Naturally dyeing yarn, after the class

Last night I barely caught the bus to get to the Urban Craft Center out in Santa Monica. I was already cutting it close, but there were just a few things I "had" to finish up - like actually looking up how to get there. I ran down the stairs, walked briskly to the corner and realized I didn't bother to lookup which direction the bus would be going, and hence I had no idea which corner I was supposed to be on. I saw the triangular Big Blue Bus sign for the Santa Monica buses for the side of the street I was on. As I wondered if that was the right stop, I saw a big blue bus across the street going in the other direction. Years of riding public transportation cause my eyes to snap to the display at the top of the front of the bus...."10 Santa Monica...3rd street..." Lucky for me, as the bus was stopped the light changed and I could cross the street. I swear I left work with at least a few minutes to spare. The bus must have been early.

I really think it was early, because by the time I got off at my stop in Santa Monica it was only 5:33pm, when it was supposed to be at least 5:40pm. A quick look around and I found the next bus stop I was supposed to wait at for the #5 bus that goes down Olympic. I got off at Stewart, and proceeded to wander around looking for this Urban Craft Center place. I thought it was going to be its own building and would have a big sign making it easy to find. Haven't I learned enough times not to make assumptions? Murphy's Law.

In any case, the area was very interesting. Apparently the UCC is in a complex called the Santa Monica Studios. Every door was a different sort of cool indie-type company. There were recording studios, dance studios, art studios/galleries, acting studios, graphics companies, leatherworkers...all manner of just totally cool stuff. Unfortunately I was also pretty lost. I had to call Lawrence to ask him to look on the UCC website for the map. He got frustrated with me while I tried to reconcile my immediate surroundings with his description of relative layout of the building, the Pit, the Cafe, and the parking lots. Eventually, I figured out where the UCC was supposed to be and made it there in time. The artsy community residing in this industrial location reminded me of Berkeley's 4th street, another industrial area full of warehouses turned artsy.

I've never been to a craft class before so I didn't have an idea of what to expect. There were only 2 of us there for the class, and although it would have been nice to see them more active, I liked the intimacy and access you get by having a 2:1 student to teacher ratio. It was a nice spacious studio, with high ceilings and a sort of loft area where they had a library and some reading tables. The ground level was spacious but there were supplies and tools for all sorts of crafty ventures scattered around the edges of the room as well as nicely tucked away in tall cabinets. They even had some nice comfy upholstered chairs (of the type perfect for knitting/crocheting in).

Since this was a natural dyeing class, we used cochineal (an insect) for purpley red color, onion skins for an orangey color, dahlia flowers for yellow, and a plant called madder for brown. The cochineal and bark had to be ground into powder before being used. All the dye materials were boiled in water. We then put in hanks of Knitpick's Bare yarn that had been treated with mordant and soaked in water. Note: the water used in the boiling must be distilled water, or you may get unexpected color variations from the metals and minerals in the water. After the yarn has boiled long enough in the dye water to give you the color you want, you let it cool off. Then, you rinse out the yarn. You need to get out as much excess dye as you can or else the texture of the yarn when it dries will be off. That means rinsing the yarn until the water runs [nearly] clear. Let the yarn hang on a rack to dry, and you're done! We took our yarn home in ziplock baggies, to finish drying at home. Since I didn't have a drying rack, I rigged something up using 2 barstools , 2 brooms, and 2 rolls of toilet paper.

I really want to go home and play with my yarn! :) I will also probably give in and buy the swift & winder from Joann's. I found a 50% off coupon, but the sucky thing is it's 50% off the regular price. Also, you can only use 1 promotion code per order so I can't add in the free shipping coupon.