I need my #4 needles, so I’ve been trying to finish Shetland Triangle. It’s brutal. I decided to make it at a finer gauge, so I added a bunch of repeats. The last row had just shy of 400 stitches. Oof. The worst part is that there aren’t even any good WIP photos, as it looks almost exactly the way it did more than a month ago.
I am starting to get concerned about the whole blocking process. The yarn has been staining my hands, so I am concerned that the color will fade once I get it wet. For context, this is how I hold yarn:
(um, yes, those are my pajama pants, why do you ask?)
As you can see, I have the yarn wrapped tightly around my little finger for tension, and “throw” with the yarn wrapped around my middle finger.
Here are the stains it’s been leaving:
What do you think I should do? Just try to rinse out the extra color or try to set it somehow?
9 responses so far ↓
Erica // November 14, 2008 at 12:56 am |
Lace slogs are the worst! Pile ‘o spaghetti, going nowhere fast…
You’ll get there, though. Maybe you need a treat for every major repeat that you finish?
I don’t have any experience with leaky dye in my yarn. I think I’d probably try a little bit of vinegar in its bath to see if that helps, but I really have no idea. I have had sock yarn bleed in the wash (several times on the same pair), and haven’t really noticed a change in the color. Hopefully yours won’t fade when it gets wet!
costumechick // November 14, 2008 at 9:19 am |
I had the same experience with the Shatland Triangle. I feel for you.
As far as the bleeding – vinegar works the best to set most dyes, but I’d call the manufacturer about it. They might have a better suggestion based on the type of dye they use.
costumechick // November 14, 2008 at 9:20 am |
oops. I meant “Shetland Triangle”.
Amber // November 14, 2008 at 10:52 am |
You think that’s bad? Tess turned my hands purple for a month: http://yarny.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/ipg-wicked/
… Which hasn’t stopped me from buying more.
However, I found it was really just a little extra dye on the surface. When I washed it (in the sink with Soak) the water didn’t change colors, and it didn’t bleed onto my drying rack, and it never transfered onto my clothes. I’d block it on a cheap white towel and see if you get a lot of transfer after rinsing.
Holly // November 14, 2008 at 12:53 pm |
So, here’s my crackpot theory, and you can take it for what you will. I think that the color rub off from yarns like that happen because the yarn can only take so much dye. So you might get some bleeding when you wash it, but after that it shouldn’t be a problem any more. It shouldn’t fade either, because the all the color that’s been absorbed into the yarn should stay in the yarn. I usually fill my sink with warm water and wool wash, soak for 20 minutes, squeeze out the water, then fill up the sink again with warm water, wool wash and a little glug of vinegar. Then it’s another soak, maybe 15 minutes. After that, I squeeze the water our, fill the sink back up with clean water and rinse it out. If there was a lot of bleeding at any stage of the process, I do the rinse thing twice. So far, this has worked well with even very bleedy things. I think protein fibers like a vinegar bath anyway, irregardless of dye, but I believe it gives a little extra staying power to the color as well.
Take heart! The slogging won’t last forever!
Kate // November 14, 2008 at 3:10 pm |
No ideas on the dye-ness of the yarn…
…but a big congratulations for the IK sweater! It’s lovely.
Ruth // November 14, 2008 at 8:47 pm |
Vinegar doesn’t do much unless you add heat – if the problem is an acid dye that was incompletely set, a vinegar soak plus steaming would help. The problem may simply be due to excess dye in the fibres, in which case I would just give it a normal bath and block it on an old towel. Best bet, of course, is to speak to the manufacturer about it – I’d certainly want to know if one of my yarns was doing that.
Melissa // November 16, 2008 at 9:34 am |
I agree with Ruth 110%. Good luck!
Debby // November 21, 2008 at 9:03 am |
I agree with the others who said that when they soak a yarn and the dye comes out, the color of the yarn doesn’t seem to have faded. But that’s been only one or two projects, so you might want to call the manufacturer and see what they recommend for their particular yarn.
And congratulations on the Knitty pattern! I’m amazed that you can do law school and designing both. Wow!