Buried Treasure - Hand-painted Yarn

Since the recent move, I've been trying to get things a little more organized as I unpack boxes.  In some cases this is works and in others... well, not so much.

About five years ago a friend and I dyed some yarn. Here it is all twisted up in this somewhat strange colorway.  I'm pretty sure this was done with leftover dyes which is why the dying doesn't seem so purposeful. This means it is a little weird and I like that.

Since I didn't know much about how hand-painting worked, I did some pretty unorthodox things.

One of those things was to create a super long hank for dying. Since that was six or seven years ago, I was a little surprised when I pulled open the pretty hank and found this strange thing. To get it wrapped up and into a usable form was going to take some work.

I unwound it into this mess. This method is not for the faint of heart, I assure you. I've done it this way dozens of times so I'm pretty confident (and my studio is pet-free) that I won't end up with tangles. You do have to commit to finishing it in one go, though. You can't pop out for lunch or something in the middle.

I wanted to make sure I kept track of the fiber content after caking. This is a worsted weight superwash from Knit Picks. They have great yarn in several weights for dying. You can also buy roving to dye yourself.

Such a pretty yarn once I got it wound up. Now I just need the perfect project. I think a cowl might be good. I'll have to think about it. I think the colors will pool very nicely with the long repeats. The little pops of cherry red might be surprising.

I don't dye often, but I do love the results. Have you hand painted your own yarn?