A Sweater I Dyed For // Casual Friday S7E15

In this week's Casual Friday podcast, I share my Tour de Fleece spinning progress, and my adventures in cool vat immersion dyeing to change the color of a sweater's quantity of bulky weight yarn.

SHOW NOTES
TOUR de FLEECE
Grå Trøndersau/Gray Troender Sheep wool is from Selbu Spinneri
BFL/Romney fleece is from Lamb Lane Farm in Iowa (they have no website).

A SWEATER I DYED FOR
The yarn I dyed was Brooklyn Tweed Quarry in the color Pumice
The dye color is Berry Crush from Dharma Trading Company. I used a 1% dye solution.
The sweater pattern is Bellows by Michele Wang, published by Brooklyn Tweed

If you have questions about this video, or suggestions for future videos, please let me know down in the comments or on social media.
0:00 Introduction
0:18 Tour de Fleece progress
15:54 A Sweater I Dyed for
23:36 Cool vat immersion dyeing process
36:37 300th episode coming soon

[robinmccamont]

Hi, Roxanne! To avoid some of the dyeing issues you experienced, try tying your figure 8 skein “loops” a little looser (so that the dye gets exposed to the yarn better). Also, I recommend watching Emma Robinson’s YouTube videos if you’re interested in learning more about dyeing. She runs the Woolly Mammoth Fibre Co. over in Ireland. She’s a very experienced natural dyer, and you can probably pick up quite a few tips just by watching her. For example, to facilitate dipping her skeins in and out of the pots of water / dye mixture, she uses plastic zip ties around each individual skein. Check her out! Love your podcasts. I get a “rush” every time I see a notification that you’ve uploaded another one! Thanks!

[louisalowry]

I love Chemknits videos - she is my go to for dyeing help, just like yours are my go to for knitting help. ❤

[elaineenstone]

Love hearing about your spinning and dyeing adventure. That you. 🇬🇧

[musicbones]

Nice solution to the dyeing challenges! Yes, many acid dyes will throw sediment to the bottom in a long soak. I dye a lot of fleece using solar heat and sitting all day, and often the bottom of the batch is darker. To avoid this with yarn, lift the skeins out of the dye bath, rotate them and replace them in the dye every so often. That helps stir up the sediment, and also changes the position of the skein so that the same part doesn't sit on the bottom the whole time.

[celiabell]

I learn so many interesting things with your podcast. I never plan to do most of them but it is more fun than watching TV and I am an avid knitter. I especially enjoy your research on older and even ancient knitting as I'm also very interested in archeology.

[catharina]

I do like the variation in colour! It makes the wool look lively!🙋🏼‍♀️🌷🇱🇺

[stitched-by-jk]

Congratulations on 300 wonderful episodes, and 600 amazing videos! I have learned so much from your channel. Thank you so much for building this awesome resource for knitters and spinners around the world.

[nataliealexander]

Amazed by your three newly spun skeins! Waiting to see the beautiful dyed wool in a project! And. Looking forward to episode 300!

[LottaSocks]

This was so interesting! I don’t dye, but was intrigued all the same. I watch ChemKnits as well, she explains everything, it’s fun to see what the end result is !! And she’s always cheerful, excited about experimenting and she’s a delight to watch!
Maybe it’s a “good” thing I’m in a small apartment, because spinning & dying look like so much fun, which means equipment, (more) yarn, wool, dye pots, etc!!!
I’m happy to live vicariously through your spinning & dyeing, so Thank You!!

[xbaczewska]

Wow. Your dyed wool came out well with the little grey flecks visible, but i loved that darker shade in the pot, while it was still wet.

[nicolelafontaine]

I love the color of your new sweater ! It is so lively !!! For the 300th episode, I wonder what is the most rewarding for you in sharing these videos ?

[beverlyholland]

Congratulations on the number of Casual Fridays we have all enjoyed. I love the cardigan sweater you are making, and the color is one of my favorites! Lastly, I love the sweater you wore today. I noticed the color right away. I’m not sure about the color name, but I know it looks great on you and it will look great on me as soon as a locate the color. Love your videos.

[deejcarter]

I totally understand the wow of Berry Crush. I dyed some hand spun that was a warm brown with that dye and it came out lovely. I kept experimenting and ended up glazing it with Navy and super wow! I’m 40% down with a cardigan I’m using it in.

[penihavir]

Your projects are always interesting. Thanks for sharing them. ♥️

[maryherbert]

I love watching your videos. Thank you for doing them. One of the things I appreciate is how courageously you experiment, learning on the go! I've thought about dyeing but just not brave enough.

[karenalbery]

I believe certain pigments esp the red/pinks come out of solution easier than others and seperate leaving that bright red pink residue that caused the color variations you got. I have had this happen with many saturated red purples. I don't know the science if it though or how to prevent other than not let the yarn touch the bottom or sides of your containers.

[davidhensley]

I like the color variations you achieved in the dyeing process.

[katieembrey-farquhar]

I love your current sweater project, and the color you got from dyeing the yarn! It has great dimension, as you said. I think it’s going to be so cute!

[vadec]

A great episode Roxanne. I love to color of your dyed yarn. I happen to like that color, so it’s great. The yarn you were spinning looked like cotton batten. Congratulations on 300 coming up!

[aroundtheworldfibers]

Wow, congratulations on 300 episodes. That's one heck of a milestone and a whole lot of information packed into all those episodes. Thanks for all the wisdom, information, great stories, etc. What a treat for us :-) I'm reviewing your yarn dyeing videos. I have 4 skeings of 3 ply 80% Romney, 20% Mohair in a medium/light grey. I'm dyeing it black, but don't want to lose the heathering in the existing yarn. I wanted to use natural dye, just not sure I will get the rich black I want. I've never dyed yarn before, only watched it being done.