koolaid and non-sequitors

I finally got around to trying some hand-dying! I had so much fun - and it's nice that I can have a knitting-related finished product in only a few hours work, plus some drying time, as opposed to the weeks or months it takes me to actually knit something (that is, unless there is a looming deadline like Christmas). I limited myself to just doing 1 skein for the first try, since I was worried about totally screwing it up and ruining all my skeins. It was hard though, once I had started mixing up the kool-aid I was tempted to get all of it out and make every color possible. But I restrained myself. I used 1 skein of Knitpicks color your own merino wool in fingering weight. Here it is having a bubble bath:


I didn't take any pictures of the actual dying process, being worried about accidentally dying my camera. But here it is having a bath again, after the arduous painting:



And here's the finished product, rewound into a very messy skein (and probably missing about 20 yards or so, that just got too tangled up to deal with). This picture I think is a little lighter than the actual product. Those pieces that look white in this pic are really pale pinkish or peach. Although there were a few white bits that I had missed with the dye. I used 3 packets of koolaid, and I think that really wasn't enough for the whole 100 gm skein, even though I did a lot of pastel parts. The colors are various combinations and shades of grape, orange, and black cherry. I'm especially fond of the brownish color that is a result of a few sprinkles of grape into the orange mix.

I think it turned out OK, although it's a little pastelly for my taste. I'm thinking the next one will be darker red, orange, and brownish shades (will have to go back to Albertson's to stock up). I might send this one as the first one skein secret exchange. Is that rude, just because I'm not super crazy about it? Someone else might like it.

Here's the non sequitor part of this post:

It's the neighbor's baby bulldog sacked out on the back stairs. Awwwww