Coffee & curry

What shall I say... After 15 days without internet (due to the fact that the telephone company connected our line to a distribution box that was out of function. Nice one!) here's the next blow. This time, the HUGE and scary escavator bit the cable in parts. (And I'm sure you don't want to know that the same happened to the water pipes, yes, the sewage as well. Trust me, you don't want to know!) It's a comfort, to be able to handle things like personal hygiene and blogging somewhere else.
By now, the trench is that deep and wide that I literally have to climb over the fence to the neighbour's garden to be able to reach the street again. Kind of thrilling, both in a rural-archaic way and in the attempt to bring home two huge filled bags from the spermarket.

I feel like in this Asterix comic (Asterix and the Great Divide). You know, the one where the village is seperated by a trench and in the end they fill it with water and everbody lives happily ever after (except Troubadix, of course). I should work on re-uniting with the neighbours across the street by taking some showers and doing loads of laundry.

But I think, you are already as tired of the constructions as I am.
Let's see yarn! Or even better, let's see some pictures about having fun with yarn.
Last weekend, when I fooled myself into believing that I had plenty of time for idle yarn experiments, and I signed up for DYE-O-RAMA yarn swap. Having never ever dyed a thing, I registered at the WTF am I doing here group.

Friday night, before 10 p.m. and confronted with this sight, I decided it is time to enhance my level of experience.
What is a girl to do when the shops are closed and the next Kool-Aid stockist is a 5 hours flight away?
Look around in your kitchen. Sigga Sif dyed a fantastic latte-coloured yarn the other day - with coffee! I ventured on self-striping yarn (performing some meticulous measurements according to this post) . Due to the fact that I had only some leftovers of white Lanett superwash and being honest, because I was too lazy to unwind a whole skein, this will only be a dye swatch.
And well, 'stripes' demand for another colour. What fits to coffee and probably Project Spectrum's colours for April and happens to linger in my kitchen Friday night? Curry!

To make a long and exciting process short:
I added vinegar to both 'dye' liquids, and the yarn of course (Dry. Not so good. Note to myself, to soak it next time before)

And off they go into the microwave.






I zapped for a few minutes, peeked into the cups, zapped the microwave for some minutes more and decided....

...it was done! - Cooling down now

Okay, after pouring the water out, it didn't look like so much fun anymore! Curry is kind of not recommendable as a natural dye. At least from an aesthetical point of view.







Next we have a piece of evidence of the drying process, and the snow, and a close-up of the colour result.

And...

Isn't this the cutest little hank of yarn?









And this the cutest little centre-pull ball?








Unfortunately, I haven't been able to knit the yarn yet to see if the stripes appear as planned. The needles are are occupied with two SockapalOOOza socks in their final rows (and many other projects, I admit) And then, besides all the excitement and pride of having dyed my first wool I am not soo excited to see the outcome. I have measured the yarn, dyed it in portions: it will just be striped in the colours I see. Nothing magical from here on ;-)
It was so much fun however.
For the dye-o-rama, I'm thinking about using up all the bad stain causing ingredients I have here in the house. Who needs Kool-Aid if you've got ink, curry, red wine, saffron, carrot juice, coffee, tea. No, I'm kidding. I might even try my hands on acid dye. But that's a decision that can well be postponed for some while. Dyeing rocks!