Absolutely to DYE for!

I think more than I love to knit I love to dye.  For someone whose basic wardrobe is black, navy and browns I find that rather odd.  I LOVE colour.  I actually really, really like pink which is lucky because so does Zoe - surprise, surprise.

At the moment I'm having an affair with food colouring/cake gels (don't tell Ravelry!).  My first attempt is still a WIP for Zoe's kiddie computer but my second is similar in colouring in that it has been made into a bag for Zoes best friend B.

They call it handpainting and I really love it.  I was actually knitting this back in March on a weekend away at Kai Iwi Lakes.  A friend asked me why would I bother dyeing myself when I could just buy a colour I wanted.  I could only say that I liked the process but when she spotted the actual knitted product a couple of hours later she was amazed and couldn't rave enough about it.

I've got a rule about dyeing - I only do it when I have something to make out of the wool I've dyed.  My next attempt was for a project that has since been put on hold.  I took an oatmeal coloured 4ply (fingering weight) and dyed it green.  I dyed it a second time to create a more solid colour because I didn't really like the varigation in it.  Unfortunately when I checked out the the pattern they'd made the size I wanted a pay for pattern rather than the original freebie.  I knew I wouldn't get it done in time to be worn this winter so I don't think I'll end up using that wool for the purpose it was intended for.  I like it now though so I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

I needed something to go with some handpainted wool that came with a cone of plain I bought from a TNNer.  This was my first experiment with microwave dyeing.  It takes hours in the oven and minutes in the microwave - it was very successful.

Second from the left was my first skein but having sucked all the dye out of the water bath super quick I knew I wouldn't be able to replicate the colour and made sure to do the other three skeins at the same time.  The ball in the background is the gifted wool I was trying to match.  Double stranded with the lighter pink it made a great combination that resulted in the cap in the last post.  I'm thinking about doing a cute little dolls cardi with the darker skein and what's left of the handpainted.