You might become confused while reading this post and think that we’ve skipped right over June Blue to July Purple in Project Spectrum. Do not be alarmed. Do not adjust your calendar. June still awaits.

When I posted about our weekend dyeing adventures, everyone was most interested in seeing the shocking purple yarn. Of course, I managed to not take any pictures of the ultraviolet before I started overdyeing it with black, but Jeanne will affirm that it was too purple. Neither of us believed such a thing was possible, either – until we saw the yarn.

Anyway! Here’s the first skein – it was a cream-colored fingering weight 80% wool/20% cashmere blend, courtesy of the thrift store. I think I have enough yardage for a lacy winter scarf. Dyed with Country Classics Spring Violet, overdyed with Raven.

This skein was dyed with Spring Violet and a dash of Raven and came out the exact shade I wanted – no overdyeing was necessary. The yarn was cream-colored laceweight Zephyr, 50% merino/50% silk. Um, yardage is a lot. I have to weigh it later and figure out how much I actually have. It will become a shawl someday, but probably not for the Amazing Lace. I need to start this shawl business slow, with a smaller first project!

This tangle was two skeins of cream-colored Silky Wool (65% wool/35% silk), wound on a warping board to stripe. I’m planning to make a pair of cushy house socks for next winter from this (assuming I get it untangled sometime this year). The purple was Spring Violet, later overdyed with Raven. The grey was Blueberry and Raven, later overdyed with Raven. I’ll probably try overdyeing the grey with Raven one more time, to see if I can get it to be a more true and less blue grey.

Saturday evening Jeanne and I did a bit more dyeing. Here’s our setup in Jeanne’s backyard:

Of course wine is critical to the process! Make sure to keep your wine out of the active dyeing area to minimize accidents (putting dye in wine, dyeing yarn with wine, etc).

Here I’m dyeing some yarn that will turn out to be shockingly purple – so shocking that I overdyed it with black Sunday night to tone it down a little! I have to remember to draft out color ideas before sitting down to dye yarn, because if I don’t – I can only remember that I like purple and black.

Yarn pictures later this week, after drying and detangling.

But the very best thing about the evening? Jeanne surprised me with a Stumbling Over Chaos word cloud t-shirt! I cannot even tell you how excited I was. I might even have bounced a bit (ok, ok, maybe more than a bit). Thank you, Jeanne – that was so sweet and unexpected!

Reading this is like reading really fun fridge magnet poetry. Some favorites include “thought time tongue totally tuna,” “SRM story stumbling text think,” “chaotic chris claws color,” and “favorite flamingos free fun.” I could go on – but I’ll spare you!