Blue skies and oceans

The title sound slightly off to you? I just couldn't put my finger on it, but luckily for you I figured it out: it should be 'blue skies and sunshine'.... But that doesn't really fit the colour, so ;)

Well, here is the skein I dyed yesterday! It's turned out a lovely mix of blue and grey, I can't wait to see how it knits up. This is the second Bart&Francis pure merino skein with fancy thread construction. I have to say, I just love how well this yarn takes up dye! I used the colours Tasman and Granite from the Elements range of Landscape dyes and I wanted to try kettle dyeing with two colours.

About the skein I dyed this weekend, the greenish Pacific one? I got a tip about it that said the Landscape colours can break when put in cool water. To avoid that, you should put it in water that's at least 70°C. I still have one teaspoon of the colour Pacific left, so I'll be sure to try it!

To get started, you'll need dye, measuring spoons, mixing containers, a cooking pot, some plastic tongs (or something to grab the yarn with) and some gloves. I'm also duty bound to inform you to use a dust mask! Please read the 'dyeing' page to the left for more info on prep and materials.

I soaked the yarn overnight in just water, no added vinegar. I filled the pot almost entirely, so there'll be enough water for the colours to spread and mix. Taking two mixing containers, I added one heaped teaspoon of the colour Tasman to the one and half a teaspoon of the colour Granite to the other. Adding about 100 ml of hot water to each, shake well to make sure all the dye powder is dissolved. I gently put the yarn in and then carefully poured the contents of each container onto the yarn. I poured the grey onto about a third, covering the rest with the blue. Make sure to also lift the yarn with your tongs and get some dye into the water underneath. Don't stir or poke the yarn otherwise. I turned on the heat, popped on the lid and waited for it to start simmering. I then turned the heat low to maintain the temperature, leaving it to simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes. After that time the water should be clear and all the dye exhausted.

I take the dyeing pics on my phone, and I'm sorry to say the first one was blurry... Well, good reminder that I should start taking proper pics during the prep and dyeing ;)

I let it sit and cool down completely in the pot, then I rinsed it and gave it a soak in wool wash. Here are the pictures after it dried:

I'm completely in love with it <3. Just look how subtly the colours change into each other and the different shades of blue you can see depending on how the light hits it. I don't know anymore which skein I'll use for the swap... Tell me your thoughts! I'm going to dye some more next weekend probably, so stay tuned for that. During the week I'll post an overview of what's on my knitting needles /  crochet hook :)

Image via: @moimoibakery