Monday, August 5, 2013

Getting Closer to UT Orange

I have it it my head to make a UT ornament for some family friends this Christmas.  I have many hand dyed colors of WOTA FIngering, but the orange is a bit too bright to really pass for UT.  (I need more of a true orange that pis slightly burnt.)  I have not really ever overdyed some yarn that I created myself, but I figured that it would be worth a try!

The original color with a yellow tape measure for reference.  
I used 1 cup of water with a splash of white vinegar.  2 drops McCormick Black, 3 drops Red, 1 drop yellow - which is pretty brown.  i let the yarn soak in the dyebath for 20 min before heating it in the microwave.  (Normally i would have soaked the yarn separately first, but this would give me a chance to view the coloration a bit to see if it needed adaption.)

The yarn right before soaking
After soaking I rather liked the color, so I wrapped it in plastic wrap to heat rather than using the whole dyebath. 1 min was enough to heat this sufficiently.  I let the yarn rest until it cooled and then heated it one more time.

I have never "hand painted" yarn quite like this before!
The color came out perfectly!  I hope I have enough yardage, but I think that I should be able to knock this project out of the park.