The Nome Knitter

I was going to wait until I'd finished knitting this Sockhead hat (free pattern on Ravelry) before posting this, but at this rate, I figured I'd go ahead and post or I never would. I'll try to add an updated picture once I finish.

I used Jacquard Acid dyes and Knit Picks Bare Stroll Fingering yarn.

I have to give credit to djinnj of YouTube. I watched her video Dyepot Confidential, which gave me the idea. She also has an Etsy shop, Light Brown Hare, where she sells her hand-dyed yarns.

First of all, I mixed my dye solution. I used 1 teaspoon of dye powder per 1 cup of water. The colors I used were: Sky Blue (621), Yellow Sun (601), Fire Red (618) and Jet Black (639). I used white vinegar to set the dye.

I used an old medicine dispenser to measure out the dye solution using ml.

I twisted the yarn into a 2.25-yard skein and left it like this during soaking and also during the first step of the dyeing.

1. I added 20 ml of yellow to the dye pot.

After applying the yellow, I gently squeezed out the water, untwisted the skein, and retwisted it so some of the un-dyed yarn was exposed.

2.) I added 16 ml of red. In my notes, I wrote this was too much, maybe half this amount would suffice. Probably because the dye water never turned clear. Because of this, I changed the water before adding the next color.

I removed the skein, squeezed it out, untwisted, then I gently tied 3 slipknots.

3.) I added 30 ml of blue to the pot.

My pan is shallow, and the water doesn't cover all of the yarn.

After removing the yarn from the blue pot, I squeezed it out (gently, of course!) untied the slip knots, and retied it into a single overhand knot.

4.) Finally, I added 30 ml of black to the pot. I wrote in my notes maybe 20 ml would have sufficed. Always better to add less in the beginning because you can't take it away later.