The review of Dying to Knit by Elaine Eskesen in the Spring 2006 issue of SpinOff struck a real chord with me. “One of the disappointments of creative dyeing is that often the skeins are more attractive than the final product.” So true! Because I prefer to dye roving rather than yarn, I’m not sure reading this book would help me. Our library doesn’t own it, and I’m reluctant to blindly order it.Recently I decided to try more subtle color changes to see if I would be happier with less barberpole striping. I haven’t decided if the outcome is too subtle or if it just pales in comparison with my previous results. I thought the light blue with violet spots would produce a yarn with subtle opal-like shades. The violet spots merely blended in during spinning. Too subtle I'm afraid.
I lack the skill to predict what my knitted fabric will look like from my hand dyed roving, and I’m sure more experience and good record keeping would go a long way toward rectifying that. Sometimes I like the results, sometimes I over-dye the results. I don’t have this experience when I purchase roving from commercial vendors like Chasing Rainbows so I know that if this really bothers me, then I do need to be more serious when I’m dyeing. 
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with experimenting, but I would be in big trouble if I ever want to repeat results. So the yarn is now a hat. The varigation is just about as subtle as the picture shows. I haven't decided if the results are worth the effort. The jury is still out.
The hat is a good mixing of colors.. I am not sure yet how elaborate a journal to keep, but maybe it's good to include notes about whether you were disappointed with your results or not.
ReplyDeleteI was inspired by your post to drop by Sundance Books and look for Dying to Knit. They didn't have it, but they did have a massively interesting book called Andean Folk Knits. A very cool mix of knitting and ethnology! The author spent more than a decade living in rural Bolivia and traveling throughout the Andes, so the detail is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI also bought a new guide to Great Basin Wildflowers that I hadn't seen before. But that's something for another post.;-)