It's really no surprise that I love hand dyed yarn. If you read my blog regularly or look at my Ravelry project page, you'll see Madelinetosh, Malabrigo and my own hand dyed yarn all over the place. The last time I dyed yarn was last year and I had to change that. This weekend I while organizing my stash (which really could be a whole separate post), I found some yarn to dye. I also pulled out all of my dyeing accessories - gel dyes, Koolaid, jars, spoons, giant pot - you get the idea. Dyeing yarn, especially with Koolaid, is super easy and a lot of fun (here's an article from Knitty that explains the basics). My son (he's 3) even got in on the fun this time around.

I wanted to make something bright, so I opted for neon green and bright blue. I used several packets of Koolaid for each color. I used more dye than I normally would have because this is non-superwash yarn. I also dumped the dry powder directly on the wet yarn for a more intense color.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the results! I'm not totally sure what I'm going to use the yarn for just yet. I've got 220 yards of worsted weight wool to work with so there are lots of possibilities.

So, have you ever tried dyeing? If so, did you like it?

I use my yarn bowl a lot. Any time I'm knitting at home, I'm using it. I've learned my lesson about knitting without one - if I pull too hard on the working yarn, the ball rolls to the floor, and gets covered in white dog fur. It's not pretty. It didn't take long to learn that lesson, so I invested in a beautiful, locally handmade ceramic bowl.

There have been a few occasions when I've needed an extra bowl - too many WIPs, frogging and re-skeining, etc. As much as I'd love another handmade bowl, I didn't really want to invest in another one if it would only see minor, occasional use. So, I DIY'd one.

I know this isn't exactly ground-breaking, but I thought it was really clever. You only need two things, both are readily accessible, household materials - a bowl with a thin edge and a binder clip. That's it! I've also used a wide-mouth mason jar and plastic drink pitcher in place of the bowl in a pinch.