When you own alpacas you can be in the Alpaca Association. We are. Yesterday there was a cluster group meet up. Usually I don't/can't go. But this one was just down the road at Steve and Christine's. Christine was going to do a fibre dyeing masterclass :) and most importantly, for me, it was going to be a small group.
So I went.
And I am so glad I did.
I met some lovely people, most especially Gay, from
http://www.lallybroch.co.nz. Who I feel I have known for a while, but never met in real life!
Christine started off by showing us how to do a rainbow dye with some clean fleece.
It was steamed over heat for around 40 minutes and once it was done it looked like this
Then we had a go at dyeing some skeins of wool. Christine had got some ready for those of us that didn't have our own. This is the colour mine was before I dyed it - a sort of dark fawny brown.
I won't go into all the amounts, measurements and techniques involved - it all sounded very complicated, but once we got started it was straightforward. I really enjoyed it. Shame I can't actually give it a go at home as we've no fleece! next year I'm going to save some of the nicer stuff and give some things a shot.
By the end of the day I had 2 skeins of wool to take home. One had already been 'cooked' and I did the other one here. I'm really pleased with how they've come out.
Here's my 2.
And here it is all rolled into a ball and ready for me to knit - I'm going to do a wee collar or something very simple. I'll post pics when it's done. It was a great day and a big thank you to Steve and Christine for hosting us and to Gay for arranging it all.
It was lovely meeting you Laura, congratulations on how well your yarn turned out. We haven't finished ours yet, still trying to find a suitable container to devote to dyeing! I've only done cold dyeing up to this point.
ReplyDeletedo not tell Christine, but I couldn't wait so I used my cheese pan!! but the pan that I just put the water in for the double boiler!!
Deletethe most difficult part was actually making the ball out of the skein!! it was getting all tangled up and everything! Oh and taking the photo in low light this morning! xx
This is my kind of day. How exciting.
Deleteit was really brilliant. I told Lloyd I'd be back about lunchtime, but had to give him a call to say it would be nearer tea time!
DeleteIt's always nice to learn a new skill and even more so when you meet a great group of future friends. The wool is a lovely colour, and it will be even better whjen you can do it with yours next year :-)
ReplyDeleteyep! the day totally inspired me to keep some wool for myself next year. I also have a friend who makes soap so she'll get some to felt with, and another friend has offered to spin some!! so wow!!
DeleteAha! Ours is finished now as well, I'll take photos tomorrow once it's dry. Don't tell Christine but I put it in the microwave. So quick and easy!
ReplyDeletethe microwave!!! you bad girl!
DeleteMine is finished now and knitted into a teeny tiny scarf!! I even managed a buttonhole! It took till 2am though!
what a wonderful colour!
ReplyDeleteit turned out to be rather pretty!
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