The Yarnarian Experiments.

The Yarnthropology forum on Ravelry has been discussing the crazy love people have for Wollmeise yarn. I've never seen it in person, just pics. People love it; they hoard it, pay way too much money for it on eBay, fight over it. It's mishegoss (craziness) at it's worst. I keep telling folks that it's just yarn. Nope, they say, it's not; it's the most fabulous glowing yarn around. One of them even found an article someplace about how she actually gets those deep rich colors. So, me looking for a challenge, set out yesterday to do my version of her yarn. This is without seeing it live, or feeling it or knowing her base, the chemistry of her water, yada, yada. Hey, a girl's gotta try something new every now and then.

I'm happy to report that Wollmeise has nothing to worry about with my competition. I did have a grand time, and came up with 4 highly saturated skeins. I'm going to call them Ruthmeise. giggle. Apparently she dyes using the dyes in powder form, not in liquid form. This is very scary; those dyes in power form, are in very tiny particles, and you don't want to breathe them in or have your skin get in contact with them. So, armed with all my protective gear, this is what I produced. I'm sure I'll do this again, but not very often; the dyes are carcinogenic and I can live without that.

The first one is red and hot pink. Not WM's kind of colors, but I'm playing here.



Here come 2 oranges, and this is where WM's method begins to shine. You know I love orange in almost any form (it looks good on me), so I'm mighty pleased with these. You'll probably run shrieking into the night.

Pumpkin Pie and Burnt Sugar.




And I saved the best for last: this one used medium leaf green, turquoise, and Lilac (!). thinking pastel? Nope! I did 2 of these and I love them, and may just keep one for moi.

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Names of these babies are: Strawberry Jam, Pumpkin Pie, Burnt Sugar, and Midnight Lake. fritzL234 AT yahoo DOT com if you want. If you don't, that's ok too.

BTW, I have lots of yarn to list. I was on a dyeing frenzy on Fri and yesterday.

Knitting News: I blocked and photographed the little cashmere Scarf; its name is Titania's Waltz. I used one 400 yard skein of JoJoLand Cashmere, and had just about half leftover. This is beautiful yarn, and inexpensive too. It runs in the $27-28 range and is worth every penny. Can you imagine buying a hand-knitted lace Cashmere scarf for only $13-14? At first, knitting with it felt weird to me, but then I got used to it, and I am in love with it now. I'm thinking of reskeining the leftover yarn and dyeing it. What do I have to lose, anyhow?

Here she is: Titania's Waltz!




She's all charted and written up and I'll have the Hubbo pdf it and the Fairy Leaf Scarf together. Maybe do a package of $9 for the 2 of them or $5 apiece. Have to think about that.

Is that enough blather for the day?

Pumpkin Pie is spoken for. I have a slightly lighter and pinker version of Strawberry Jam available.

Ruth in Ottawa - I'm actually going to find out. I have a trade with someone who wants one of mine, and will give her Wollmeise. I have heard all the things you are saying about the yarn. At this point, i just want to know what the fuss is about. Intellectual curiosity, I guess.

KV - I felt like a lady in Afghanistan, covered up from head to toe. And now, it's not worth the chance using the dyes in powder form. I could, however, make up a very strong solution using my normal amt of powder and 1/2 the water. That would be lots safer.

CathyR - I love being an enabler! Have a great vacation!

Henya - I'm so very careful when I dye. I don't want to die from dyeing. Can't you just see me, a small Jewish lady, in a burka. Maybe not.

Holly - That sounds like a lot of fun. will have to try it out.