#139 Dye Yarn & Take Your Project to the Next Level

Are you looking for a way to take your projects to the next level?

Try dying your own yarn! In this episode you'll hear from Ashley, talented dyer and maker behind Montana Crochet. Her passion for dying yarn really shines as she shares some tips for getting started and for achieving some really great looking coloration.

Ashley is also very passionate about her maker business and the community as a whole. We wrap up this episode chatting a bit about where you can find inspiration for yarn dying experiments and tips for standing out.

About The BHooked Podcast
Brittany's primary goal is to inspire you and help you grow in your craft with The BHooked Podcast. Through her own stories and the stories of each special guest, you'll discover tips and tricks to improve your crochet and knitting skills and find inspiration to achieve your hobby goals. When you want to kick back and learn from yarn industry experts, grab some yarn and turn on The BHooked Podcast. There's never a shortage of all things crochet, knitting or yarn.

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Transcript

Brittany 0:00

You're listening to the Be Hooked Podcast, episode 139, with Brittany. Well, hey there. Welcome to episode 139 of the Be Oaked podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. I have a real special treat again for you this week. I am always so excited about the people in the community that I'm able to share with you here on the podcast, and this one is no exception. I have been looking forward to talking to her for a couple of weeks now and share some of her wisdom with you about dyeing yarn. We've talked about yarn dyeing a couple times before and I know it's something that really piques your interest as a crocheter and a knitter. I know for me it's always really interesting to see how that comes about and how you can apply your skills as an artist and your creativity to taking your projects one step further. I know for me, crochet is so important to me because of the process. I actually like the process almost more than the finished project sometimes, although I really do enjoy gifting and seeing people's faces when I'm able to do that. And of course, wearing the things that I make definitely makes me feel proud, but I really, really love the process of creating the thing. I've been a little more interested in dyeing yarn in the past couple of months, and it really started here on the podcast because I invited a guest on the show to talk about dyeing yarn, but this episode really takes it to the next level. I wanted to get some ideas and some tips from Ashley about dyeing yarn for the first time because I know you may not have ever dyed yarn before, so I wanted to keep it relevant for you in that sense, but if you heard that first episode about dyeing yarn You gave it a try. Ashley gave us a lot of really good next level tips. So that's what you can look forward to hearing today. I have Ashley from Montana Crochet. She's got some beautiful yarn in her shop. I would definitely encourage you to check out her Instagram page so that you can see this in action so you can sort of put an image to what you're going to hear. She talks about some of the colorways and how those colorways come about. It's super interesting. I know I'm really excited to get my dye pot out again and try a couple more hanks of yarn. And I hope that we can inspire you to do the same. So before we get started, there are a couple of different resources that Ashley mentioned in terms of where you can get some yarn and where you can get some dye in order to try out some of the things that she talks about. I will have that linked in the show notes page. I will also have all of Ashley's information there so you can connect with her after hearing the episode if you want to. And the show notes for this episode are located at behooked.com slash 139. All right, here we go. Here's Ashley from Montana Crochet. Well, Ashley, welcome to the Be Yolked podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here. It is an absolute pleasure. I have been an admirer of your Instagram account for so, so long, and I'm just so excited to finally have you on the show to tap into some of your wisdom. I mean, you do a lot of things, so I know you sort of have a lot of things going on and things that you're really great at, and I'm just pumped to be able to share that with the audience today.

Ashley 3:57

Oh

Brittany 3:57

my gosh. Well, thank you so much. Those are such big compliments coming from you. Seriously. Well, I mean, I mean it every single word of it. Your Instagram account is beautiful. I mean, it's, it's a very inspirational place for somebody to go if they're looking for inspiration, which is really wonderful. I know that's a really big perk to Instagram as a community, but you're also doing things like designing. So you've got a talk about because I actually the last time I had somebody on the show about dyeing yarn I hadn't tried it for myself aside from like a really bad Kool-Aid experiment gone completely wrong but I would I can't remember exactly when it was I think it was about a month ago I dyed yarn for the first time and it was so much fun that I have to get back to it so I'm gonna I'm gonna be a little bit selfish and and probably ask some questions about dyeing yarn to help me and certainly help the people in the audience as well.

Ashley 5:02

Well, absolutely. Fire away. I love to talk about dyeing and the science behind it and my process and what I use. I'm so excited that you've tried it. I swear, anybody who gives it a go, they just can't keep themselves away from it. It is just so much fun. It really is. It is.

Brittany 5:21

It is. I spent an entire day completely devoted to it, and I was really sad when everything was finished, mostly because I didn't have another, like, wool skein of yarn that was a natural color that I could dye again. So I had to put everything away, and I just need to get more fiber. I do have the dye. I just need to make it happen.

Ashley 5:45

Well, I think you need to definitely be doing some shopping. A little pre-Christmas shopping and maybe getting yourself some bear yarn to play around with for sure.

Brittany 5:56

Yeah. Now that might actually be a good place to start, but I'm going to put a little bookmark there for a second because I want to give people a chance to get to know you a little bit better. Like I said, I've been sort of Insta-stalking you for a while, but for somebody who hasn't heard of you yet, tell us a little bit about you and where they can find your beautiful work on Instagram and how you got into this whole world of fiber arts.

Ashley 6:19

Well, you can check me out on Instagram. My handle is Montana.crochet. I really kind of got into this. Well, the very first time that I started dyeing or that I tried dyeing was July of 2018. So just a little over a year ago, really. I'll never forget that first time. I think I had about 20 skeins to play with. And I think I ended up liking only one of them. Oh, yeah? Well, because it's just, you know, you're experimenting and you really kind of don't know what you're doing when you're first, you know, trying to give it a go. And everything that I kind of learned had been just from scouring YouTube and, you know, seeing what other people were using and their techniques. And so I really just kind of started playing. And then from there, I honed in on... really like my inspiration and what colors I was drawn to. And at that point, it just, it kind of exploded. And I realized how much of a passion I had for it and how much I really loved dyeing. And I just can't imagine doing anything else.

Brittany 7:35

Yeah. So did you start dyeing first or did you know how to crochet beforehand?

Ashley 7:42

Oh, I've been crocheting since I was nine. My grandma taught me, you know, one weekend when we were staying with grandma and grandpa, and she gave me my first ever crochet hook, which I still have. It's just this, it's a little treasure of mine. It's an H hook, a little boy hook. And yeah, I've been crocheting, you know, probably there is... about a six or seven year period, just kind of growing up and into high school where I didn't do much of it. But after I graduated high school, I've really just been crocheting solid ever since then.

Brittany 8:16

Super cool. What is your favorite thing to crochet? I know you do like a lot of different things, but I feel like we all sort of have our go-to project. If you had to put your finger on like one project, what would be like the thing you would go to when you want to relax and just sort of zone out?

Ashley 8:34

Oh my gosh. Um, you know, I'm, I'm a total shawl addict right now. I don't even know how many shawls I've crocheted in the last like year and a half, but when I just want to like, when I really want to chill and like zone out, it's making Afghans and blankets and throws. There's just something really like, you know, like those repetitive stitches that, you know, you can just put on the Netflix and chill and And yeah, there's just something about blankets. Plus, I mean, they make great gifts, you know, for like, you know, people getting married or people having babies. I mean, I've made more blankets for more family members. And that's like the one thing I get requests from my kids. Mom, when are you going to make me another blanket?

Brittany 9:23

Yeah, that's true. You know, now that I think about it, that's the thing that a lot of people request of me. too I wonder if it's just like the thing that people associate with homey cozy like the all the the nice things that people love about crochet and knit stuff as well who yeah who like don't necessarily do it but they want to have that and what you see on tv all the time I don't know how many times I have like pointed out to my husband look at that afghan like thrown over the back of the couch just in this tv show

Ashley 9:58

Well, yeah, I think that's that it's probably the most prevalent part of like crochet or knit culture that people see on a regular basis. You know what I mean? Is seeing that crocheted Afghan or knit, you know, knit blanket or whatever it is.

Brittany 10:13

Yeah. So how many of those do you think that you've made? Oh, my gosh. Probably a lot of years there, right? I'm generally good for one to two per year. Any more than that is just, it's a little rough.

Ashley 10:29

Well, yeah, because they're such big projects. You know, I've honestly, over the years, I bet you I've made at least 50. Wow, yeah. At least. I mean, I just think of all like just the babies being born in like the last 10 years. I've made, you know, more baby blankets, but then like graduations and weddings and things like that too. I mean, definitely, I'd have to say at least 50.

Brittany 10:54

Yeah.

Ashley 10:55

That's impressive.

Brittany 10:57

That's a lot of blankets to make.

Ashley 10:59

Right. What about you? How many, how many you think you've made then?

Brittany 11:04

Oh gosh. If I had to put my finger on it, I would say, and we're including baby blankets in this too. Oh gosh. I would say probably at least 30. Right. I mean, it's a lot. It is a lot. Yeah, because I'm thinking of all of those that I have gifted and the patterns that I have created. I still have a lot of those. We have several in our house too. That's the one thing my husband is always like requesting I make. Can you make a really, really soft afghan, like a really soft blanket that we can throw over the back of the couch? So we have several of them. He's really like keen on that. on like furry yarns or the bellocks or you know that sort of stuff which is fun it's I really love making blankets out of that kind of stuff

Ashley 11:55

oh yeah just that cozy like you just can't get enough of it

Brittany 11:59

oh for sure love cuddling under that so anyways bringing it into today um When did Montana Crochet come about? I'm guessing it didn't start right away, but you sort of led into it, and now you have a business that you're working full-time on. I think that's really cool. I would love to hear just a tiny bit of that story.

Ashley 12:19

You know, I guess what kind of happened is I was so nervous about you know, putting, putting my own hand dyed yarn into my Instagram feed for the first time. I just, cause I, I didn't know what other people were going to think. Um, but it was, I want to say late August or early September when I posted I guess I showed off my first hand dyed skeins and, and people, people really were just so receptive to it. Like, Oh my gosh, you did that. It's beautiful. And I, and I decided, well, you know, like, Hey, I, I've, I bought Montana crochet.com, um, months before just thinking, well, who knows? I don't know what I'm going to do with this, but I wanted to at least kind of put it out there to the universe that maybe Montana crochet could become a thing at the time but I didn't know what that looked like so so then late August early September is when I had my first technical like shop update and I sold out in like two hours and wow I I couldn't believe it and at the time I think I only had just over like a thousand followers and I just thought that was the most amazing thing I'm like oh my gosh these people like like what I do And I couldn't believe it. It was just so magical to me. And then the whole process of, you know, just dyeing the yarn, you know, hanking it up, labeling it, packaging it, you know, the whole process, I love every little bit of it. I honestly do.

Brittany 14:02

Well, that's really cool. So how often do you think you're doing shop updates now?

Ashley 14:07

You know, honestly, it's been once a month is kind of, is where I like to sit at. Sometimes, like in November, I'll have two just because it's a really busy month. But yeah, for the most part, I just try and keep it at once a month. That's about enough for me. I'm kind of maxed out at that point.

Brittany 14:28

Yeah, well, it seems like, well, I mean, I sort of have a tiny, tiny bit of experience with the process and how long it takes, but I can't even imagine doing that twice to the magnitude that you are where you're creating stock. So you're creating more than one of every color and you're doing multiple hangs at once. If you had to guess, what do you say is kind of like what you can do in a batch? Are we looking at like, I don't know, five or six hangs or like 50 hangs? Well,

Ashley 14:59

when I'm dyeing for an update, I try to dye anywhere between 100 and 120 a day. Oh,

Brittany 15:06

wow.

Ashley 15:08

That that's about any, any more than that. And it, and I'm, and I'm dying for like 16 hours straight. So, you know, it's, it's kind of good because, because I'm a small batch dyer and I'm not dying 10 skeins at a time in a pot. I typically it's anywhere between two and maybe four at the max. That's why my process takes so much longer is because I only die two to maybe four at a time.

Brittany 15:35

Gotcha. Okay. And I think that really shows through in your product because you have some really gorgeous, unique items. I can scroll through Instagram. I can see a project that's being crocheted with your yarn, not know that it's you posting it and know exactly who that is because your yarn, to me, it just, it feels signature. It just has a look to it that says Ashley.

Ashley 16:00

Well, thank you. You know, a lot of, a lot of my yarns too, which it kind of blows people's minds when I tell them about it. A lot of them are over dyed. And what that means is that it's, it's not just being dyed once. Sometimes there's certain skeins or colorways like Nebula, for instance, it's a really popular colorway that gets dyed anywhere between three and four separate times. So if I have to dye 10 Nebula, technically it's it feels like 30 or 40, but in order to get certain depth to certain colorways and make sure that the color saturation goes all the way through, um, the yarn, whatever base that is, sometimes it does require being dyed three or four different times.

Brittany 16:49

Okay. Now is that for the colorways that are like more tonal where you have the same, um, You're using the same color, but it looks different like shades? Or is it more like the multicolored hanks that we've seen from you?

Ashley 17:06

It's more the multicolored ones. Some of my multicolored ones have anywhere between four and six different colors that I dye with in the pot. But depending on the weight of the yarn... it's going to take a few different tries to make sure that it gets, that every single color gets saturated into the entire scheme. So like the more, more tonal yarns, those, those only get dyed once and you know, it just, it comes out how it comes out and I love it. And those are quick and those are easy. It's the ones that, that have a lot of extra effort in them that can be tiring sometimes, but they're gorgeous. And they crochet and knit up just, oh, I can't get enough of it.

Brittany 17:55

Yeah. And since we're over audio here, let's try to put a picture in the audience's mind here. When we're talking about these multicolors, would you say that they're more like striped or ombre or more like variegated, spotty, if you will?

Ashley 18:11

I would say they're more variegated, but what's really unique about some of them is the way that they fade into the next color. So if it's something like, let's take larkspur, for example. Larkspur is named after, it's this beautiful, beautiful, deep purple flower that blooms in the mountains near my cabin. And It's very blue and it's very purple, but it's not just blue and purple. So when you're crocheting or you're knitting with it, you're fading from the blue into the purple as you use it. There's not just this clear cut like shift and change in the color as you use it. I don't know, I mean, if that's a good way of describing it or not.

Brittany 19:01

Yeah, yeah, I think it is. Now, my mind here is going in the direction of how on earth do you do that? The yarn... dyeing experiment that I did was just a single color. I put it in a single dye pot, but I know that hand painting exists. I know a little bit about that. Is that more the technique you're using for these or are you dyeing sections in a pot or how does that work?

Ashley 19:26

Yeah, it depends on the colorway, but really I do everything in the pot. And it all depends on how much water you have. There's certain ways of dyeing where you have like a low water table or you have a high water table. So a lot of these, they're being dyed with a low water table so that I can control, you know, in sections in the pot, how the color takes. Does that make sense? So I'll take something like Larkspur, which actually uses three different colors, and I place them in three different areas in the pot. And then I use like a stainless steel spoon, you know, in order to kind of press the yarn down into the dye and let the dye kind of come together and create its own, it's like new color. Oh my

Brittany 20:15

gosh, it's so hard to describe. Yeah. So are there multiple different colors in the pot at the same time and they're just not okay see that makes that makes sense so the the different dyes are in the same pot but they're just not mixed together

Ashley 20:32

They will mix together, but that's where I control that by using like a spoon to say, okay, well, I want to see what happens when these ones come together. Ah, okay. But you want to make sure that you're using, that's where like color theory, knowledge of color theory really comes in. Because, you know, if you use a red and a blue together, when those two colors come together in the same pot, they're going to create a purple. You know what I mean? So you want to be careful about which colors you're putting in the pot at the same time. But that's what's so cool about it is the science behind it and seeing those colors shift and change, you know.

Brittany 21:13

Yeah. So you can get really, really detailed with this. But I'm going to venture to guess that most of the people listening have either died maybe once or two just for fun or they haven't tried it at all before. So let's help that person out. I know you have a lot of experience with dyeing, like, obviously some very intricate hanks of yarn, but also some really basic and simple. So let's sort of break it into steps of what somebody would need to do. We'll kind of go back to that bookmark because I think the first thing you need is you have to have some yarn to dye. So a lot of people, I would say, may not – go to an online store and order a bunch of premium animal fiber yarn to dye with for an experiment. Do you think it's reasonable or okay to just walk into your yarn store, find something that is wool in a light color and use that? Or what would your recommendation be as far as finding a couple of hanks to play around with?

Ashley 22:19

Oh my gosh. I'm, I'm totally, I would totally say yes to that. Go to your, you know, whether it's Michael's, Joanne's, Hobby Lobby, find something that, you know, the, the more wool, the better and pick it up and give it a go. Definitely. The first place that I went to, and it, you know, I didn't go to my local yarn store. I went to Knit Picks and they have an amazing selection of bare wools. And what's really, really nice is they're very reasonably priced and you can buy it by just one or two skeins at a time you know so it's not this massive investment I mean you know you don't have to buy 10 20 40 at a time I mean when you're when you're just wanting to play around and try it out you know a lot of people just can't afford to do that I mean I know I couldn't you know

Brittany 23:11

And for an experiment, you probably wouldn't want to invest. I know I wouldn't. If I'm just trying to figure something out just to say that I've done it or maybe see if I want to do more of it, I'm probably going to take the easier, less expensive route.

Ashley 23:25

Oh, of course.

Brittany 23:26

But that's good to know about... Yeah, I've heard that before, that they're a great resource. So I will have that included in the show notes. So if you do want to try that and you do want to grab just maybe one or two. Now they are online, so that would be an order that you'd have to put in. I haven't personally ordered from them before. Do you know if they have a pretty quick turnaround as far as shipping?

Ashley 23:51

Oh my goodness, yes. I believe it's two days is typically. Yeah, I mean, they have it right out the door. So I mean, if you're really hankering to give it a try, Knit Picks is definitely a great resource and place to go.

Brittany 24:06

Okay, perfect. Now, before you said the more wool, the better, does that mean that you could potentially, or let's say somebody has in their stash, like I'm thinking an 80-20 blend, will that take up the dye? I know acrylic is always a little bit weird and finicky from a bad past experience. So can you actually dye an 80-20 blend and it work out and it not bleed off all over your hands?

Ashley 24:31

Yes. So the 80% is wool, correct?

Brittany 24:35

Yes.

Ashley 24:36

Okay, so the wool is what's going to take the dye. The acrylic will not take it at all, zero. So yes, it'll definitely work. However, it will be different if you had done the same exact color on 100% wool. So it'll come out just a little bit different.

Brittany 25:02

Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I'm thinking maybe lighter and it might be easier to spot the wool versus the acrylic.

Ashley 25:11

Yeah, it'd actually kind of be interesting. Like now that I'm thinking about it, I'm like, huh, I wonder how that would work out.

Brittany 25:17

Yeah, well, we might have to give that a try just to see what happens. I do have some dye here. But is there a fiber that's good for beginners or like a wool that you would recommend or is it kind of all pretty much the same?

Ashley 25:32

Honestly, 100% superwash merino is definitely my, it's my absolute favorite. You know, you can get Highland wools, I know, but they just tend, they're not, they're not as soft. I mean, I know that, I know that they're really good for like knitting sweaters and things like that. But personally, you know, I really want something soft against my skin. So that's where, that's where I go with the 100% superwash merino.

Brittany 26:01

Gotcha. I'm 100% with you on that one. I can do a sweater, like a less soft sweater if I knew I'm going to have the long sleeve shirt on underneath it. But I am a little bit of an itch-a-phobe for sure. Oh,

Ashley 26:13

I know. And gosh, you know, you spend so much time creating something and you want to make sure that you love it.

Brittany 26:20

Yes, definitely. And I think that's what's so great about this process, because think about how wonderful it is to create project a crochet thing like from a little ball of yarn or multiple balls of yarn into something that you can wear or that you can drape over you to keep you warm on the couch that process is I think what so many of us are drawn to but this takes it to the next level when you hand select your yarn when you hand dye your yarn and then create it into a thing I just feel like that's so much more than than just the project itself

Ashley 26:58

Well, it's a totally different immersion into it. You know, just that creative process of, you know, we're all makers and we love, we absolutely love to crochet. We love to knit, but, you know, to, to take it to that next level, it, It is really, really magical. There's nothing like it when you've been through that entire process from beginning to end when it's drying and then you're getting it all caked up and then you're creating this beautiful piece with it. It is really something special.

Brittany 27:30

Yeah, for sure. Now let's talk a little bit about dyes because that's probably the next thing that you'll need. Okay. Do you have a recommendation for where to get a hold of dyes? Maybe what is easier to work with that might be good for somebody who's just starting out?

Ashley 27:48

You know, it depends on whether or not you want to... work with natural dyes or whether you're up for trying acid dyes. I mean, they're totally different worlds and you need entirely different supplies, whether or not you're going to be doing natural dyeing or acid dyeing. So I use acid dyes and I go to DharmaTrading.com to get mine. I use Dharma acid dyes almost exclusively. They're amazing. The saturation that they give is just out of this world. They're shipping, they're, they're entire company. They've just been absolutely wonderful. So Dharma Trading is where I would go for acid dyes. And they do have a really, really great selection of natural dyes as well. I just haven't really gone that route myself.

Brittany 28:37

Yeah. Okay. So the acid dyes, I'm sitting here thinking and knowing what I know from this first tank that I dyed recently, I know you have to have a mordant, which is really just like an acid. Right. You can use vinegar. There are a couple of other things. When you use an acid dye, does that take the place of a mordant? So it kind of makes you have one less supply you need? Or do you still have to have

Ashley 29:01

that? No, absolutely. I feel like I should just invest in citric acid stock for how much I buy. I use citric acid. And what that does is... when you're getting ready to dye yarn, you need to soak it. So that's the first step above anything else. You need to soak your yarn in, like you're saying, your mordant. So especially people who use natural dyes, they like to use vinegar. And people who are using acid dyes, they use what is, it's just food grade citric acid. You find it all over in our foods. So it's completely safe. And what that does is it allows the fiber to open up and accept the dye. And the longer that you soak your yarn, the better. I mean, I'm even thinking right now, I've got a few tubs right now where yarn has been soaking for over a week at least. Oh, wow, really? Yeah, and citric acid, something that people don't necessarily know about it is that it's like a softener. So you take something like superwash merino wool, which is already soft in its own nature. And then the longer that you give it in that citric acid, the softer it becomes. It is just, it's magic, absolute magic. So citric acid is where I'm at in regards to the mordant, definitely.

Brittany 30:30

Okay, all right. Well, that's a good little tip there. I know with this kit that I was using, there was a lot less soaking and so not having done it before that's really interesting to know that you can soak it for a long like a really long time and the longer the better I'm wondering if that's why I mean I'm sure it's part of the reason why your yarn is so vibrant and so pretty yeah

Ashley 30:57

I mean and and I've I've tried to where I'm like oh my gosh you know I'm kind of I'm in a rush. I need to get these skeins soaking, but I only have an hour to let them soak. There is a clear difference between just giving, you know, yarn an hour to soak in comparison to a day in comparison to three plus days. And I've just learned the longer, the better. And the more time that I can give and plan in advance, I think the better that it turns out and the less work that I need to put into it because that yarn is just, it is ready for that color. It's like, ooh, give it to me. Yes.

Brittany 31:35

Yeah. Now, are there any cautions that you have to go through with soaking the wool that long? Because I know wool is really finicky. It doesn't like to be really... you know, stirred or squeezed or anything like that. Is there any precautionary tips that you might have with handling it and soaking it that long?

Ashley 31:56

Honestly, I haven't had any issues with it like at all. I do know once it gets soaked in a tub, I don't mess with it. I don't touch it. Also a really, really good tip is to, when you get your bear yarn, put a zip tie on it So that when you grab it out of, you know, whether you're soaking it in a tub or in a bin or in a bucket or whatever, it's not going to get tangled. Because I mean, oh my gosh, I tell you what, you do not want wet wool tangled up in a bunch of, you know, like 30 or 40. So I always make sure to zip tie mine that way when I pull it out of the water, I'm just grabbing it by the zip tie and I'm not messing with that skein. You know what I mean?

Brittany 32:40

Yeah. Yeah. So are you, soaking and dyeing, I'm guessing, in a big long loop. Like if you were to take a hank and unwind it, you're left with a really long loop. Is that how you're soaking it and dyeing it or do you do something different?

Ashley 32:57

Nope, that's exactly what I'm doing. So once you unwind a hank and you've got your one big loop, that's when I attach the zip tie and that's how I soak it and that's how I dye it. And yeah, it stays, that zip tie stays on until after it's dry.

Brittany 33:11

Okay. And just to clarify for somebody listening, if you do end up buying some yarn that's already in a skein or a cake or something like that, it really is a good practice, right? To get it in this state where you have it in one big long loop. Do you have any tips for doing that for somebody who doesn't have a yarn swift? You know, before I had a swift...

Ashley 33:34

I use the back of a chair honestly I do too it's I I think it's like the best trick because otherwise I just don't know how you do it you'd have this oh my gosh it would just be a nightmare and I and I do have to tell you before I figured out the back of the chair trick there was a point in time when I had when I had an anchor yarn you know that it was hand dyed and I was like oh my gosh this is just so special and I spent you know like four hours trying it was just trailing all over my I'm like, oh my gosh, how do I do this? So yeah, the back of the chair trick.

Brittany 34:10

Yeah, the first time I bought a hank of yarn from a local yarn shop, it was really, really early in the game. And I had no clue of how that hank actually became a hank or what it looks like when you undid it. So I get this hank of yarn home. It was actually for my birthday. I went there on my birthday and I bought some Malabrigo. I think it was, gosh, I don't remember the name of it. But anyways, it was so gorgeous and I wanted to make a hat out of it so bad. I get it home. And I undo it and I'm like, what, what do I do here? I had no idea. So I had this big loop sort of set out on the table and I'm thinking, okay, I don't have a ball winder or anything like that because I was so new to it. I didn't even know that existed really. And so I'm just rolling it in a little ball, like on my fingers and in my hands and just like walking around this table, trying to wind it into a ball. And by the time I finally had it, It didn't really get tangled, but it wants to sort of stick together a little bit. So it kind of did get a little messy. By the time I was done with it, I was like, I'm exhausted. I don't feel like crocheting anymore. It was not fun. So yarn swifts, although it is an extra purchase and a yarn ball winder, cause you kind of have to use the two of them together are a good investment. But if you can't make that investment, ask the people at the yarn store to put it in a cake for you, because I didn't know that, but they will do that for you.

Ashley 35:46

Oh, they will. And they have no problem, you know, doing so. So, and really, Really, honestly, your local yarn store, even if it's something that you hand dye yourself and you still don't have a swift and a winder, head down there and ask, hey, I just hand dyed this for the first time. Can I use your winder? They are more than happy to help. you know, I'm sure of it.

Brittany 36:13

Yeah, that's a good tip too. Now I'm thinking here, I'm just trying to think about the process here. So we have, we have the yarn, we've talked about dyes a little bit. We've talked about some of the process. Is there anything else that somebody would need to know to get into this? Especially when it comes

Ashley 36:31

to using acid dyes, it's very important when you use acid dyes that you're using stainless steel because So you're using a stainless steel pot or a stainless steel restaurant pan, stainless steel spoons, stainless steel measuring utensils, and that the surface that you're working on is non-porous, which means that it's going to repel that acid dye should any of the dyes spill onto your work surface. Acid dyes, they're not exactly... safe to work with, shall I say. You know, you want to make sure that you're wearing a mask so that you're not inhaling any of the dyes into your lungs. But it is just, it's so important. I know I've seen before where people will try and dye for the first time and they're doing it in their crock pot. And it's like, okay, well, hold on. That's a really great idea. Just make sure that you're not ever going to like make chili in it again. Yeah. You know, so they're not, you just have to be very, very hyper aware of your surface and what the acid dyes do touch.

Brittany 37:40

Yeah. I've heard that's a good practice for any type of dyeing or any type of dye that you might buy. Just have a dedicated set of supplies, like maybe go to the dollar store and buy a stainless steel pot and just stainless steel spoon and that sort of thing. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Okay. So somebody getting into this might be thinking, there's a few things that I will need to have. So it has to be pretty well worth it. And I think if anybody wants to try it for the first time, they would feel like they want to do it. So it wouldn't be as much of a risk, we'll say, to invest in a little bit of these things. And I think you can probably attest to this that When you do it once, you want to do it again. So it's probably likely that it will be a good investment and that you will use these things again. I know that was certainly the case for me. I was a little hesitant to get rid of it. I had an extra stainless steel pot. I had a stainless steel spoon. And I was still using that in the kitchen. But I thought, well, I guess I can go ahead instead of going out and buying something new, like just for this. I just deemed those my yarn dyeing stuff and it worked out well because I do want to do it again for sure.

Ashley 39:01

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. So, I mean, just look around and see what you have and like your suggestion of just like heading over to the dollar store and, you know, seeing what they have available. I mean, you'd be surprised, you know, how little of an investment it would take just to give it a try.

Brittany 39:17

How big of a pot do you think you need? Now, I had a stock pot and I don't know exactly how big it was, but in a set of like four stock pots, I think it was the third size. So it was pretty big. I could probably put a lot of yarn in there, but I don't think it needs to be that big?

Ashley 39:32

Yeah, I'm trying to think of mine. I want to say mine are either 14 or 16 quart stock pots. But I mean, it depends on whether or not you're using a low water table or a high water table. Yeah, so you definitely don't need a really, really large stock pot the first time. I mean, it just kind of depends on your process and how you want to give it a go yeah

Brittany 40:00

now could you explain that a little bit what a low water table versus a high water table what that means such as the amount of water that's in the pot

Ashley 40:07

yeah so a lot of my dyeing is being done using a low water table which means that I've got my yarn that's already been soaked that's in the pot with probably anywhere between it depends on the base and the weight of the yarn you know but I've only got essentially like two skeins in the pot at a time anywhere between maybe like one more inch above where my yarn is. So that's a low water table. A high water table would be to where I am like fill on that pot half full and I've only got the two skeins. Okay.

Brittany 40:45

That does. That does. Now, what is the difference in the look of that when you have a low water table? And I think you probably explained this before, but just to make it a little bit clearer, when you have a low water table, it's more saturated?

Ashley 40:59

Yes, it's going to be very, very highly saturated. And then with a high water table, it'll look totally different. It'll look totally different. Even if you're using, if you're putting the water in the same area of the pot, if you're using the same exact dyes, it'll blow your mind how different the yarn turns out.

Brittany 41:19

Well, that's cool. I want to experiment with that now, but I have to ask because my absolute favorite kind of hand dyed yarn, I love that tonal look when it's all just one color but there are like some really saturated points and there are some really like lighter parts to the same hang. Yeah. How does that, how do you do that? How do you get that look? So

Ashley 41:41

what's, what's super cool about that is it's super easy. I hope that dyers aren't going to hate me because I'm just telling y'all how to do it, but you guys, it is so cool. So what you do instead of having your yarn sitting in your pot and and then pouring dye on top of your yarn. This is where the zip ties really come in handy. You're gonna grab that yarn by the zip ties, pull it out of the water, and you're gonna throw your dye directly into the water, swirl it around, make sure that it's all mixed up and everything, and then you're gonna drop that yarn into the pot Make sure that it totally gets saturated in that water and then lift it up immediately, then throw it back in the water, then lift it up again. And you will watch that dye adhere to that yarn almost immediately. And that's how you get a tonal colorway.

Brittany 42:35

Oh, wow. That's really cool. Well, thank you for sharing that with me because that's always sort of mystified me a little bit. I tried to do that with the Hank that I dyed and it just did not work. There are sections where it's a little bit more saturated. I think just because I wasn't doing a great job with it but it still looks pretty cool and i think that's the bottom line with dying of course a lot of it is experiments but i would venture to say it's hard to be completely disappointed with the outcome of it would you say that's true

Ashley 43:10

Yeah. I mean, unless it's a total fail. I mean, because trust me, I've had those too, where I've had these ideas and I'm like, ooh, I'm going to try this. And then I look at it and I'm like, oh, wow. Yeah, that didn't work. But you learned from it. So that's not time wasted. Yeah. And you figure out what works and what doesn't. And that all I think just happens over time, you know, and you've got to figure that out for yourself. I mean, there's no right or wrong way to do any of it, really. You just, you got to just see where it takes you. you know

Brittany 43:44

and I think it's with everything else in crochet and knitting you get better the more you do it so maybe you try it the first time and it's a total wreck I'm sure when you try it again you've learned something from that first instance and it'll just get better from there I mean think back to your first project that you ever made your stitches were like wobbly and uneven and you probably had like holes and tension was horrible oh yeah right and now look at your work today now granted you might not... die hundreds of hanks of yarn, but I'm sure you make subtle improvements every single time. And I would venture to say that a solid color is a really safe first experiment. It seems a lot harder to mess up a single die and like be disappointed with it because you can see the color of the die. The yarn pretty much looks the same color I thought as the die does. And yeah, I mean, would you say that's probably a Absolutely.

Ashley 44:46

100%. You're just not going to be disappointed. So if there are colors that you're drawn to naturally, you know, maybe just invest in one or two of those tones or shades in regards to like your initial dyes that you purchase and you'll be so happy.

Brittany 45:04

Yeah. Now, I wonder if there are any resources available. Let's say you buy a set of dyes that has your main primary colors. Does it come with any type of instructions to help you mix those together to get certain colors? Or is this something you have to figure out on your own?

Ashley 45:26

You know, I know that Dharma Trading, that's where I get my acid dyes from. I know that they have a starter set. I'm pretty sure that it comes with, of course, like the primary colors and then like a black and maybe a few others. I think it comes with some citric acid as well and like very basic instructions. But a lot of the instructions for acid dyes, I mean, even if you just look on your little package, it'll say, you know, mix this much with two gallons of water. And a lot of the times, I mean, you're not dying that much fiber when you're just trying it out. So honestly, a lot of it, it's just going to be trial and error. Really?

Brittany 46:15

Yeah. Yeah. And probably write down what you did so you can either replicate it or not, not replicate it the next time. Oh

Ashley 46:23

yeah. There's, there's actually been a few times where I don't, I don't know what happened, where my brain was or how I misplaced my, oh my gosh, it was horrible where I've had such cool colorways and I'm like, wait, did I not write that down? Oh no. Yeah. So yeah, pretty much you want to write everything down like it was a recipe. Like you were going to bake or you were going to cook, write it like a recipe. Exactly how much you measured and everything. Everything that you can remember, write it down, definitely. Or else you'll never be able to recreate it again.

Brittany 46:58

Yeah, yeah. Don't trust your memory. If you're anything like me, goodness gracious, I can't trust my memory. Me too. Now I want to end on some, on the side of, inspiration because I know that you really draw inspiration from around you I think that's part of how I'm able to recognize your yarn over anybody else's in my Instagram feed and I would love to just tap into that a little bit help somebody try to figure out where to find inspiration for their yarn dyeing experiments and with crochet projects because I know you're a designer as well and I know you're probably drawing from different areas to help you create those things so can Can you walk me through sort of your process from an idea to actually executing on that?

Ashley 47:47

You know, I mean, obviously my business is Montana Crochet. So my inspiration comes from Montana, where I live, where I love. I mean, I just, I love it here. Born and raised, wouldn't change a thing. It's so easy for me to find inspiration, whether it's from a city, a mountain range, a lake, a stream, flowers, the prairie. I mean, there's just so much inspiration here. So that's where I draw my inspiration from. But when I'm feeling stuck, and I feel like this would probably be a really good tip for your listeners, head to your closet. Head to your closet and maybe find your five favorite pieces that you just love to wear and lay them out on your bed and see what they have in common. See what pops out at you, whether that's a pattern, a color, a texture. and see what inspiration you can draw from that. Because essentially, excuse me, as makers and as creatives, We want to wear our makes. We want to be surrounded by our makes. So your closet is a really, really good starting place if you're not like me and you just immerse yourself in nature. Not everybody is into that kind of thing. So the first place I would say to go is to your closet, for sure.

Brittany 49:12

Yeah, I really love that tip. And that's something that I started doing more of this year, not for dyeing yarn, but for my projects because... The approach that I used to always take is find whatever yarn I thought was pretty at the time. I would stroll through the yarn aisle, find something that just really jumped out at me or that really caught my attention, and I would create a project with that. I would put the time into it and then realize I don't have anything... To wear. And so I would go in and say, okay, these are the sweaters that I really love to wear the most. They're these colors. When I make a scarf again, I'm going to try to use a yarn color that coordinates with this sweater or better yet, two or three sweaters in my closet so I can wear it with just more than one outfit.

Ashley 50:23

Well, yeah. And then all of a sudden your makes become these versatile pieces and you find yourself wearing them so much more often. And people around you, too. Well, I mean, that's the thing. They're going to be like, oh my gosh, you made that? Well, yes, I did. Yeah. Give yourself an excuse to wear your makes, you know, and just make sure that they're not just sitting in a closet somewhere. You know, and just like you said, and how you used to just go down, you know, the yarn aisle and pick out, oh my gosh, this is gorgeous. And then you realize you have nothing to wear with it because you weren't centering Yeah, it's really

Brittany 51:10

weird when you think about it. I was always drawn to something completely off the wall when it came to yarn, like really bright, vibrant colors and stuff like that. And then when you look at my closet, it is not at all like that. It's a lot more neutral. I wear a lot of navy and taupe and gray are kind of like my go-to colors, if you will. Yeah. And it works with some bright yarns, but it's just interesting to think how a certain skein of yarn can really catch your eye. And it's not at all what would normally catch your eye. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Now, the other thing I wanted to tap into a little bit with you, because I know you've done this really, really well, and this will help the makers in the audience very much, not just yarn dyers, but people who are also selling goods, have blogs or that sort of thing. It feels like a very... well, it's a very busy community, right? I don't want to say it's oversaturated because I hate that term. It's not even true. But there are a lot of people who start blogs, who have YouTube channels, who have Etsy shops and have all of those things. And it's really important to find yourself in order to stand out amongst all of the other people. I think the bottom line is there is a place and a space for everyone in this community. Every single one. Yes. But I think we need to find our positioning, what we have to inspire people with. And I wonder if you have any tips for that.

Ashley 52:46

You know, my biggest tip, and maybe it seems cliche right now because I just hear it all the time, but you do you. You have got to do you and quit the comparison game, comparing what you're making to what this person is making to what this person is doing. As long as you are doing what makes you happy and what fulfills you as an artist, you are succeeding. You're doing it right. There is no right or wrong way of being a maker. The more genuine that you are and the more authentic that you are, into what you're creating, the more that people are gonna be drawn to that naturally. People just love that. Like just don't try and be someone else, be you because you are the only you that there is and people love it. I mean, it might sound cliche, but I just think it's so, so true.

Brittany 53:41

I agree 100%. You are the only one who can be you and that's your positioning in whatever niche you wanna get into, whatever... I love that. Oh, I love that. I'm actually going to write that down like right now. Yes, your vibe attracts your tribe. And I want to say that to anybody who feels like they need to please everybody because it just doesn't happen. It's just not real. Not everyone is going to love you. Not everyone is going to love what you do or the patterns you create or the yarn that you dye. But if you just do you, like you just said – What you do will attract the people who love what you do.

Ashley 54:50

Yeah, they will find you. I mean, just being authentic and genuine, I think it's the way to be. And don't compare yourself to others. It doesn't serve you. You know, I mean, my gosh, just don't put your energy into that. Just, I mean, of all things, look at yourself as your biggest competitor. Do better than you did yesterday. Do better than you did last week or last month or last year. And as long as you're just comparing yourself to yourself, gosh, I just, I think there's nowhere else you can go but up.

Brittany 55:22

Yes, I love that. I think it's so important as a business owner or somebody who has a side hustle or somebody who's just trying to earn extra vacation money or whatever it looks like for you, record everything. Actually pay attention to everything. Whatever metric is important for what you're doing, be that sales or page views or YouTube channel views or that sort of thing, record that and check in every quarter and definitely every year so that you're comparing yourself to you. And that way, like you said, you can go up from there. You've got a baseline. You know what you need to do to improve and you have a target because you have that number written down and you know you just need to beat that number. I think that is the... healthiest form of comparison that there is as a maker. Absolutely. The healthiest form. I think you just hit the nail on the head, really. Well, it's good to know that I am not alone in that. I feel very strongly about that. And it's difficult to do. It's not easy to scroll through and not question How you're doing and that sort of thing. I know for me, I really just try to regulate who's in my newsfeed or my Instagram feed and be surrounded by people who make me feel good, who don't make me feel bad about what I'm doing.

Ashley 56:50

Oh, absolutely. And your vibe attracts your tribe. Like exactly what you said, you know, and, and surround yourself with the people that are going to lift you up.

Brittany 56:59

Yeah.

Ashley 56:59

And, and whether that's, you know, the people who are close to you within the crochet community, or just even people that you follow, you know, make sure that that anytime you open any form of social media or whatever it is, that it's making you happy. You know, yeah, I think that's just so, so important.

Brittany 57:18

It really is. I wish I know who said that. I heard it on another podcast somewhere. I don't know if that saying is coined by anybody or if it's just something that came about. But if I find the source, I will include it in the show notes or something because I just absolutely love that saying.

Ashley 57:36

Oh, it's wonderful. I wrote it down. I love it. I just absolutely adore it. It's perfection. It really is.

Brittany 57:44

Well, I'm glad I could share that with you today. I'm also really, really thankful for this conversation today. I know it's so much fun to talk about something just slightly different, sort of a sidestep from crochet and knitting. So thank you so much for sharing so much wisdom about yarn dyeing and being really open and honest about some of those methods. It'll certainly help me as somebody who's just trying to do it for fun I don't think you'll ever see like yarn dyeing stuff from me in the future, but maybe through my Instagram stories, my fails or my successes when it comes to yarn dyeing. And certainly if I do dye my hands pink, like I did once before, I will share that with you.

Ashley 58:23

Well, it has been an absolute pleasure. I've been so happy to just visit with you and share what little wisdom I have with your listeners. And it's just, it's just been so much fun.

Brittany 58:33

Well, I think it's so much more than what you described there. I know it's helped a lot of people. And I'm sure that somebody listening has really made a connection with you. Where's a good place for them to go to connect with you after listening today?

Ashley 58:46

You know, honestly, head over to Instagram and look up Montana Crochet. That's pretty much where I live socially anymore. And then montanacrochet.com is where you can go and check out my yarns at least once a month.

Brittany 59:03

Yes, and they're beautiful. If nothing else, go have a look because it's gorgeous. Hand-dyed yarn is somewhat of a splurge at some points. Yes. It is one of those purchases I know for me that is for a special project. I wouldn't just go buy hand dyed yarn to play with or to do just random projects with. I like to be really, really intentional about it. So if you're ever feeling like you need to have a special project, maybe start with hand dyed yarn and definitely check out Ashley's shop and the stuff that she has. It's really beautiful. Well, thank you so much, Brittany. I really appreciate it. All right, that was Ashley from Montana Crochet. Ashley, thank you so much today for sharing all of that with us. I can't wait to go dye another hank of yarn, play with a little experiment, and maybe see if I can get a really tonal look out of some yarn that I can make a hat this fall. So thank you so much for that. If you want to connect with Ashley after hearing today's episode, Again, she likes to hang out on Instagram. You can find her at montana.crochet. I'll have that in the show notes, as well as a link to her website if you do want to check that out. And of course, those resources we talked about. Now, the show notes, once again, are bhooked.com slash 139. And the last thing I want to mention before I go is that today's episode was brought to you by my blueprint course, Tunisian Crochet for Beginners. Now, perhaps dyeing yarn isn't an experiment you want to try right now, but let's say you do want to learn something new. And if you haven't tried Tunisian crochet, it's close enough to the craft I think you probably already love, but it's just different enough to feel like you're learning something new and you can do even more with Tunisian crochet than you can with regular crochet. crochet. If it's something you've never heard of before, think about a hybrid between crochet and knitting. Honestly, what drew me to Tunisian crochet in the first place was because I heard that you could create stitches that looked like knitting, but use your crochet hook. And that's exactly why I tried it because at the time I did not know how to knit, but I really, really loved the look of it. So Tunisian crochet for beginners will walk you through all the basics of Tunisian crochet. So if you've never tried Tunisian before, this is a great class for you. If you already are familiar with Tunisian crochet, it's probably not the right thing for you. It was really designed to walk somebody through start to finish. So you get an idea of what it is and the types of tools that you need to have in order to do it. It's really just a different type of crochet hook. And then I'll walk you through your first three projects all wrapped up in that course. So if you want to get more information about Tunisian crochet for beginners, just head over to behooked.com slash TCFV. That'll just redirect you to Blueprint's website where you can see all the course information and sign up there. All right, that'll wrap up this week's episode of the Be Hooked podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. I really, really appreciate it. I'm so grateful for you. I'm so grateful for all of those reviews. This podcast has made it up to a five-star review and that just warms my heart. It makes me so incredibly happy because I have only ever asked for your honest rating And so I know that's an honest rating. And gosh, that just means the world to me to know that you love what we're doing here on the show. And that fuels me through it. So thank you so much. And I'll see you next week. Bye-bye.