My crochet designing career started nearly 11 years ago (and I still cannot believe it was so long ago when I first introduced my own crochet pattern on Ravelry). Before that, I had been crocheting for years already, since I learned to crochet at the age of 5. And because we did not have access to fancy crochet magazines, often I created my own patterns with leftover yarn I had at hand. The yarn fibres were limited, and so were the colors, but still it felt like creating on your own give a special kind of freedom.
Time passed, we moved to the Czech Republic as a family, internet entered our lives and suddenly a whole new world of the yarns and handcrafting was introduced to my life through a laptop screen. I could order yarn online from different parts of the world, enjoying the variety. And it felt like even more freedom than before!
In 2015, I was invited to join a Scheepjes designer collective group and got a unique opportunity to work with a wonderful company and meet the best crochet designers and creative souls. We made many friendships, and probably the first time in my life I got the sense of belonging to something big.
Mostly working with Scheepjes yarns, I kept looking at the “candy” hand-dyed skeins in the yarn shops, and I kept buying them for display in glass closets in my studio. Not lying, I still have skeins which I bought 10 years ago! And still don’t dare to use them for anything.
And I kept dreaming about dying yarn myself. One day.
And so… one day it happened!
Being a member of the Scheepjes designer group (a group of independent designers working with Scheepjes yarns), every year I come to the Netherlands to meet up with my colleagues and friends. And every year Scheepjes organizes some themed workshops for us.
It is always a surprise, and we never know the agenda in advance. And guess what we did last year? We dyed our own yarn!
To my shame, working with Scheepjes yarns for 10 years now, I thought I knew all yarn ranges by heart. But I did not know they are also producing the series for hand dying.
There are several yarns in Nakid series: undyed sock yarn, undyed pure wool (in fingering, sport and DK weight), and undyed alpaca blend (in DK and chunky weight).
And Scheepjes is also stocking a full range of pigments (paint) for the hand dying. A huuuge number of colors, which can be mixed into an unlimited number of new shades.
Back in October at the hand-dying workshop with the lovely people from Draadkracht I painted my first ever hand-dyed yarn! The whole process was much easier than I expected. I thought you needed special equipment and tools, but in fact you can do it with just the paint (of course, special paint for hand-dying), acid water and a microwave.
I might not have remembered all steps properly, and I have not tried to repeat the process at home (yet). So, if you have not tried hand-dying yourself yet, I would recommend participating in a workshop first. And if you are in the Netherlands, don’t hesitate and contact Draadkracht. They are passionate about yarn dying and have been organizing workshops for 10 years now.
It was surprising that you can pick just two base colors and add a third color on top and that will be enough for “colouristic magic”. I would think you need some basic knowledge in colouristic to combine the colors, as they mix up unpredictably (at least for me as a beginner).
For my first skein (sock yarn) I picked the petrol and dark chocolate color, and Geja suggested a neon orange on top of them. Well, to say I was shocked is to say nothing. I am not fond of orange in general, and I would never use or wear the neon colors in particular.
And I was very hesitant to pick neon orange for my first every hand-dying attempt.
But well, I was a guest and did not want to make an impolite impression, and because I lacked any knowledge in dying yarn, I decided to trust the professionals and just keep up with the flow.
And look at what I got in the end! A nice skein inspired by forest greens, browns and rusty colors.
The neon orange was vanishing and blending with brown and petrol, giving them a breath of a new life. And additionally, all the colors blended with each other. Such a satisfying process and result!
I chose some blues and ochrea colors for another skein of the alpaca blend and got a soft gradient for that one. It’s interesting that different fibres absorb the paint differently, and especially alpaca fibre tends to become paler compared to regular wool.
As you can guess, I came back home with two gorgeous skeins of yarn, inspired to design something special with them.
And unless other hand-dyed skeins looking at me from behind the glass if the closets, these two new ones were used up at once!
This Friday, a new crochet pattern will be released here on my blog. So, stay tuned!
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