NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

There was no yarn in the sink when I took the picture above.

My yarn bled. Like a stuck pig. *sigh*

I saw what happened as I was finishing up my last entry, where I mentioned that I was worried about felting. Bleeding didn't even occur to me.

According to this Ravelry thread I'm not the only one who's had problems with this roving in the "Mermaid" colorway. I wonder if the company knows. (I'm not sure who's responsible for the dying process, Louet or SWTC.) I know this is not the first time a yarn or fiber that's been commercially dyed has had problems with bleeding. But I think it's important that the manufacturer knows so they can fix it. I know Schaefer Yarn and Brown Sheep have taken steps to fix bleeding yarns in the past. I hope the company knows so they can make changes. I may send an e-mail later.

I know hot water is the way to go with bleeding yarn, so it's probably good I didn't go with lukewarm. I did add a couple of splashes of vinegar to set the dye after I saw what happened, but I was impatient and antsy, so I didn't leave it there too long.

After splattering indigo water all over the bathroom sink. I did take it outside to "swing the dead cat." I got into spinning out some of the excess water. In fact, I got a little overzealous and started whacking it against the fence around "porch." (Anyone who's been to my apartment knows why I put porch in quotation marks. The only thing that makes it a porch is the fence around it.) Of course, some walked by at the exact moment I was whacking. I went back to swinging the yarn around. I thought swinging somehow made the whacking seem less insane by comparison, or at least put the whacking in context. (As is the woman walking by could even see that it was yarn. It was after dark.)

After spinning and whacking, I put the yarn on a hanger in my bathroom and tied on a coffee mug with some spare embroidery floss. I'm letting it sit there overnight, creating a purple splotch on the edge of my bathtub. I'm not worried since the sink cleaned up pretty well with some Clorox Wipes. (Actually, it was the store brand equivalent, but you get the picture.)

As you can see, my yarn certainly isn't ruined. When I first saw the indigo water I was worried the color changes would be lost, and I'd be left with a murky mess. The yarn is much lighter and more muted than before, but it still looks nice. However, I'm still a little disappointed because I really loved the deep, rich colors.

And the good news is that it seems like the whole twist setting went ok. Maybe it's my imagination, but the twist does look more even than before.

And the yarn didn't felt.