Sock Blanks

I'm in so much trouble! I dabbled in spinning, yeah, it's nice, but not for me. Hand dyeing was my next interest. uh-oh! I'm in BIG trouble now!

While waiting for my sock blanks to arrive, I researched different methods of dying. I learned about using food dyes and had a bunch of Wilton dyes from my days of cake decorating. I learned the Wilton dyes aren't always "pure pigments." A "pure pigment" dye (or paint) means that all little tiny particles of color are all the same. So, in a "pure pigment" pink every single bit of dye/paint is pink. In a dye that isn't pure, it is a mixture of different colors, so the pink, not being pure, has different little bits of color and when dying with non-pure colors the results won't be consistent. Pink was one of the colors that I read time and time again as not being a pure-pigment. I also read that if you just accepted that, using these non-pure pigments could be an adventure. I wanted to do pink and brown, didn't have an extra pot to give up to dying, so I went for it!

Okay, I was ready for an adventure, and when I started using the pink and was getting oranges and reds and pinks, I just went along on the ride to see what journey's end would yield.

My sock blank - dyed, set, rinsed and dried.

Both sides - I love that the two different sides have different tones of "reds" the back side is lighter and more "pink" then the top side. The brown tended to stay more even on both side.

The very tip of one of the socks on my sticks.

I cannot wait to see how this will progress. I have a while before I hit the brown. I did "splash" brown all over the blank after adding the brown stripes.

I must go, I've got to knit "one more row" and then get some things done for our 4th of July! A quiet one here, DS decided to spend it with friends, DH and I decided to have a quiet day at home!