Thursday, May 03, 2007

OK, One Hint...Just One!

But that's all you're getting until she gets home to Lisa. Lisa knitted Kiri with some Kool-Aid dyed yarn, and found she was unhappy with the colour. The original colour is shown in pinky/flesh colour in what Lisa called the "Little Ball Of Fugly." It wasn't that bad, as you can see in the before photos in my last post.



Lisa found she couldn't quite finish the edge of Kiri, so she mailed the shawl to Auntie Grace for knitting therapy. Grace finished Kiri and sent her to me for a dye job.

Gotta tell you folks, that dyeing someone else's beautifully hand-knit shawl is a nail-biter. And not only that, but the pinkish Kool-aid colour she arrived in, is one of the more difficult to over-dye successfully. I experimented on the LB o'F until I felt I had the right idea of what to do.

Now Kiri is blocked and drying on my family room floor. I can't tell you how beautiful she is. Lisa's knitting is spectacular, as is Grace's edging. You can see the wonderful stitchwork in the teeny sample I've posted here. Lisa's original colour gives the whole shawl a warm undertone, and makes the over-dye dance. This photo does not really do justice to the shawl or to the final colour. I can say that the colour is soft and subtle, and oh so smoothly variegated.

Hopefully Lisa will give us a big eyeful when Kiri gets home. If not, I'll post all my pix.

17 comments:

CatBookMom said...

Jayne, it is stunning!! OMG! You are a genius with the dyepots. The before pictures showed that the shawl itself was beautifully knitted, though I couldn't tell which parts Grace QOS added. Lisa will be dancing all around the house when she sees the final gorgeous product.

Yowza!!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful job you've done!How did you find dyeing a finished item, as opposed to dyeing yarn? I've thought of trying it but was afraid the colour would come out too blocky.

I haven't yet heard how much "our" shawl fetched at the auction but I know it was much admired.

Anonymous said...

Wearing that beautiful shawl will be like being in the embrace of your whole knitting family. Beautiful work by all.

Having a Knit Fitt said...

The peek has piqued my desire to see it in its full glory.
Cate

Grace said...

sorry I didn't get on sooner under the weather (a k a panic attacks) again, but Jayne she looks wonderful. I am impressed!

Anonymous said...

Jayne, that came out absolutely beautifully. I am so impressed. Great job by all.

Joan said...

Just beautiful work as usual, Jayne!

LisaW. said...

Did you hear me scream all the way down there in Vancouver? I didn't realize THAT was Kiri in the background...i thought it was your KAL shawl or another surprize you've been knitting....when i realized it was HER...i screamed out loud...and made the fam gather round the computer screen...I wonder why they're not as excited about this as I am....Jayne...i'm speechless. if she's as beautiful in her totality as she is in this peek....well...a stunner....i'm going to have to rethink the ending to this! (hamster wheel spinning madly in the brain)..hmmm. Thank you Jayne...and thank you Grace! There's a lil' song for both of you over on my blogpost today!

Madge said...

Downright gorgeous, Jayne.

And you must have nerves of steel. :)

Bravo!!!

Grace said...

jayne thanks for the kind words today on the other site, its been a rough one but I can always count on my yarny buds to help me through!

Etsy will be a few more days, I have to verify the paypal and I want to sell shawls but may run into copyright problems. It will be under needles54 when it appears!

Suzann said...

Holy Sheep, that is an extreme makeover. It is so so beautiful. I bet you can't wait to get your hands on it Lisa
Jayne you are the queen of the dye pot. And gawd you are brave.
I love all of you

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! How did you get from there to here?...The "old" pic looks very bad in comparison. Totally stunning!

Marta

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine how you got to that beautiful color from the original, but you did a fantastic job! I hope you took lots of pics, for comparative purposes in the future. Great job!

Life's a Stitch said...

What a great idea. I'm on my way to my closet to search out potential makeovers!

benne said...

Incredible! Jayne you transformed Lisa's and Grace's fine knitting into a stunner. I would have been absolutely terrified. Heck, I'm terrified to dye my OWN yarn! Fabulous effort all around ladies. This will be one special shawl for Lisa to wear.

Sandra Eileen said...

love your site, just thought you might be interested in my post today, Hokie Healing Blanket Project is in need of 8 inch knitted or crocheted squares to make blanets for presentation to families of the 33 people killed at Virginia Tech on 4.16.07 - if you know of anyone with some spare time and yarn and a desire to contribute, please direct them to my post, they need over 2000 squares by the end of the month.

Thank you,

Sandra Eileen

http://artisan-jewelry.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Wow! You have such a lovely way with dye! I would be quite pleased myself.