Mmmmm, nothing like wool cooking on the stove - my first try at dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid - Black Cherry. I decided to try this after yesterday's dilemma with the Embossed Leaves socks in variegated yarn - I just was not seeing the definition I was hoping for, so I decided I will finish these socks for someone special for x-mas - someone who will not be a bit hung up on the lack of definition and make myself another pair in red. So I made a trek to one of my favorite lys, Lakeside Fibers, and lo and behold - no red sock yarn. I was almost tempted to buy some Koigu that was less variegated and then thought "STOP!" - remembering why I was in search of a new yarn for this darn project in the first place.

This is auspicious since a co-worker and I have been hatching plans to try dyeing - trying to plan a "dye day" - then last weekend she got the itch and experimented. So in hopes of doing my own homework and being a little more prepared for our bigs plans - voila, I decided to make my own red yarn. I ran it through the process once and was not happy with a couple of pinkish spots - so back to the grocery store for another 4 packets of Black Cherry - it's simmering a second time now - I think I'll be happier - still some lighter areas, but more red than pink. Taking this knitster stuff to another level is always exciting - whether it was learning to manage for dpns, experimenting with lace of dyeing - what an adventure I am having!

As a side note - I found other blogs incredibly helpful with the Embossed Leaves pattern and decision to try some solids - everyone I found who tried variegated was disappointed to some degree - now, if I could just research BEFORE jumping into a project...next time.