Warning: Picture Heavy Post!

Well, I finally got all that cotton plied up! A few skeins are missing from this post, but that's because I'm keeping them. Either they weren't plied well enough, or the dye job got botched (hello, smudges!) or, in the case of the two white skeins I dyed, there were too many knots. But, now I know how to avoid smudges, and I'm much more comfortable with my wheel, so I don't anticipate having these problems often in the future. That being said, those skeins are still being put to work- they'll be used for prototypes of patterns I'm designing.

And while I'm on the subject of problems, let me tell you how, in the middle of unraveling a lamb's wool sweater tonight, MY FREAKIN' BALL WINDER BROKE. And will no longer wind neat center pull cakes. And because of this, I literally had to throw out about $40 of potential profit that wound up all tangled and completely impossible to save. I may be able to get a new screw for it tomorrow at the hardware store (the problem was apparently a screw went flying out, but I neither heard it nor saw where it went, so it's forever gone despite shining a flashlight into all possible places it could have disappeared to) but even that might not solve the problem, if I can't get the top of it back to the correct angle for winding. I was rather enraged, but a midnight trip to the drugstore to buy a lovely apple scented candle soothed my very savage beast (somewhat, anyway.) Decided that since I can't really unravel anymore, I'd skein up some of the wool I have waiting in cakes (cashmere too!) I then realized I have two more rounds of cotton dyeing to get through, so I'll do round number one tomorrow (SQUEEEE!!!!!!!!!) I look forward to doing it in daylight tomorrow, in a much smaller, less back breaking batch.

But... I did promise pictures, did I not? So without further ado... here they are :-)

"Poison"

"Kingdom of Citrus"

"American Pharaoh"

"Autumn in the Rainforest"

"Barbie's Dream Pool"

"Boys of Summer"

"Cranberry Tea:

"Fairies Under the Primroses at Twilight"

"Cranberry Tea in the Zen Garden"

"Queen of Hearts"

"Queen of the Spice Road"

"Mermaid's Melody"

As you can see, I went a little crazy with the lurex... AND I DON'T REGRET A THING. Sparkle ALL the yarn! I hope my potential customers feel the same way... feel free to leave me feedback, and let me know what you think! <3

P.s... my shop link is https://www.etsy.com/shop/MagickCatSS?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Dyeing Adventures

So, I dyed my first batch of cotton! It's currently drying, and it consists of maybe 30 skeins. 

THAT RIGHT THERE was my first mistake. Since I don't have a real set up or system yet, I wound up kneeling on my blocking mats. In a dark, humid, hot room. My hair, which is straight and thick, actually started curling. By the end of the endeavor, I was so desperate to finish that I made some really bizarre color choices because I just started grabbing bottles and hoped they'd turn out ok. (I think they did, but whew, that was not fun.) 

"Well, dummy," you might ask, "why didn't you just take a break?" Because cats, that's why. Specifically my younger cat, who is my shadow and wants to be with me always in everything I do. She's very inquisitive and stubborn and quick, and I was afraid she'd dart in and get something nasty on herself. 

Also, I learned that darker yarn, despite being pre-owned, might bleed. While sitting in the soda ash solution, both the teal and maroon yarn that I had wound up somehow leaving blue and pink spots on the two white skeins I had sitting in there. I had already decided to keep those for myself, due to the many knots they had, but my original plans for dyeing them wound up getting changed. (AHHH I'm super excited about what I'm gonna do with them!) So, from now on, anything that's darker in color is going to get washed with synthrapol first, to avoid contamination. 

I learned that a certain color named Razzle Dazzle, while lovely, is the dye equivalent of that person that just won't stop talking. It did not matter how little of it was on a skein, even the tiniest patch of that color will bleed infinitely. My back is KILLING me now from being stooped over my bathroom sink for hours with hot and cold water and synthrapol. Had I limited myself to ten skeins, this would probably not be an issue. 

Soon, I will have a new camera so I can share pictures of all this craziness with you. And I'm now dreaming of the day that I have an actual studio to work in. But until then, I really need to figure out a better system. 

Right this moment though, it's bed time. I've earned it!