I decided that the Zhivago top needed a grumble post of it’s own, so I’ve saved the good bits for their own post. And it’s nice to finish on a positive note…

Yesterday I decided that, if I was going to have any chance at knitting up my handspun by the next spinning class, I had better get stuck into the overdyeing. I went through the stash to see if there was anything else saying “dye me!” to do at the same time.

I had picked up some natural Shetland wool and a little white ball of angora from an op shop the other day, so I grabbed them. And there was a ball of Marta’s laceweight that I had long intented to dye up for the Scribble lace shawl (stalled because I found some silk thread, but I’ve decided since that knitting with the thread would be a fast track to insanity).

Unfortuantely the Shetland wool turned out to have been eaten by moths into short lengths, so that went in the bin. (Fortunately, it hadn’t made it into the stash… though I could see no signs of eggs on it so it probably wasn’t a danger anyway.) I skeined up the laceweight and angora, soaked everthing for half and hour, mixed up the dyes and got my dyeing post steaming.

The handspun dyed up beautfully, the blue dye filling in the white bits and deepening all the other colours:

The angora turned out a lot pinker than I wanted, unfortunately. The laceweight turned out the wrong blue, so I chucked it back in with some purple. Now it goes very well with the slubby silk (shown in the middle).

Now that the %@#&*!! Patons Zhivago top is finished, I have to decide what to knit next. The handspun, definitely. And I might take advantage of my renewed enthusiasm to knit the Scribble Knit shawl now I have dyed up the laceweight. But I’m also feeling the call of the Grey Kimono top, which I started last year (intending to make a Thneed) and put aside.

Decisions, decisions.