Time for a dye-over

A lot of the yarn I buy is purchased online, which means I can wind up opening a package and discovering that the color on my computer monitor really doesn't match the actual color of the yarn. Even if I buy the yarn in person, sometimes the lighting, my mood, or other factors result in my purchasing a yarn and then deciding later on that it's a color or colorway I'm not going to use. In this case, I chose to overdye it with another color.

The skein of yarn I plan to overdye, container of Wilton's gel food coloring in Leaf Green, tea cup for mixing dye. All this is sitting in a Pyrex baking dish. Out of frame: electric kettle I use to boil water and bottle of vinegar I will be adding to the dye.

Using just a little dab of gel food coloring to start, mixing with hot water and a little more vinegar

For this skein, because there was just one and was not concerned with getting results I could replicate, I assembled my supplies and then mixed with dabs and splashes and fiddling around a bit.

Letting the yarn soak up the dye

Ooo, pretty!

Dry, reskeined, and ready!

I live-tweeted this and more photos of the process are on my Flickr page in the Overdye set.

Romi Hill has a nice blog post on how she overdyed a skein of pink yarn with a yellow-gold dye and got gorgeous results: Another good day to dye

Earthues Natural Dyes

Earthues Natural Dyes is a short drive over a bridge from Seattle to Ballard, on a quiet street lined with trees. Although Earthues specializes in natural dyes and classes in natural dyes and textile arts, a small selection of naturally dyed yarns is available for sale.



The range of colors is really lovely, from pale pastels to intense brights to dark hues with a lot of depth, like the dark indigo dyed wool/cotton blend above. The wool and cotton have taken the indigo dye at different rates, resulting in a yarn that looks like a comfortable pair of denim jeans. I'm planning to crochet a hat with this skein.



This wool yarn has a lovely sheen and a lot of bounce. There were only a few skeins of each color - in some shades, just one, which I found a little disappointing. None of them came in what I would consider to be a sweaters-worth of yarn. It's possible that they did have more in their backstock, but the people working there seemed to be quite busy and I didn't have much time to shop. What I bought is definitely enough for a scarf, though.



While most of the yarns were labeled, the labels didn't always have all the information I was looking for. This one, as you can see, just says "organic" on one side and "$8.95" on the other. No yardage, no fiber content, and no color name or number. This was one of a few shades of green, all of them lovely. It has a nice soft hand and some resilience. If it turns out I have enough, I'm thinking of making a string bag with this.


The interior of the store is charming and colorful, with lots of examples of textiles.


The buttons for sale come in a wide variety of shapes and materials (including bone, horn, shell, tagua nut, and wood) and many of them are dyed with the same dyes used on the textiles.



I would have liked to spend more time exploring the shop and getting to talk to an employee so I could get more information about certain items (like whether or not they were for sale). For example, there was a big bowl of tiny skeins of yarn in dozens of colors, but nothing to indicate whether it was for display only or if they were available for purchase, what dyes had been used, what the fiber contents were, etc. Hopefully I'll get to go back on another trip and be able to do more than just wonder about most of what is on the shelves.

Earthues, A Natural Color Company
5129 Ballard Avenue NW
Seattle, WA 98107
Telephone: (206) 789-1065
www.earthues.com
Yelp (map and reviews)

Kaua’i yarn shopping (Hanalei Strings & Things, Ace Hardware & Crafts)

looking out over Hanalei, Kaua'i

I spent a recent weekend on Kaua'i and did a little yarn shopping while I was there. First stop was Hanalei Strings & Things, a little shop in the Ching Young Village Shopping Center in the middle of downtown Hanalei. It's a very touristy area with lots of shops and restaurants, and parking can be a little challenging during lunchtime on a weekend. Strings & Things combines yarn and ukuleles - Amy Singer would plotz.

Entrance to Hanalei Strings & Things



Guitars, ukuleles, and yarn

Books, notions, and yarn (including Kauai Botanicals hand-dyed yarns)

My visit was brief. You may have had a similar experience while vacationing with someone who is not into yarn? "Do you want to eat lunch first?" "No, you can do your yarn shopping first" - and then about 1o minutes later, it is clear that the person not into yarn is about to fall over from a combination of boredom and low blood sugar (I finished up my browsing, bought two skeins of Kauai Botanicals hand-dyed sock yarn, and we went across the street to Bubba's Burgers. By the way, Bubba's does old-fashioned burgers that remind me of In 'N Out). I did note that they have a pretty substantial inventory for a small space - lots of high-end yarns, some novelty yarns, books, patterns, needles, hooks, notions, and a cozy corner to sit and stitch at. Prices - like pretty much everything on Kaua'i - tend to be high. I'm sure the owner has heard plenty enough complaining about that - and it's an issue that they likely can't do anything about (welcome to the flip side of "life in paradise"). The Kauai Botanicals hand-dyed yarns were nice to see - there's a demand for souvenir yarn but not much available. These are yarns dyed with hibiscus, 'olena (turmeric), and red dirt (which Kaua'i is famous for). Various weights and fibers are available, and there was a lovely sample of a drop-stitch knit scarf done with pinky-mauve hibiscus-dyed ribbon yarn. I chose wool/bamboo blend sock yarn, one dyed with 'olena and one dyed with 'olena and hibiscus.

Kauai Botanicals hand-dyed wool/bamboo sock yarns

To the best of my knowledge, this yarn is available only at Hanalei Strings & Things.

Hanalei Strings & Things
5-5190 Kuhio Hwy
Ching Young Village Shopping Center
Hanalei, HI 96714
(808) 826-9633
Yelp (map and reviews): Hanalei Strings & Things

Later in the week, we stopped by Ace Hardware & Crafts. Yes, a combination hardware and craft store! Half of the store is your typical Ace Hardware, and the other half is your typical Ben Franklin Crafts store.

Ace Hardware & Crafts, Lihue, Kaua'i



Lily Sugar & Cream yarn, crochet cotton



Red Heart

There are yarns for making crochet leis with as well as a lot of Red Heart, a selection of crochet threads, Lily Sugar & Cream kitchen cotton, and Cascade 220. Needles, hooks, and notions too. This store is located in a more industrial part of Lihue, so not a lot in the immediate area for other attractions. Lihue is small, though, so it's a short drive to the beach and other businesses.

Ace Hardware & Crafts
4100 Rice St
Lihue, HI 96766
(808) 245-4091
Yelp (map and reviews): Ace Hardware Lihue

San Francisco: Imagiknit and Urban Knitting Studio

So while in SF, I visited Imagiknit and Urban Knitting Studio.

I walked through the door of Imagiknit and if there hadn't been people coming in the door behind me, I would have just stopped and stared with my jaw hanging open.



...this is just part of the first room. There's a whole other second room. And, in all that, they also had every weight of Malabrigo, including Sock and Lace, which I didn't know about, and two skeins of Malabrigo Sock came home with me. Imagiknit has big front windows, so I walked them over into the daylight and that sold me, right there. The shop was buzzing with activity, but also had nice comfortable seats for those who wanted to sit and go through pattern books or just sit (it's a lot of yarn to take in all at once).



Urban Knitting Studio has a wonderful light, airy feeling, with plenty of space to browse in and comfortable seats in the big glass windows. As you can see, I lucked into a clear-skied, sunny stretch while I was there. Lovely place, stylish, elegant, and friendly!

I've got a small set of trip photos up on Flickr (SF November 2009); once I figure out how to get my short video clips uploaded to Flickr I'll add those in too.

Craft Supply's Ribbon and Yarn Store

Craft Supply of Honolulu's King Street branch has closed, and Craft Supply's Ribbon and Yarn Store has opened upstairs. Specializing in ribbons and yarns for making leis with, Craft Supply's Ribbon and Yarn Store offers crochet and ribbon lei making classes, free with purchase of supplies. Classes are offered twice a day every day (except Sunday, when the shop is closed); for details on classes and times please call them at (808) 942-5044.

Yarns for sale include standards like Red Heart, Sugar 'N Cream, Bernat (Baby Coordinates, Cotton Tots, Baby), and novelty/eyelash yarns from Crystal Palace and Trendsetter.

A small parking lot with free parking for customers is located behind the building; if you are driving east on S. King, the entrance to the parking lot is before the building. Nearby bus stops are served by routes 1 and 6 (check with TheBus for times and other possible routes).

1960 South King Street
(808) 942-5044

Monday - Friday 9am - 3pm
Saturday 9 - 12
Sunday CLOSED