Adventures in Hand-Dyeing Yarn

I had this mystery cone of yarn that was acquired on a road trip with friends of mine.  She had it in the back seat of her car and wasn't sure she would ever use it, so I gladly gave it a home in my stash... that was last year.  I washed it to remove the machine oils and made a few swatches of it singled/doubled...

 

Then, another knitting friend decided to bestow upon me some dye that she wasn't interested in anymore.  I ended up with two little bottles of Ashford dye.  I've always wanted to try it, and after seeing some of the wonderful results people got with simply Kool-Aid, my imagination went wild over the potential in these two little bottles of professional dyes in teal and scarlet.  I love blue, so I began my experiment with the teal.. 

Yarn was first wound into hanks, then tied with extra yarn in a few places.  Then it was washed and soaked for a day.  Next day, I heated the water to a low boil and added the dye/vinegar mix to the water stirring constantly.  Then the yarn was added and the dye was quickly absorbed by the yarn.  After cooling and rinsing, the yarn was dried on old hangers, clamps, etc. over a pot and tarp to catch the drips.

One cone of mystery lace-weight yarn, vinegar, dye, and old pot, stinky kitchen, and drying and winding... here's what I got:

I cannot wait to knit it up. This color has made me so happy!!  Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!