Tunisian knit stitch in the round.
I'm pretty impressed that it fit.
Everett sure did like it :)
... but not as much as he loves sucking on his hand.
Two people told me the colors remind me of them of crayons. That wins. FYI, I know there are plenty of you viewing this blog. You can comment - it will make you less stalkerish ;)
I'm really happy with this yarn. It might be my favorite colorway to date! I'm in love with the baby blue and the green I created.
Here is how I got my colors:
Pink - fire red and aztec orange
Orange - Pumpkin orange and bright yellow (and maybe some ecru)
Green - Kelly Green and Turquoise
Blue - Turquoise, Sky Blue, and Ecru
Purple - Navy Blue and Crimison
Grey - black, red, green, and blue
I can't get a true black. Someone help me!
This was almost a disaster. I had it all saran wrapped when I realized I didn't spritz with vinegar. I don't know how I almost forgot. I seriously say over and over in my head "don't forget to spritz, don't forget to spritz..."
Do you love it? You can buy it here.
I pretty much used every color of dye I own and the BFL was wonderful to dye. (This is the colorway from the tutorial.)
Here is how I got the colors.
Red - Fire Red and Crimson
Orange - Aztec Gold, Pumpkin Orange, Ecru
Yellow - Bright Yellow, Ecru
Green - Emerald, Chartreuse, Kelly Green (and I think a little Ecru)
Blue - Sky Blue, Turquoise, Navy Blue (mostly the navy blue)
Charcoal - Black and Silver
Do you love it? You can buy it here. I dyed some matching trim that you get for FREE!
And these are never going to get done... I NEED diapers. I put Everett in diapers that leak just so I don't have to do laundry twice a day. Ugh. I'm tired of getting peed on when he has any PUL diaper on.
Hopefully, it really will be done in 7-10 days and not cost more than the $110 total tune up (totally out of control, but I'm not giving up my 1988 Baby Lock).
In the meantime I'm tunisianing this up:
Blackberry Ridge Merino sure is soft and I'm in LOVE with these colors.
You need to wake up super excited because you have a present waiting for you! You should probably also feed the babies.
Rinse, rinse, and rinse some more. Your water needs to run clear. Then, I like to wash and lanolize the wool so it smells good, soft to work with, and ready to use!
Squeeze your yarn and roll it up in towel... you know get it as dry as you can. Hang your pretty yarn to dry. If it's nice put it outside if it's not nice the shower head works.
Once it's dry you can re-skein/ball it up. Enjoy your yarn. Admire your work.
AND finally, take pretty pictures. I'll be selling this yarn here as a guest vendor for August/September.
Drain your yarn.
Put saran wrap underneath your yarn. Honestly, spring for the good stuff with the cutter. I make squares and overlap them as I go around. This is the longest step for me. I hate saran wrap. I'm working on a better solution so it's not so wasteful and such a pain.
Paint!! I like to use a sponge brush and dab the paint on. It keeps it under control and you can do small sections. I realize I could use the skein as is when it comes, but it might be to bulky and as a beginner I can see me leaving white spots where I don't want them. 
Spritz with vinegar. I'm using an old perfume bottle. Use a ton and get all of your work. It's also a good time to check your work and make sure you didn't miss any spots.
Saran wrap your yarn up (not too tight). Start at the last piece you put down and work to the front. KEEP IT FLAT. If you have any questionable spots where you don't think it's really sealed add an extra piece. I fold it all up and then put it on a plate. For the trim, I just throw it in some plastic grocery bags, add the dye, squish it around, spray some vinegar, and done.
Next is heat setting. I use the microwave. 2 minutes on high, 3 minutes rest, 2.5 minutes on high, 3.5 minutes rest, 2 minutes high, 5 minutes rest, 1.5 minutes high. Yarn can burn so don't walk away from it. I haven't burnt yarn yet, but I would want to claw my eyes out if I ruined it.
Go to bed.
Just let your yarn sit over night. I know you want to see what it looks like, but just think of having a present to open up in the morning! Seriously, the yarn is hot and do you want to take any chances with felting? If you do go ahead and rinse on HOT and keep making the water cooler. I'm not that brave and I like having the yarn to open up in the morning.
Have someone heat up leftovers and keep an eye on the babies.
Or... keep an eye on the small one and let the big one be naughty.
While dinner is being heated up. Get your dyes ready. You need vinegar, dyes, hot water, cups, and something to stir with.
Per cup (not actual "cup" but those plastic cups I use) I use less than "just a pinch" of dye, 3/4 of the cup is hot water, and 1/4 vinegar. Look around the web you can probably find better measurements. It's not perfect, but so far I haven't had any total disasters. Oh, be creative with your dyes. Ecru works great for softening your colors. I've been using jacquard. You can get them on dhramatrading.com for $3.10 when you buy 10 or more and shipping is like $11.
Right now, I haven't made the perfect amount of dye. I keep making way too much and have no place to store it and it gets wasted. When I figure it out I'll update the blog.
Go eat dinner and put the babies to sleep. You used hot water to make your dyes so they need an hour or two to cool down. Felting would be bad.
Also, you should probably wear a mask while dealing with the dyes. I've been making my dyes outside so it doesn't bother me. The great dyers probably wear masks and wear gloves. But they also can do like 12 skeins at a time and a stock of dyes. I don't think my husband would be okay with me taking up cupboard space for stock dye solutions. We have limited space.
First things first. I'm new to this myself. It's a learning process. This is how it works for me and I'm sure there are better ways. I'm a busy mom, but dyeing wool takes several steps that can be split up during the day.
This first step works best during naptime. So, put the babies down for a nap. If they don't nap - find something they can do for 30 minutes that doesn't require them hanging on you.
Stretch your yarn out. I make a pretty big circle so it's not too thick. I also do 8oz at a time. This step goes much quicker when you don't have a baby at your leg - that's why I suggest nap time. 
Once it's all wound you are going to want to figure eight some spots. Trust me - not doing doing this will make a big mess. I usually put it in 4 spots. I hate knots and will do anything to avoid them. 
See that green tub? I put a small squirt of blue dish detergent and a cup of vinegar in and fill with warm water. I fill it so that all my yarn will be submerged. 
Soak your yarn. Don't forget your trim. I let this sit for a few hours.
Seriously, go about your day.
So addicting. I'm not very artistic so I definitely believe this can be done by anyone who wants to do it. The worst part is dealing with the saran wrap. It's a good mommy hobby because you can work on little bits while babies are sleeping. Also, after I heat seat my dye in the microwave I don't rinse it till morning (I paint after babies are sleep). Let me just say... if you have a hard time getting out of bed having some wool to rinse will get you right out of bed and ready for the day.
Anyways, I think it's pretty.
I can't wait to dye more. I need to stock up for the winter since I do the painting in our carport on a sheet.
I'll take pictures of all my steps next time...
Run Benny!
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Close up of Tunisian
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Tjtunraveled on Etsy dyed Benny some awesome yarn. I have fabric to make a matching shirt and diaper. Once everything is done there will be more pictures... (of course).
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