So much to share...

I'm not going to go into details, there's too much since I last posted. I still haven't finished that pair of socks, but I'm into other things...
Spring ALWAYS has me wanting to dye! So this year, I've bought a set of Greener Shades of Dye, heavy metal free, and by all accounts safer to use. I'm horribly lazy about using gloves. I know, I will!

 This is enough to dye 3 lbs I think it was, its the starter kit from Knit Picks.

I just wanted to play, experiment with the colors. I've got some Panda blend bought from Mim a few years ago, that has been waiting for me to decide what to do with it. It dyes so beautifully! Painted Panda blend is about the only thing I will buy off of Etsy, it is my weakness...
I was invited to join the Greener Shades group on Ravelry to get some ideas on how to paint with their dye; mixing, paining, setting techniques. I saw there a link to a way to keep colors from pooling under the top. Long story short, if anyone suggests that you use corn starch to thicken your dye, make sure that whatever you're dying can be thrown into the washer when you're done. And for any who might say "I could have told you that!", well, you didn't so shush! :)
I didn't take a picture of the results of this first experiment. I took 4 ounces of Panda, laid out on plastic wrap, with long yellow strips with alternating black and purple bands between them. It was horrible! Ugly! Fuggly is a better word really! I wasn't going to throw it away, so after looking at some color wheels, I tossed it in a red dye pot.
Yes, it worked! I dried it, went to spin it, and brick wall! No way was that stuff drafting! See above comment on corn starch....

I still was not prepared to toss this mess! I think if I hadn't had a drum carder, I would have wrapped it up, put it in a zip lock and waited till something, some way, would have come up to make it spinnable!

As it was, I do have a drum carder, and I know how to use it!

Pretty?

After the red, and in the same water believe it or not! (this stuff exhausts fast!) I put some green dye in, a glug or two of vinegar, and almost immediately (its been a long time since I dyed anything...) tossed in a loosely tied 4 ounce bundle of Panda. I didn't stir the pot first. And this is what I got!

A very pretty (IMHO) variegated green, spins up very nicely! Because I didn't stir the pot, the dye was just kind of floating around in the water, and as soon as the top hit the water, it sucked that dye right up! I will be repeating this mistake :D

PS: I have 5 lambs, and 8 chickens! Pictures coming 'soon'! I promise!