Crockpot Dyeing

I got a new crockpot at Wal-Mart the other day, one that can be used exclusively for dyeing. So of course I had to trot right home and try it out.

I had bought a pound of corriedale from an e-bay seller last week, so I decided to divide that up into 4-ounce bundles and dye one of them. So this was the setup:


Using the instruction in Teach Yourself Visually: Handspinning (see book review, below), as well as some miscellaneous tips I'd found on the 'net, I began to play with color. I was thinking salmon, plum, and green:

Even looking at this now, I'm thinking: That green is too bright. But apparently the night I dyed this batch, I thought algae-chartreuse was a ducky color. I pre-soaked my yarn in the crock pot, and turned up the heat. It took about 25 minutes or so before the water was good and hot.

I began plopping dye in the water, using a little more green and a little less plum and salmon:

"Dinner!"

Using my handy, dandy, blue plastic dye spoon, I poked at the yarn so the dye would strike deeper. I tried not to mess with it too much, as I know this can lead to disaster. I let it cook for about 40 minutes, then dumped it in the sink:

huh.

This was not exactly what I intended, but I could live with it. I rinsed it, dried it between two towels, and hung it to dry. The next day:

Well, I am moderately satisfied. I'm not over the moon with joy over this roving, but neither am I gnashing my teeth in disappointment. I think it might have potential. Maybe. Tonight I'm spinning -- I will post photos later this week of the resulting yarn. Hopefully.