Our Common Thread: Part Two

Woot! Today we're all about dyeing, and I'm super excited! We had two days of dye workshops and I dyed a whole bunch at the retreat this year. I feel like every retreat I dye a little more, so in a couple more years I should be coming home with an entire yarn store's worth!

The first night's yarn was my biggest project-I wanted four skeins of fingering-weight for a special project (I'll be able to tell you all about in a couple weeks!), and I chose a new base to work with. It's a royal gray 100% wool, non-superwash. I had originally thought about using a blend, but I decided that plain old sturdy wool will be perfect for what I have in mind. I tried for a reddish-purple, but I knew it would come out darker because of the gray yarn, and we didn't have samples of this base on the dye cards, so it was a bit of a shot in the dark. This color is absolutely perfect, though. Not quite what I expected, but it turns out to be exactly what I wanted.

The second night we used the snow cone maker to do snow dyeing again, which is more unpredictable, but a lot of fun. The other big project I had in mind was yarn for a top. I decided on this 50/50 merino/tencel base, which has an amazing drape and will breathe beautifully in the summer. I wanted either a light purple or a pinkish, and I'm super happy with how this one came out. It's a bit more variegated than I planned, but I love the color so much, and I think it will go with a lot of things in my wardrobe.

Of course, I couldn't do a dye weekend without dyeing up some corriedale, so I grabbed two skeins and threw some green dye on them. I love how these came out-a bit swampy and foresty, and I'm really looking forward to knitting them up. I know I want a big shawl out of them, but I haven't decided on a pattern yet, so for now they're just going to hang out in my stash and look pretty.

Finally, I snagged up the last skein of 50/50 merino/silk fingering weight. I always like to try an orange skein during dye workshops, because orange isn't a hugely popular color and I struggle to find good orange yarns. I threw a couple of different orange/gold dyes on this one, and I'm so pleased with how it came out! This yarn is so soft, too, so it really has to wait to become something special.