hand dyed yarn

Hand painted wool felt collection

I put together a small collection of my latest hand painted wool felt just for fun! They look pretty cheery huh? These are available on my Facebook page at the moment and will soon be in my Etsy shop unless sold first.

Hope you’re having a great day, I’ve been working on some ideas for my up and coming giveaway, stay posted!

Bright Rainbows

by Kelly 3 Comments

Since I spend a bit of time on my artist page on Facebook I forget to come here and show what I’ve been doing. There have been a few brightly coloured rainbows coming out of my dye studio. My laundry I mean.

This one came out so pretty and the 10 ply means it’s beautifully soft and squishy. It’s what I’m knitting with at the moment, but I have a spare 100g skein in my Etsy shop, as I thought someone would be bound to want some.

Here is the felt piece laid out. The colours bled a little in the steaming process, which I really like (and someone else did too – it sold very quickly!)

I dyed this skein to contrast with the bright rainbow yarn for Anna’s Green Apple dress. The pattern says “adventurous beginner” but I’ve hit a stumbling block already, hopefully I can figure it out and go on with the dress, it really is a gorgeous pattern.

Hello! Last week was my birthday, so this is me at 37. What a good age it is too 🙂

Silkies and soap making

by Kelly 4 Comments

I have to show off Mary’s new silkies, they are so gorgeous! If you have ever considered having them, I do recommend them, especially as children’s pets. Don’t those feathers look soft, they’re more like hair than feathers. Look at those comical hair styles 🙂

I’m not sure how old they are (forgot to ask!) but they’re not laying yet, so still young.

These two are classic, they’re totally inseparable, even though the dark black one is much younger. They spend their days roaming our backyard and the best part is they don’t scratch up the garden and make a mess like the Isa browns do!

Soap making revisited. My second attempt – a different recipe this time. While the last batch of soap was nice it was nowhere near what I expect in a bar of soap. Too slimy and soft. This time I’ve opted for a castile recipe using beeswax and palm oil (sustainable of course!) to hopefully make harder, long lasting bars.

Looks like custard, the beeswax gives a beautiful golden glow and a really lovely, honeyish scent.

And finished! After resting overnight I’ll be cutting bars tomorrow, then curing for 4 weeks (that’s the worst part – waiting).

Latest hand dyed yarns

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Rainbow 4 ply superwash

“Rhubarb” wool, alpaca, mohair and silk 8 ply

Spring meadow wool and bamboo 8 ply

These are all available in my Madeit shop now 🙂

Busy, making

by Kelly 3 Comments

I’ve started on the felt play mat for an upcoming birthday. I hand dyed the wool felt and it came up a bit blotchy, but doesn’t really matter seeing as it’s grass.

I’m not sure what else I’ll add in at this point, I tried some trees but they looked silly. Some mushrooms may be my next attempt.

Needle felting a nest for Mother duck and her ducklings (also in progress, nearly finished).

I’ve also turned some of our screen prints into cushions and bags.

I love the way my hobo style bags came out so I’ll probably sew more in this design.

More updates to come, and if you’re interested in a tutorial or how to for how to make the play mat, just let me know 🙂

Cast on, cast off!

by Kelly 4 Comments

The knitting bug hasn’t left me and isn’t likely to any time soon. Likewise, the yarn dyeing bug 🙂

The pattern is Granny’s Favourite by Tikki. The yarn is hand dyed by me, merino 8ply.

It’s my first attempt at lace knitting, and though I had to enlist a little help from Tas to read the instructions properly, it wasn’t hard in the end.

I got some lovely little heart buttons from here.

It’s a snug fit on Gem, but luckily her 2 younger sisters will be more than willing to take it off her hands next season 🙂

I’ve been working on so much stuff lately it makes me giddy to think of it all! You could say I’m well and truly immersed in everything handmade. There isn’t much I can show you yet, but before too long I can reveal what’s been taking up my creative time.

New tools (or toys?)

by Kelly 2 Comments

Delving deeper into dyeing yarn has been a painful experience! On my back, that is – winding skeins and balls by hand is not only time consuming but doesn’t agree with my easily aggravated back.

I made an agreement with myself that if my last 2 skeins of dyed yarn sold, I would buy some tools. They did sell 🙂 So I now have a yarn swift.

And a ball winder. Watching the swift and winder working together for the first time is like magic!

I bought them from Petlins and their service was perfect.

I’m really pleased to see my yarn re-skeined, it shows off the colours better and gives a more even wind, hence a tidier appearance.

Oh, did I mention these 2 hanks are available for sale? You can head to my Madeit shop if you’re interested.

I’m hoping to have time to dye some new skeins over the next few days and I may just be drawing inspiration from the Limestone Coast and redback spiders! Sound interesting?

Hand dyed yarn and a great short film

by Kelly 1 Comment

Superwash pure new wool in opal and cyclamen hand painted. 100g skein.

This one is available for sale, leave me a message if you’re interested.

Hand painted cotton in rainbow colours, 100g skein.

Already sold 🙂

Hand painted cotton in rainbow colours, 100g skein.

Already sold 🙂

Love the colours in these!

We watched this excellent short film last night, if you go here you can watch it free. I won’t give away the plot, but the movie is about the value of every person and the filming and acting is really excellent.

Thanks for all your comments and positive interactions of late, it reminds me why I enjoyed blogging in the first place!

Oh, and I can’t not mention our new Pope!

God bless Pope Francis!

Hand dyed yarn

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My first attempt at hand dyeing yarn went well in some respects and not so well in others.

I used Luxury 8 ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills and Landscape Dyes in fuschia and raspberry.

I skeined the wool and dyed bands of colour, wrapped it up then steamed it. If you’re interested in the process I’m more than happy to share a tute next time I’m dyeing.

I was interested to note how different dyeing wool is to dyeing fabric. The fabric is thirsty for the dye, whereas the wool resists it. Quite different.

Notes for next time:

Water down the dye more, it was too concentrated.

Try soaking the wool in water for longer before dyeing.

Try a longer steaming time – the dye was not exhausted and I had trouble at the wash out stage.

Cover the kitchen counter properly or you will drip dye on it that does not come off!

Tyeing the hank with figure eight ties worked really well, I didn’t get any tangles.

Steamed wool in the kitchen is not an appetising scent and it does tend to fill the house!

I’ve already cast on a cardigan with this yarn and it’s looking great so far. I was concerned the strong colours would be a bit much but it has grown on me.