d'oh!mestic

For Christmas, my mother gave me a starter set of Ashford dyes and two of everything in the Knit Picks Bare line. I gave her a Lantern Moon project bag filled with yarn hand picked by the Capt’n. The Capt’n's particular to merino and cashmere, if that sheds any light on the contents of her Christmas haul.

The day after Christmas, the Capt’n and I hit the sales hard. In short order, I acquired:

• a tarp
• a box of nitrate gloves
• a face shield
• sponge brushes
• measuring spoons
• an enamel pot
• zebra striped dish gloves
• a bucket
• and my own 3M Respirator.

Out of all of the purchases, the respirator’s been the most exciting. My dude friends have become serious when discussing the dye business, because yo, girl’s got a respirator; she’s not playing. OK, maybe a respirator’s a touch overzealous when just a dust mask would do, but in my life, I’ve learned you don’t turn down an opportunity to buy a cool piece of equipment. I mean, dude. A respirator.

And then, as we all must eventually do, I dyed.

I’ve run three skeins through the kettle. The first was a gorgeous shade of red. The second was not so gorgeous. And the third, the one above? Perfection.