Thursday, May 04, 2006

Self-Striping Sock-O-Rama!

This is the day when I can squeal and giggle all I want because......I created my own self-striping SOCK yarn! Of course, this would not have been possible without my crafty hubby's help...who very happily (!) used Scout's Ghetto Warp Board instructions to make me this:



Here is the board wrapped with my yarn to experiment with (Patons Classic Merino wool...worsted weight...only $3.99 on sale at A. C. Moore):



Next, we have the dyes (McCormick again...for my experimental purposes) ready for the dyeing process:



Now, the yarn in the dyes.....the coolest part (or next to coolest, anyway):



Here is the newly dyed yarn wrapped and ready to go in the steamer to set the colors:



A pic of the yarn back on the warping board to dry:



Now we're getting to the final stages.....are you ready?....here is the yarn after I wrapped it on my niddy noddy into skein form: (more about the wrapping part after...long story)



Drum roll, please.....everyone hold their breath and get ready to "ooh and ahh"!....a sock knitted in the new yarn:



Isn't this the most fun sock you've ever seen???? (well, maybe not...but it's pretty awesome, I think!) I'm in LOVE! My knitter friend, Jackie, named this yarn "Easter", which I think is just perfect, don't you? I was thinking, "SweetTart" or "Baby Shower" or "Baby Girl"....

The only, only bad thing that happened during this whole process was during the unwrapping. This process is similar to HELL....or maybe like waxing your legs with wax that is too cold and your kids are running around the house screaming because the house is on fire...something like that.

Thank goodness Ben wasn't in the room because I was swearing my head off and yelling and crying on and off. I heard Ben say to Tim (my older son) in the other room, "Mommy crying?" and Tim said, very seriously and sadly, "Yeah...she is." Jeez, the guilt!

But, after 1 1/2 hours (not kidding), I finally got the yarn from the board into a clumsy, fumbly ball (couldn't even wind it onto my niddy noddy until later) and could BREATHE!

All in all, it was worth it and I just love the striping pattern it made. There are SO many other ways to make the stripes with this board...this is just MY way!

What do you think????? : ) (virtual hugs are totally accepted)

17 comments:

sheep#100 said...

Oh, I am so in awe - I want a warping board now too.

YarnB said...

SO BEAUTIFUL!! OK, I need to get a warping board now. Off to look for instructions!!

Heike said...

You did a great job! I would like to have such a board, too. My hubby will make me one next week. I am so excited to wrap my wool another way and not running around my chairs ;-)

Greetings from Germany
Heike

Anonymous said...

WOW!!!! That is GORGEOUS! I've always wondered how you dye yarn and get it to stripe. Thanks for the presentation. I am definitely sending you a virtual hug for such a wonderful job. And Easter Egg is a pretty accurate description.
:-)

Lauren said...

I think it looks great! I wanna know how you went from the dyepots to the plastic wrap!

Gina House said...

Thanks everyone for the great comments...Lauren, I wanted to give you some info from the dyepots to the wrapped yarn...

1. After the yarn soaked up most (or all) of the color, which took hours, I squeezed the skeins out and let the wet skein sit on a plastic tray.

2. Then, I placed 2 or 3 sheets of plastic wrap on the counter and placed my damp yarn in the midde.

3. I folded the top of the wrap over the yarn, then the bottom and then the sides so it made a nice package. Finally, I folded the whole thing in half (or was it thirds?) and placed in a seive in the boiling pot...making sure the water level I had was below the seive bottom so the package of yarn wouldn't be in contact with the water while it's boiling.

4. Simmered for 35 minutes, let cool and unwrapped the yarn and placed it on a towel a while before placing it back on the board.

Hope that helped! Gina : )

Heide said...

Here comes Peter Cottantail, hopping down the bunnytrail... very Eastery indeed. Love the colors and the socks.

CelticCastOn said...

i made a warp board but I'm not sure how to warp it on. Do you have any suggestions on where to look for that?

Heide said...

Beautiful yarn and great socks too! Hippity hoppity Easter's on its way...

Heather said...

Oh wow...that is seriously gorgeous sock yarn. LOVE it!

Stephanie said...

I'm sorry you had such a bad time wrapping your yarn. I haven't been having any trouble. I almost did though On my first skien I had it on the board upside down and would have been pulling the yarnould this have been what that was closest to the board rather then the yarn on top. I think I had the beginning of the hank instead of the end or vise versa. Once I realized I took it off and flipped it. Could this have been what happened or maybe it was twisted some how? I do know that the more little ties you have the easier it is to get it on the warping board correctly. I hope you have a better time on your next one.

Karen said...

That is some smashing yarn and some gorgeous sock! So far I have only done one dyeing experiment and it is not nearly as cool as yours. I made the mistake of trying to get purple with KoolAid - grape KoolAid does not result in much of a purple, and when I went back and overdyed it I got lots of red and teal but not much purple. It is still interesting yarn and will someday have a purpose, I am sure. You are to be commended for persevering!

GamecockDoc said...

::hug::
I am so impressed! I've always watched self-striping yarn with awe wondering how they make it do that. The sock came out beautiful.

yarnophiliac said...

Ok -- how perfect was this -- the code I had to enter was ylnDYE!!! lol Anyway, I love the yarn!! I am sooooo going to make a board, too, and would love to know where you got the instructions -- kudos to you, gina! you rock! (u have a wonderful eye for color BTW -- fantastic)

Jackie said...

That yarn is amazing, and the process is so very cool! Great Job!

Gita said...

The only word I can say,is GORGEOUS! I really want a warping board now for my selfstriping yarn.

Anonymous said...

How did you wrap the board? Socks look wonderful!!