A Day to Dye For...

When my hubby told me last night that he'd be gone all day today and wouldn't be home till late, I had great difficulty in showing him how sorry I was. Inside I was shouting....YES!! For a long time I'd needed a day alone so that I could clean a fleece and dye it.......an all day job and very messy. So that's what I did!

This is one whole fleece of an unknown breed. All I can say is that is it very soft and it was almost free of any vegetable matter. Yes, it was pretty grubby but I followed the tutorial from the HJS Studio. Holly Shaltz did a fabulous job explaining exactly how to prepare and clean a fleece (including lots of pictures). I'm proud of how mine came out, I wouldn't have had near the success without her help. The locks are still pretty much intact which will make it easy to spin and I may not even need to card it. For dyes I used a combination of "Cushing" and "Jacqard" acid dyes. They are so easy to use. Most of what I did was in the microwave using an old plastic bowl and ill fitting lid. The Microwave survived as did the kitchen.....my fingers look pretty disgusting though as the half a dozen pairs of plastic gloves leaked and finally I gave up on them and did without. Now to treat myself to a long hot bath and hope to soak them clean.

And this is what I did it for...The Mola Jacket.

My colors aren't an exact match but I think they will work OK. But first I have to spin the yarn so don't expect to see me modeling it any time soon. This is the jacket I mentioned yesterday that is in the new Patricia Werner book "Dazzling Knits".