Natural Dye Series: Part II

Happy Halloween! Nothing will make you feel as though you’re creating a witches’ brew like dyeing with lichen. It’s a unique way to get into the holiday spirit.

In the second installment of the Natural Dye series, I’m going to show you how to use lichens as a natural dye. If you thought the marigold dye from Part I was fun, you will love this installment. Remember the foamy, magenta liquid in the jar from Part I? That’s the lichen dye.

This dye takes about a month to prepare, but it is well worth the wait. Something about it is magical because you’d never expect such a vibrant color to come from a leathery, grey-brown lichen.

For today’s tutorial you’ll need:

  • A glass jar – canning jars or recycled sauce jars are perfect
  • Measuring cups
  • Ammonia
  • Water
  • A handful of umbilicaria pepulosa (pictured below) – this type of lichen is abundant on boulders, and there are several variations. For results closest to mine, try to find this lichen. You may achieve different results with another variation, but that is part of the fun of natural dyeing!

Before you get started, I want to include a note on ethics and lichen dyes. Unlike our marigold tutorial, in which I grew and harvested my own plants, lichen dyeing requires you to search public and/or forested land. Be considerate and mindful of your impact on the land and how you may be disturbing the ecosystem. Do not collect more than you’ll need – a little goes a long way. Avoid scraping lichen from stones as much as possible as lichen is slow-growing and may not regenerate. I went out on a windy day over the weekend and found more than enough on the ground surrounding the boulders.

Once you have your lichen, you’re ready to go. To achieve a magenta dye from umbilicaria, an ammonia extraction is required. After you’ve collected your lichen, place your handful into a jar.

Next, create a 50/50 solution of water and ammonia. I’ve measured out 1 cup each. Pour the solution over the lichen, leaving about an inch of air at the top of the jar. You should notice the solution briefly change to a brilliant shade of red or purple that will fade to brown.

Close the lid tightly and shake to your heart’s content. Give the jar a few shakes each day for about three weeks. Once a week, take the jar outside and carefully remove the lid and swirl the contents of the jar to allow oxygenation. Repeat the process over the next few weeks until the liquid is purple or magenta. This process can take more than three weeks. Do not rush it– it is a practice in patience. I’ve dyed this way many times and have found that I can achieve a gorgeous dye after about a month.

Since I already have another jar of concentration ready to go, I’m going to dive into dyeing.

For this part of the tutorial you’ll need:

  • 1 skein of Universal Yarn Ready to Dye Superwash Merino Worsted Weight yarn.
  • Jar of concentrated dye
  • One stainless-steel pot that you don’t plan to use for cooking – I purchased mine for a few dollars at a thrift store.
  • Tongs – they don’t need to be stainless steel but choose some that you won’t use for cooking.
  • Measuring cups
  • Water

In Part I, you used a mordant to help fix the marigold dye to the fiber. That step isn’t necessary for this lichen. In fact, it can actually dull the color.

Fill a stainless-steel pot with 4-5 cups of water and place your yarn inside. Set aside for approximately 30 minutes.

Pour off approximately 1 cup of the concentration into the pot. Gently stir and turn the yarn to incorporate the dye into the water. I suggest you open your windows for ventilation as you’ll be warming an ammonia solution over the stove-top.

Bring water to just under a simmer. If you have a thermometer it should be about 190 F. Allow the yarn to soak in the dyebath for approximately one hour, occasionally turning the yarn gently with your tongs. Notice how brilliantly saturated the color becomes.

\

Remove from the heat and allow the yarn to cool in the dyebath overnight.

Remove the yarn from the dyebath and thoroughly rinse. I do recommend a gentle detergent or wool wash as the ammonia can be quite pungent. Hang and allow to dry completely. Then, pat yourself on the back for your patience. I told you it was worth the wait!

I’m working on a pattern that uses the yarn from Parts I and II of the Natural Dye series. In the future, I’ll show you how to use natural dyes on some of our other Ready to Dye yarns.

Free Pattern Friday – 18 Petals

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, 18 Petals in Classic Shades Big Time (pattern link here).

What a neat design!  It combines a soft, bulky yarn – Classic Shades Big Time – with a bright Spring colorway, the new 819 Botanica.  It’s a healthy dose of color as winter rears its head.

Each of the 18 “petals” is shaped through short-rows and decreases. After the lower petal section is complete, ribbing is worked upward from the straight/unshaped edge.  The flexible edge formed by the ribbing’s tendency to gather makes this a fun piece to wrap around however you like.

We hope you have an amazing weekend, and find time to make something fun!

Happy crafting!

Emergency Monster Hats

Halloween is hands down my favorite time of year. The air is just starting to get crisp, meaning I can finally break out my handknits. There’s always candy. Everywhere. All the time. Cider, campfires, beautiful changing leaves; I could go on.

Clockwise from the top we have Rachel wearing Clarice, Heather wearing Chunk, and me (Amy) wearing Clyde)

But of course the most fun thing about Halloween are the costumes. I finally settled on my own costume idea for this year a week or two ago. But there was a period of panic where I just couldn’t come up with an idea I was happy with. Enter: monster hats (pattern link).

Hi. I’m Clarice. I know it doesn’t look like it but I’m actually very happy.

Now monster hats are really pretty fun any time of year. They’re really not season-specific. But, in a pinch, they can make an excellent costume.

Hhhii, I’m Chunk. I like you.

All three are crocheted in numerous shades of Uptown Worsted, our super-soft anti-pilling acrylic. This is a great hat yarn because it feels good on the head and is not itchy. It’s also quite affordable and buying several skeins in different colors won’t break the bank.

I believe she was not in her right mind while making me. I mean, one eye? At least it’s a large eye. I am Clyde, by the way.

There lots of different add-on elements going on in each of these hats. The idea is that you can follow the patterns as written if you like. Or you can come up with your own unique monster using different combinations of spikes, horns, different numbers of eyes, etc.

We want candy. More candy. And not the cheap stuff.

So if you’ve found yourself with out a costume and Halloween only a week away, why not be a monster?

You can find the patterns for all three hats on our website here (pattern link). Happy Halloween!

Free Pattern Friday – Mossbank Cardigan

It’s Free Pattern Friday! 

Today, the Mossbank Cardigan in Major (link here).

The leaves are falling from the trees, but we want to hold onto all things green just a little bit longer.  The Mossbank Cardigan is a lovely A line sweater, knit from the bottom up in pieces and seamed. The buttonbands are worked as one with the front pieces, so no picking up stitches later for this!

Best, self-shading Major does the colorwork for you, gently striping up the length of the body and sleeves.

We hope you have a restorative weekend, and find time to make something beautiful.

Happy knitting!

Let’s Get Happy

Perhaps our most fun pattern collection from this fall is Happy Sock Shawls, featuring 6 super colorful accessories using some of our sock yarns. We photographed this collection in hipster neighborhood Noda here in Charlotte, on a sunny morning this past summer. With such a beautiful smiling model, brightly painted buildings, and vibrant shades, the name “Happy Sock Shawls” was the only title that fit. It’s hard not to feel happy when looking at these images!

Rachel Brockman, our new designer here at Universal Yarn also happens to be an amateur photographer. I think she did an excellent job of capturing this knitwear in all of it’s glory.

The name of each project is a synonym of the word “happy”, all beginning with the letter “E.” I am now kicking myself for this plan of naming because I’m now having a hard time keeping them all straight!

Here’s a little overview of the 6 projects in the collection:

Ecstatic is a crescent/triangle shape, knit from the top down. Instead of having 4 increases every right side row like most triangular shawls, this one has 6, which gives it more of a “swoopy” shape. I like this shape because it sits on the shoulders a little easier than a plain triangle.

Ecstatic is mostly knit in self-shading Poems Sock, with accent rows of Pix. I just love the interest that those Pix stripes create.

 

Energize is a circular shawl knit from the center out. It begins with Pi shaping, and then progresses to having increases that are worked into the lace pattern. It ends with a knit-on border.

I love the way the Poems Sock stripes look in the round, and then sideways on the edging.

 

Exhilarate is a modern and asymmetric take on a traditional log cabin quilt. It’s worked modularly in 4 sections, all worked off the sides of preceding sections. There’s a handy diagram in the pattern to show how it all fits together.

The yarns used are Stanza (one of our striping sock yarns) plus solid colored Whisper Lace.

 

Next up we have another Stanza / Whisper Lace Combo, the Enthuse Shawl. This shawl is knit sideways, and uses the intarsia method to change colors.

I love the color-block effect of this piece. I’m also a fan of the shape – we found at least 5 ways to style it during our photo shoot.

 

Euphoric is perhaps the happiest shawl of them all (okay – it’s a scarf, not a shawl). Worked in easily the most exuberant (hey – another “e” happy word) colorway of Pix, if this scarf doesn’t make you smile, nothing will.

This scarf is knit widthwise with bound-off lace holes, intarsia, and some fun fringey bits at the sides.

 

Last but not least is Elation, using just one ball of shading Poems Sock. This small shawl is knit sideways showing off vertical striping of the yarn. A few stitches are dropped along one side just before binding off to form the loopy fringe.

You can view the full collection on our website here, or on Ravelry here. Let’s get happy!

Natural Dye Series: Part I

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the abundance of warm colors—the trees are changing, goldenrods are abloom, and my marigolds continue to flourish. All of these things—leaves included, are wonderful resources if you’re interested in dyeing yarns naturally.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to post some tutorials on naturally dyeing yarn, all using our Ready to Dye Collection. First, we’ll use marigolds to make a gorgeous golden dye. Then, we’ll dive into an especially exciting dye: umbilicaria lichen. Finally, we’ll work on a project that incorporates the colors of both yarns. I hope you enjoy this series!

For this collection, I’ve chosen our Superwash Merino Worsted Weight yarn. It’s plump, soft, and perfect for a satisfying quick knit. After dyeing your yarn, I promise you’ll want to knit it up immediately.

For today’s tutorial you’ll need:

  • 1 skein of Universal Yarn Ready to Dye Superwash Merino Worsted Weight
  • Approximately 100 g of marigolds
  • Alum – you can find this in the baking/spices section of your grocery store.
  • Two stainless-steel pots that you don’t plan to use for cooking – I purchased mine for a few dollars at a thrift store.
  • Tongs – they don’t need to be stainless steel, but choose some that you won’t use for cooking.
  • A kitchen scale – I can’t recommend this one enough. Although it isn’t essential, if you’re a knitter, you should have one! It’s useful for much more than dyeing.
  • Measuring cups/tablespoon
  • White distilled vinegar
  • Salt
  • Water

The first thing you’ll want to do is create your mordant. Mordant is what fixes the dye to the fiber.

  1. Dissolve 1 Tbsp of alum into ¼ cup of hot water.
  2. Fill a stainless-steel pot or bowl with enough water to cover your yarn so that it can move freely.
  3. Pour your mordant into the water.
  4. Add your yarn and soak for about an hour.

While your yarn is soaking, you can prepare the dyebath.

  1. Fill your stainless-steel pot with enough water to allow your yarn to flow freely.
  2. Dissolve 1 tbsp of salt into the water.
  3. Pour ½ cup of vinegar into the water – salt and vinegar help to brighten the dye.
  4. Add your marigolds and use the tongs to stir the pot.
  5. Bring to a simmer over your stovetop. Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.
  6. Lower the temperature so that the water is just under a simmer. If you have a thermometer it should be about 190 degrees F. I’m a bit irresponsible, and I usually eyeball this part. I haven’t had any issues yet, but use a thermometer if you’re worried.

Remove your yarn from the mordant bath. Gently squeeze (do not wring) the excess mordant from the yarn (you can place the remaining mordant into a jar to save it for another dye project if you’d like). Carefully place your yarn into the dyebath.

Continue to soak the yarn in the dyebath over low heat (maintaining a temperature just under a simmer) for approximately an hour. Gently turn the yarn with your tongs occasionally. After an hour, remove the pot from the heat. Set aside to cool. I usually leave my yarn in the dyebath overnight.

Remove your yarn from the dyebath and thoroughly rinse. You can use a wool wash or gentle detergent if you wish. You’ll need to gently shake out bits of flowers and plant matter.

Hang and allow to dry completely.

Finally, admire your results!

Free Pattern Friday – Button Up Hat and Scarf

It’s Free Patterm Friday!

Today, the Button Up Hat and Scarf in Dona (link here).

The weather’s cooling off here, so it’s time to dust off all those “winter is coming” images…

…and to cast on for something toasty!

The Button Up Hat and Scarf is a matched set in Fibra Natura Dona superwash merino. This cozy cabled set is brightened by the pop of color of a buttoned garter stitch band.  Thread the scarf through to keep it snug.

The written and charted all-over eyelet and cable pattern creates a raised texture that’s quite warm.

We hope you enjoy this taste of winter!

Happy crafting!

Free Pattern – Cancer Comfort Cap

We are proud to share this free pattern with you, although we wish there were no reason to do so.

This is the Cancer Comfort Cap in Cotton Supreme DK (pattern link here).

We designed this cap at the request of Yonca, our sales director.  When she requested this cap, it was for a friend who is about to undergo chemotherapy for breast cancer.  Unfortunately, since then, another friend of hers has also been diagnosed.  According to breastcancer.org, 1 in 8 American women will develop invasive breast cancer in the course of her lifetime (as well as 1 in 1000 men).  This is a disease that hits close to home.

Yonca wanted to write something for her friend to add to this post, but she finally had to admit defeat. She felt that everything she wanted to say was inadequate.  In the face of a life-changing diagnosis, it can be hard to find the words to express our pain and love.  But just reaching out to say “I’m here, I’m with you,” can sometimes be enough.

We offer this hat as a way to say “I’m with you” when words won’t quite do the trick.  It’s knitted in the round in our Cotton Supreme DK, which we picked because it’s very soft, and chemo scalps can be quite sensitive – something to keep in mind when choosing yarn.

If you have questions about breast cancer detection and treatment, the American Cancer Society has a helpful page.  Mammogram guidelines can also be found at CancerCare.org.

To all of our generous-hearted crafting friends, we wish you good health and every happiness.

Free Pattern Friday – Almas Poncho

It’s Free Pattern Friday!

Today, the Almas Poncho in Deluxe DK Tweed Superwash (link here).

Fall is upon us, and we felt the need for something toasty!

Almas is knit seamlessly in the round from the top down. It can act as a shoulder/bust warmer for a brisk walk in the woods, or can be scrunched up and worn as a cowl paired with your favorite winter coat.  We like the rustic quality that Deluxe DK Tweed Superwash gives this cozy piece.

As a short poncho or capelet, it can be worn collar up or down, as you wish.

With just a touch of stranded knitting, this project is a nice introduction to the Fair Isle method of changing colors in your work.

We hope you have a delightful weekend.

Happy knitting!

Dona 2.0 ebook

Topping the shortlist of my favorite of our yarns is Dona, a DK weight housed in the Fibra Natura line of natural fiber yarns. Dona is 100% extrafine merino and soft as butter. And machine washable to boot!

I’d like to introduce you to a few of my favorites from ebook Dona 2.0 which was released this fall:

Traveler’s Sweater

Named for traveling rib and eyelets

 

Side split for ease of movement
Collar can be worn up or folded down

Astray:

Layer with long sleeves or short
Saddle shoulders, asymmetric patterning placement
Flattering A-line shape

Calibrate:

Asymmetric patterning
Knit sideways and seamed in the middle

Pulse:

Oversized boxy shape
Can you tell we like asymmetry?
Super duper cozy!

There are 9 more projects for a total of 13 garment and accessory patterns in this collection. You can see them all on our website here. All patterns are available for download via Ravelry – individually or together in the full ebook. I hope you love Dona as much as I do!