Bree

This is what came of the yarn I used to dye my hands black last weekend – a little hat.

I emailed Designer Yarns (the distributors for Debbie Bliss in the UK) about the dye issue, and received this reply:

With dark colours, there is sometimes residual dye that has not been removed in the final stages of the dyeing process. There are many reasons for this, but the most important reason has to do with the final backwash applied to remove all traces of residual dye. This is perfectly adequate for the other dyes but in the stronger colours it sometimes leaves a small amount of residual dye. This can be removed by soaking the garment overnight in cool water.

I’d already rinsed the hat thoroughly with tiny bit of wool and silk detergent, and thankfully that seems to have done the trick. I wore it all day at work on Monday, and my ears didn’t turn grey at all!

The pattern is Bree by Britanny Wilson, which is a little skullcap with dangly ends that you can tie into a bow. I’d planned to add a lacy pattern of some description, but I decided in the end just to follow the instructions as written.

I did find what appears to be a mistake in the pattern, so I amended it slightly as follows:
Row 3 – knit all stitches
Row 4 – purl 35, knit 100, purl 35
This keeps the brim in garter stitch and the tails in stocking stitch, which I think is what it’s supposed to be.

Oh, and the mirror, in case anyone’s wondering, was made by Caroline Loveys.