Welcome to our regular Lion Brand Yarn Studio blog feature “Look What I Made”, where customers of the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, in New York City*, write about their projects.

Have you taken a class at the Studio and then made a wonderful project? Do you have a Lion Brand Yarn project you want to share? Send us your stories & pictures to: lookwhatimade@lionbrandyarn.com

Please note, many of our customers create one of a kind works with no pattern.  If a pattern is used, we will include that information.

*If you are not a Studio customer, but have a project you’d like to share, sent it into LionBrand.com customer gallery. Click here for the link (you will need a free LionBrand.com account to submit). Please click here if you would like to view the LionBrand.com Customer Gallery.

BY GRACE

I dyed the LB Collection Superwash Merino. One of the great things about dyeing with superwash merino is that there really isn’t any danger of felting the yarn. That makes it a really safe yarn to start with, plus the yardage is fantastic. It’s also has great colors that would work well as a base for over-dyeing. The color this skein started out as was Antique white.

I unwound the skein onto my yarn swift with the umbrella as large as it would go to make a long hank which I pre-soaked the hank in cool water and white vinegar.  I used Jacquard Acid dyes in Spruce (green) and Periwinkle (blue) and Grape flavored KoolAid (purple).

I use my enamel pot exclusively for dyeing, so no food stuff in it ever! The KoolAid would be ok, but Acid Dye should not be ingested or inhaled. Basically, I arranged the hanks in the bottom of the pot and covered it with a fresh water and vinegar. Brought the heat up to a simmer. Then I made up 3 concentrated dye pastes which I applied to the yarn in rows across yarn. Spruce across the top, periwinkle across the middle, and grape across the bottom.

Once the dye has finished “striking” (all color gone form the water and into the yarn) I removed the heat and let the yarn cool. When cool, I rinsed, squeezed, and hung the hank to dry over a plastic hanger.

Some white still showed in places where the dye didn’t fully “strike” but I liked how that made the yarn look more variegated. I knit a basic hat with this yarn and then I knit a lace swatch with the remainder.

To check out more of Grace’s handiwork, read about how she overdyed Sock-Ease.  Click here to read more.

UPDATE:  Petrina Hicks has identified herself as the talented dyer responsible for the beautiful dyed Fisherman’s Wool.  Thanks Petrina!!

Here’s a beautiful skein of LB Collection Pure Wool.

Here’s a customer’s LB Collection Pure Wool & (I wouldn’t have thought of this) Fishermen’s Wool Tweed!  Look at the close up of that Tweed all wound up.  Isn’t it brilliant!

Our own Celia made this shawl from 4 balls of LB Collection Cashmere – color Natural – is called the “Eyelet Shawl” by Vikki Harding.

BY CELIA

I had been itching to try hand-painting my own yarn after seeing some amazing results from friends’ and colleagues’ experiments, and decided to finally put a languishing Easter Egg dye kit to good use. I dissolved the food coloring tablets according to package directions, dipped and dabbled the yarn hank, and gently heated the yarn to set the dye.  It was so much fun to watch the colors gradually shift while knitting each stitch, remembering how the yarn had looked at each stage of the process!