cool pen and yarn dyeing

I am blaming this post on Walmart!!!  baha.  I am still feeling very puny and sick.  I went in for juice, soup and cold medication (and maybe a vacuum). I came out with a lot more than that!  Truthfully, it was my own fault for going in without a firm list.  

This first item, not on the list, is actually really, really cool.  It may be old news to other quilters out there but it was new to me.  A friend of mine had given me a sewing box that had been her grandmother's after she passed away.  Her grandma was a quilter and in the mixture there was a bright pink pen.  The ink disappears when you iron over it!  I used it completely up!  I have looked at Joann's, Michael's and a quilt store and did not find another like it.  So.  Today in Walmart I was walking by the office supplies and thought "I wonder?" Sure enough!

This second blank picture is after ironing over the spot I had written in the red ink. Love. It.  

Right. Here's where things get a little dicey.  Somehow I ended up in the yarn section.  I think I was walking by and a bright white skein caught my eye.  Like bare yarn.  I thought that was interesting, I entered the aisle....and that led to me deciding I should learn to dye my own yarn!!!!  You see how these things can just "happen", right?

There were only a few colors so I went a couple aisles over and found the tie dye colors.  Much better selection.  I don't know if it will actually work.  But thought I'd give it a go.  The yarn is a cotton lace weight 50g hank.  They also had a chunkier cotton.

I put the yarn in this plastic lid. 

The dye was already in these little bottles, just added water.  Easy peasy.

The yarn did not initially accept the dye.  Once it was wet though it did.  It may be a good idea to start with wet yarn next time.  The dye was super saturated.  I put on the light pink, then squished in the darker.  Then the purple which initially was like black.  Then, I took the black and spattered it over everything.  At that point the yarn was wet with the other colors so the spatter stuck well.  

I did not follow the instructions on the box.  After the dye was placed you were supposed to wrap it in plastic for 6-8 hours.  But, I decided to rinse it in cold water and woolite.  That lightened the color considerably to what you see above.  

I have it drying outside.  I can't wait to see what it will be!!!  50g could maybe be a short pair of socks???  For socks I usually start with 100g and I have a ton left over.  Anyway it was mostly just for fun, an experiment.

I did also come home with a hard floor vacuum.  I love it!  Even though Rocky is a short hair and doesn't shed horribly there still ends up being a ton of hair!  Sweeping was just getting old.  It's small, easy to put together and inexpensive.  So there's that.

Ok. For reals I am doing nothing for the rest of the day! I hope you all have a great week.