Well, it’s Easter and with the preponderance of bloggers posting photos and step-by-step instructions about dying yarn and roving lately, I have decided that eggs and wool are not the only thing that should be able to enjoy a dip into the dye pot.
Check out this fantastic fiber I have! Look at that unique crimping! Its luxuriously soft and warm and I have a bunch of it! But gray is so . . . I dunno . . . gray? So I’ve decided to make it blue! I tried to catch a few steps on camera to help anyone else who has similar fiber to work with. A lot of you do and you don’t even know it!
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I give you: “Stitchy’s Guide to Live Dying”!!**
Here are some of the tools you will need:
A large pot with a cover, food coloring of your choice (I’m using a tube of the gel kind), tongs, and a pair of oven mitts to handle the roving. You really have to be careful as it can be very hard to maneuver.
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First, place the roving into the pot of water with all of the color added. Use a very low heat. You don’t want to cook the little guy. There’s not nearly enough meat on there to do anyone any good.
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Cover tightly for about 30 minutes or until all the color is gone from the water.
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The roving will dry naturally as it runs all over the house willy-nilly. The benefit of Live Dying is that the fur retains its lustrous softness throughout the process. Just look at that sheen. Check out Chi-Chi in the background. His jaw has literally dropped at the beauty of Mike’s faboo new fur. And Dot’s tongue is hanging out in desire for such finery.
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Here is the most plush and coveted section of the roving – the tail. Just look at that loft. This is going to be one heck of a scarf! When it grows back, I think I’ll try to do something in autumnal colors.
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I won’t be posting photos of us harvesting the fur. Those would be too graphic and bloody for my dear, delicate readers. Mike has very sharp nails.
I think we’re also going to try some psychedelic Tie-Dot fiber soon, too! Duuuude!
And now, here’s a special holiday message from our official Easter spokesbunny the Drunken Rabbit in Yellow Pants!
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“Huh? Oh . . . Izz springtime an you know wha that . . . hic . . . you know wha . . . hic . . youknowhathat meansss. Time to exploit the bunnies and little baby chi . . . hic . . . chicks. Nice! Why don you people chop of your own feet for luck an see how you like it? Hop down the freakin bunny trail on THAT! Lousy, rotten . . . hic . . .lousy, rotten . . . uuuurp. An another thing, who the hell invented those Cadbury Creme eggs? I love those things, maaan. Hap . . . hic . . . Hippy Essss . . . Happy Erssta . . . Happy Eeeezter! ~belchhh~
**No, I don’t really put my cat into a pot of water and I beg of you, please don’t try it. It’s a joke and Mike was crammed full of treats for an hour after we took these pictures. He has forgiven us.
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So did you really dye Mike at all, or did you use Photoshop or something? My daughter wants to dye our tortie-point cat and I’m telling her it ain’t gonna happen!!
Cute entry, though, and Mike looks really happy with all the treats.
One of the funniest things ever seen on a knitting blog. Made coming into work all Sunday totally worth it! (sort of.)
I *thought* the fiber looked a little odd in the first picture. That’s hilarious! Thanks for the Easter laugh.
What Janice said! Btw, I have actually harvested (by combing), spun, and knitted some kitty fur. Not that difficult, actually.
June
http://www.twosheep.com/blog
OMG … OMG … How long did you manage to keep him inside the pot?
BTW, really interested in knowing what June made from the kitty fur … scarf? socks?
I wanna blue cat!!! I wanna blue cat right now!!!
Whoa there, Verouca. Remember, we are the music makers, we are the dyers of cats. 😉 You’ll have your blue cat when we get home.
Judy, he is, indeed, still just plain old gray. I wish it weren’t so. Jon is very handy with a paint program. Keep me updated on your progress with the tortie, though. I’d love to see what kind of variegation you can get with one of those!
J, thanks! That stinks that you have to work. Glad I could give you a chuckle.
Janice, I was hoping that the fiber photo would make people wonder. Mike does have a nice, long staple.
June, I’d love to see what you made of cat hair. I’ll have to search your blog, it must be on there somewhere, right?
Agnes, he was in there for maybe 10 seconds. We have some great pictures of him pushing his head out. I just wanted to get his paw sticking out though, so I kept having to push him back in. It was like a Jack-in-the-Box that squirms! But I swear to you, he wasn’t traumatized about it. Besides, with all the trouble he causes around here, he deserved a little of his own.
Absolutely hilarious. I nearly spit out my coffee!
With the styrofoam peanuts stuck to your kitty’s bottom and this most recent dye job, you have two of the funniest blog entries I’ve ever read. The knitting’s great too, by the way!
why have i not yet learned?? put down beverage THEN read stitchy’s blog. geez, it’s a fairly simple process… hah. my keyboard hates you right now, my cat read this over my shoulder looking VERY nervous… but boy, way to put a smile on a grumpy girl’s face on easter
I almost died laughing at the “cat in the pot”… my husband would hemorrage and the pot would be out to the trash!! I think it’s hysterical…cats are so much fun!!!
thanks for the fun!!
I almost died laughing at the “cat in the pot”… my husband would hemorrage and the pot would be out to the trash!! I think it’s hysterical…cats are so much fun!!!
thanks for the fun!!
Ahhh, but I’ve missed you and you’re whacked sense of humor. Welcome back!
Very, very cute.
Y’all need to check out the book Why Paint Cats. Amazing stuff.
Ow ow ow ow ow. I just laughed so hard that I cried and all of my mascara ran into my eyes. I think I’m blinded now. But what a way to go!
holy crap that was so funny, I totally just honked out the loudest laugh my cube farm ever heard! Think Prairie Dogs…
Quite a few non-knitters found it a hoot as well..
hahah!
as i read your post, i was really disappointed that my two fluffy cats are black and that any dyeing wouldn’t show. then i had to read that you really didn’t dye him. so sad.
You should post the photo of him sticking his head out of the pot. They like tocreate trouble and that would be a good shot with his head half blue and half gray.
People noamrlly pay me for this and you are giving it away!
Awesome looking website. I recently built mine and I was looking for some design ideas and you gave me a few. Can I ask you whether you developed the website by youself?
And some people maintain that dogs are more fun than cats! HA! What decent respectable dog can you fit in a pot and “dye”? great entry again.
Apelar à UGT é bonito. Dá o carácter delicodoce de que acusam a CGleTApP.ar a greves gerais é ainda mais bonito, para quem só sai de casa no dia e se houver arraial. Nos piquetes não põem os cascos, colar cartazes, pintar paredes, é grupo.
Live dying is the new Pilates! Now everyone will be doing it! That was just too funny. (What I’d like to know is how many emails you get from folks who don’t read all the way down to the disclaimer.) (‘Cause people are wacky that way.) I love your blog!!!!
SO says dyeing black cats is easy! Just bleach them first!
And are you sure Mike has forgiven you? Have you checked your shoes?
sallyjo
Oh, fuckin’ . I’m still laughing.
Can we expect rainbow kitty fur as part of the swap this weekend? 😉
The cruelty!!
Yeah, she’s back in full form. Love the blue cat!
I love that I can always count on your blog to liven my day.
AHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH…..
*sniff* *wipes eyes*
That’s just too funny…
OMG TOO TOO FUNNY. it reminded me of the time my cousin drew on the white parts of my cat with bright pink colored chalk… hey he was only 3, he didn’t know.
A thousand curses on my stupid black cat.
Stephanie
(yarn harlot)
That was hysterical. Thanks!!
I’ve put this as my Blog of The Day on my Blog. Loved it.
I bet that bleaching my tortie cat will put her in quite a mood… but, alas she’s too dark for lavendar or pink. she might manage to do some stripes if I can get fansy with the roving. She’s an indoor cat, so I rove rather than her. And let’s not even walk about the White House “Rove.” Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Would you take a cruise again?
I think I’d want to go on the old farts cruise… not kidlets and no drunks who could move fast.
Oh my gosh your blog posts generate fantastic comments! I love lurking around here, getting witty by osmosis with you and your readers. If it were a nice wallet, with the hummer SUV dealership contact card in there, then I’d keep the money. Well, I like the idea of Googling the per;7n̵oss name first. Ah, who am I kidding ~ I’d be too scared of the karma kick-back. I’d return the money, hopefully it would be some billionaire who would give me twice the amount as a reward for being so honest.
That was hilarious – Irishman and I both found it hysterical
Can’t wait to see the tie-dye effort LOL
my favorite part was the look on Chi-Chi’s face! Jealousy if ever I saw it!
I’m lovin’ the color! I wonder how I would look with an updated style?
Hey, my friend T had a white dwarf hamster that she dyed regularly. Place hamster in sink, drop food coloring on said hamster, and rub in.
Adorable!
What size pot would you recommend for a 65-pound chocolate lab? I don’t have cats…
I have a 29 lb male Maine Coon. There is no pot large enough in my kitchen. Any cold water dyes? I could try dying him in the tub. I’ll send pictures of my after I am released from intensive care….
I have actually seen a dyed dog before…there are some mushrooms that grow in the northern part of California that dye whatever they touch a brilliant yellow-gold. They’re edible, quite good in fact… the dog’s owners just picked a bunch of those and mushed them all over the dog and then rinsed with the hose.
It’s long past Easter, and still funny as hell. Reminds me of the time our mostly white cat got skunked in early February. Anybody wanna guess what tomato juice does to a white cat? Yep, pink cat in time for Valentime’s Day…
Holy hairballs, Batman! My kitteh’s a “blue with white”, aka grey & white, fluffball. I got her a Furminator, which she loves like crazy & runs to every time she sees it, and I’d bet I’ve taken enough fur off her to make a child’s sweater. I should have been saving it, just to practice spinning, ya know?