a full pot of lukewarm water.

I started heating it on medium high until it reach around 150 degrees F and then I added 1/2c of vinegar.



cooking the yarn



I brought it up to 180 degrees F and simmered for 1/2 hour. This was the scariest part for me. I stood there the entire time making sure the temp didn't rise above 180...the fear of felting was real!

I then had to dump the pot into a sink to cool.



soaking and cooling II



I refilled the pot, soaked the next 2 skeins and went through all the steps again. You can see the colour...not brown. Looks almost tea soaked. Well, anything is better than the natural for me, so I will call it a success!

I'll hang it to dry, wind it, swatch it and come up with something to knit....hmmmm.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the colour. Nor brown, but still lovely.

Philosophical Karen said...

Yay, you did it!

ACraftyKnitter said...

You know, when it's in the big pot boiling on the stove, it bears a suspicious resemblance to spaghetti...

Lyz said...

You are so brave! It looks really nice. I can't wait to see it.

Jason said...

Yeah, I was non-plussed with the Wilton's brown as well, much lighter than I thought.

KeanaLee said...

I'm glad you joined in our special day, we are all so happy here!

Mrs. H said...

If you're still reading comments on this- You can have Obama as far as I'm concerned. He would fit in VERY well in Canada but not ALL of us are thrilled with him here.