2018: In Review

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I don’t always believe in arbitrary markers of time, but I do enjoy thinking about the year end around this time — it’s a good space to reflect, summarize, and make plans. A lot has happened this year: I made a Kickstarter, started natural dyeing experiments, published my first knitting pattern, bought way too much yarn, knit up a storm, and started sewing more of my own clothes. Here’s a list of my highlights for 2018.

I launched a Kickstarter to help fund my experiments in learning natural dyeing, and I had so much fun making different color combinations and seeing how different fabrics dyed up. For this whole Kickstarter rewards batch, I used liquid natural dyes from Botanical Colors.

For my last project before I learned continental-style knitting, I made a Whippet Cardigan, still one of my favorite projects ever.

My first continental knit project was La Crau by Melanie Berg, which was perfect for it - rows and rows of garter stitch and the occasional slipped stitch, no purling required! It was ridiculously slow going for the first bit, but I got speedier as I got more comfortable with the new configuration of my fingers.

I experimented with bundle dyeing, with mixed results — definitely something I’d love to practice more. I also started creating my own dyes using plants (rosemary, sage, pomegranate skins, pine cones), and am excited to see what else I can use to create new colors.

I pieced the top of a half-square-triangle quilt, dyed with my Botanical Colors dyes (indigo, madder, cutch, and pomegranate+iron).

I decided to un-stitch and then kitchener the bottom of my Tegna sweater after changing my mind about colors halfway through — another experiment that turned out really well and a new staple in my wardrobe.

I went to Iceland and bought all of the Icelandic yarn, basked in the unfathomable landscape, and soaked in as many hot springs as I could.

I took a trip to the Taos Wool and Fiber Festival, and while I was there had the rare pleasure of doing some tea-dyeing experiments with a dear friend.

I dyed a last few batches of yarn before the new year, and immediately wound up three skeins to work on while I’m on vacation.

And I knitted a Zweig Sweater, which I blocked immediately (a rarity for me) and haven’t worn yet, but which I’m sure will become another wardrobe staple.

Well, it’s certainly been a year, and that’s only the fiber side of it! I’m excited to see what next year brings, but just as excited to take a break and knit mindlessly on my Weekender Sweater for a bit.

Pine Cone Dyeing

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There’s a pine tree outside my house. I don’t know what species of pine tree, although I know that it makes tiny pine cones that are really cute.

A large pot full of small pinecones.

At the beginning of fall when the weather started changing, they looked like berries and I thought “ooh, I wonder what color those will make!” Well, by the time I got around to actually picking some, they’d turned into Proper Pine Cones, so I’ll just have to wait until next year to pick them early and see if the color is different.

Did you know that the smell of pine cones simmering on the stove is absolutely heavenly? It’s worth the sap just to smell that for an afternoon or two.

The first thing I dyed was a yard of wool-silk blend fabric, and it came out this absolutely stunning toffee color. The next round of pine cone picking didn’t happen for a few more weeks, and with that vat I dyed a special skein of yarn that I was gifted from a friend’s coworker’s sheep and a couple yards of cotton that I think I’m going to use for a quilt back.

A skein of toffee-brown yarn lays on a light brown piece of cotton and a slightly darker brown piece of wool-silk.

They all came out the perfect colors, exactly what I didn’t know I wanted when I started out. I knew putting the cotton in after the yarn would make it lighter, and I think it’ll pair perfectly with the half-square triangle diamond quilt top that I pieced earlier this year.

Have you dyed with pine cones? What did you get?

More Mason Jar and Yarn Pictures

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After our evening adventure dyeing with mason jars, we wanted to do a photoshoot while everything was together. We later split the yarn in half - I took three, and my friend took three.

Six mason jars are lined up on an adobe bench with a built-in window.

The B&B we stayed at had a lovely area that was just perfect for taking photos and we ended up taking a bunch. but these are my favorites.

A sideways view of six mason jars full of tea-dyed yarn on an adobe bench.

Some of them (you can tell from the pictures!) were too big for their mason jars, like I mentioned in my previous post. Sienna took the turmeric-dyed (second from the left) and I took the nettle-dyed (second from the right), which were the worst offenders. Once I got back home, I re-dyed my skein using the rest of my nettle tea. I knew using tea wouldn’t come out as green as fresh nettles, and I was right — but it came out a nice pale green/brown that I really like.

A close-up of a skein of yarn dyed with nettle tea that is a brownish green color.

Yarn, Tea, Mason Jars, and Hot Water

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I went to the Taos Wool Festival this weekend, and in between buying all the yarn and seeing the sights, my friend and I thought it would be fun to try some dyeing experiments while we were in the same location. I bought a variety of bare yarns from Knit Picks and mordanted them ahead of time, then one evening we gathered up some quart-sized mason jars, snuck into the B&B’s kitchen to boil some water, and filled everything up with yarn, tea, and hot water.

A line of six mason jars filled with yarn and tea in a dimly lit room in Taos, New Mexico.

We learned that quart size mason jars are not really big enough for 100g of yarn, especially if that 100g of yarn is a very fluffy single ply worsted.

A diagonal view of the same six mason jars filled with yarn and tea, in varying states of dye. One mason jar has some purple dye creeping up the side, and another has a toffee/brown color starting to expand.

We also discovered that the best part is watching the color seep into the yarn from the tea bags, and that Hibiscus tea is definitely our favorite for watching the color change.

A close-up of one mason jar full of yarn and hibiscus tea, with some of the yarn still white and some of it a light lavender purple.

Next up? Well, when these dry I’ll take more pictures, and next time I want to see if brewing the tea before adding the yarn changes the way it dyes up. Plus, I’ll probably pick a container with more space!