finished cheviot
Originally uploaded by demiurged
I niddy noddied my last bobbin of plyed Cheviot this morning. Here’s my first really knittable handspun. Proud? You bet!
The two scratty skeins on the left are the leftovers from plying bobbins together. I learned Navajo, or chain, plying with the ends. But there’s five reasonable skeins there.
But what to do with them?
I’d like to dye, I think - but have no plans for a knitting project as yet. I suppose that will come to me once I see the dyed product.
And now? Well, I am going to add these skeins to my Ravelry stash 
The Navajo-plyed skeins are up for grabs - anybody want them for a textiles project? They could be felted as surface decoration, or couched/stitched - or braided… anything really. I don’t recommend them for knitting though, unless it’s going to be felted - but there’s only a wee bit, so knitting anything other than a pot holder seems impractical.
You can have them now, or wait until I dye them… and see what happens.
carole | 20-Aug-07 at 2:19 pm | Permalink
*hand shoots up in the air*
I’d love them! Can I have one plain and one dyed? Although it’s a bit greedy asking for both. *blush*
If someone else wants one, I’ll stick with plain. Thank you!
Me | 20-Aug-07 at 3:12 pm | Permalink
Pish and tosh. If you want both, you shall have both. I’ll send an undyed one with the journal. The dyed one may take some time… I checked out dyes and mordants and it looks like being an expensive business.
Now, do you want the tiny one this time, or the larger one? I was going to pack up the journal after my coffee, but I’ll hold off until you reply.
carole | 20-Aug-07 at 6:00 pm | Permalink
Tiny one, please! Thank you very much.
Me | 20-Aug-07 at 7:27 pm | Permalink
Ok. One tiny natural one on its way and one larger dyed one later.
Rhonna | 20-Aug-07 at 9:37 pm | Permalink
Beth, the dyes don’t need to be expensive. Plain acid dyes–I’m thinking of Jacquard–are available in sample packs with half an ounce each of 2 cool reds, 2 cool blues, 2 warm reds, 2 warm blues, a primary yellow, and black. Most significantly, they’re usually pretty cheap in that bundle–about 20usd. They don’t take any extra prep other than soaking the yarn, and you just need household vinegar, water, and heat. They’re really easy to work with. The Jacquard starter kit is a good way to get your feet figuratively wet so you can see whether you want to do more, all without investing a lot in the experiment.
I haven’t tried natural dyes yet, but you could probably use what you have in the garden or yard or nearby woods if you did a soak to create the dye stock. Then all you’d need would be the mordant, wetting agent, and fixative, I think.
The fiber-reactive dyes need the dye, wetting agent, and fixative, and those may be a bit more expensive.
I think I’d recommend starting with the little sample pack of Jacquard first if you didn’t want to go all natural. There’d definitely be enough there to let you dye all the Cheviot in one or any variety of colors–or try your hand at handpainting it. And, there’d be plenty of dye powder left over for other projects.