Crochet
Charity yarn dyeing with the #titsoutcollective
My #titsoutcollective update will be happening on Sunday July 1 2018 at 12 noon British Summer Time. That’s just over 24 hours away as I write this post and give you a sneaky peak of what’s going to be in my Etsy shop. I’m aiming to raise money from each skein of the colourway “If I want exposure, I’ll get my tits out” Every Crafternoon and donating it to Marie Curie UK. This charity is very close to my heart. Its nurses go into people’s homes to help them stay their with the family in their final days and weeks of terminal illness. They are all angels.
If you want to know more about what’s behind this charity collective, all the idea of Countess Ablaze, a fantastic and successful indie dyer who has a city centre shop in Manchester UK and an online store, take a look at Episode 55 of my podcast, where I reveal all. Well, not like that! But I tell the story and how the #titsoutcollective came into being.
In this post you can see the #titsoutcollective colourway variations I’ve done and on Sunday, these will link directly to the items for sale in the shop. Just click on the pictures with links.
My #titsoutcollective colourway
I’m only a small dyer so I thought I would produce the colourway in different bases and using different dye techniques. This charity project has also given me the push to produce hand dyed fibre in a shippable format for the first time. These have been a few very hot dyeing days as we are in the middle of a heatwave here in East Yorkshire with temperatures pushing 29 degrees C most days. But hopefully all will be worth it and we can raise a some pennies to help fund nursing care by Marie Curie UK.
I’ve dyed some of my gorgeous new 80% Shetland lambswool and 20% British alpaca base using heavily saturated dye solutions to do my own interpretation of the original iconic colourway. Countess Ablaze sold 1000 skeins of this and raised over £3000 for her chosen charity, a women’s refuge in Manchester.
First up are jumbo skeins, 140g and 550 yards of plump woollen spun 2 ply fingering, completely natural and ethically produced using fleece from named farms in the UK. These would make small to medium sized shawls, can be combined with a tonal colourway in any of the main colours to make a larger shawl. They would also be great for a scarf, for a hat and mitten set or together with other yarns in blankets and other homewares. As this is woollen spun and doesn’t contain nylon, this is not suitable for socks.
I”ve also dyed the colourway in two different intensities and produced some paired skein shawl sets (2 x 100g skeins, each with 400 yards of the same yarn base).
The second shawl set is also 200g of the Shetland and alpaca yarn but one skein is a more muted saturated version of the #titsoutcollective colourway Every Crafternoon and one is a heathery version, created using a speckling technique. This yarn base doesn’t take speckles as individual sharp spots of dye. The colour spreads through the surface fibres to produce a more gentle effect that works up really beautifully whether its in knitting or crochet.
#titsoutcollective sock yarn
The sock yarn base I’ve used is 20% nylon, 80% Corriedale wool obtained from the Falkland Islands, again from named and known farms, spun in Devon, UK. Unlike many sock yarns its NOT superwash treated so what you get is the feel of the natural wool and its lovely to work with the make socks – again either knitted or crocheted.
#titsoutcollective fibre rolags
I’ve also added some fibre to the shop for the first time. This is carded fibre from my local mill – 100% masham lamsbwool. I’ve dyed it in the same iconic colourway that is central to the #titsoutcollective and blended it into light and fluffy rolags. Each pack of rolags, which will be priced at £20, will contain 25 rolags and at least 140g of fibre. Its perfect for hand spinning either with a spindle or a wheel and the fibre is also good for felting – wet or dry.
Countess Ablaze is adding a special gallery of what all of the indie dyers who are taking part have come up with – it will be live on Sunday and most dyers are posting their updates about then too. I hope you join in and contribute to supporting an indie dyer somewhere in the world and in helping to raise some charity funds.
Lots of love, Kathryn xxx
