First I soaked some handspun:
While that was going on, I mixed the "dye" (pronounced: Kool-Aid). As always, I was shocked that people actually allow their kids to drink this stuff. Digital photography does not capture the un-natural (and unholy) colour!
Then I put the thoroughly wetted yarn into a large Ziploc bag and dumped in the colour. After squishing it around a bit, I stuck it in the microwave for 2 minutes (I didn't completely seal the bag...didn't want the thing to explode, after all!). Then I let it rest for 2 minutes. I repeated this process --heat, rest-- a couple more times until all of the colour was exhausted (which was cool!).
This is the finished result...a very pretty (and nice smelling) shade of blue). Once it cooled down, I rinsed it in warm water with some dishwashing liquid, then hung it up to dry.
Just in case you're interested, I used two packets of "Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade".
It was really fun! You should try it!
On a separate note, today I came into the possession of 2 beautiful alpaca fleeces! What a fabulous way to start the morning! Fresh coffee and 2 giant bags of fibre! I love it!
The darker of the two came from an alpaca named Casey and it has almost a reddish tint to it. The lighter one is from Princess. They're gorgeous!
Over Christmas, my fabulous mother-in-law gave me 4 pounds of kid mohair...you read right...4 pounds! I've been washing, picking and combing it and the final result is glorious! I've never much cared for mohair. Turns out that the cheap "mohair-like-fibre" in the bargain bin is NOT mohair at all! The real stuff is so soft and shiny!
And some close-ups:
