Tangled

Before I start let me just say that I’m fully aware that there is an element of crazy to my weekend dyeing activities.
The first sign of crazy was Friday night when I decided that I just couldn’t wait one minute longer and threw my dye pot on the stove to create what I hoped would be a nice green base on which I could apply deeper greens and maybe blues. I was in the kitchen anyway, making the birthday cake so it sounded like a good idea. Stuff like that always sounds good at the time.

The picture sucks but when it came out of the pot it was really nice with darker spots and lighter spots. I set it aside to cool. On Saturday afternoon we returned from the Bar Mitzvah and it was only 4:30-ish and there was plenty of light so I took the yarn outside to spread it out and paint.

Suddenly there were tangles everywhere. The more I worked on it the more tangled it got. I struggled with it for hours before finally giving up and (literally) throwing it in a corner.

By this time it was about 1 or 2 in the morning. I kid you not! What would a sane person do? Go to sleep. What did I do? I took out another skein to prepare for dyeing. I started winding around 2 chairs that I placed side-by-side and I was nearly finished when things went awry again. There were suddenly tangles everywhere. I was feeling that insane need to conquer the yarn so I battled on and at 4:45, when I finally went to bed I could claim victory. The yarn was retied in many places and sitting in the pot waiting for dye.

Sunday morning I threw more Leaf Green Wilton, water, and vinegar in the pot and started dying the yarn. After the party I came home and painted it and by the time I went to bed it was hanging in the basement to dry.

Here’s where you’d expect me to show you the finished yarn but… it’s not ready to make it’s debut yet. I went to check on it last night and decided that it needed a little something more. Out came the dye pot and a little more Wilton. It’s drying again and I think that it has more variegation. I hate to disappoint so maybe I can I distract you with a sock.

This is the first of my latest pair of Embossed Leaves socks. I have to say that this pattern and I really “get” each other. The only problems I have are the gauge and the toe. I usually chose to dive in and not swatch for socks. I usually realize the issue before I get too far and socks are small and not too painful to frog. In this case I felt especially carefree since I like my socks short-ish and planned to omit a repeat anyway. As I got to the toe I noted that the socks were getting long so when the toe and I ceased to get along I whipped out my needle and quickly grafted it shut. The length is now perfect and I’m ok with the fucked up toe. Shut up! It’s my sock anyway!