About the Lucky Strikes

The process of dyeing yarn is one with great potential for waste.  This was a concern for me when I first embarked on my journey as a hand-dyer and remains a concern now; always in the forefront of my mind when I begin a dyeing session.   

Finding ways to conserve water is easy.  It's pretty amazing how many times you can use a bath of water for pre-soaking yarn or how much water you can collect from skeins of wet yarn hanging out to drip-dry.  And when a dye bath is fully exhausted, the water can be reused for another dye bath.  Simple.

The tricky part is figuring out how to make use of the clumps of dye powder left behind on speckling utensils; built up and sticky from the steam of the dye bath.   

The solution came to me during a late-night speckling session where I was using a pot of clear water to rinse my utensils between each use.  When I was all finished, I cleaned up my space, but discovered that the pot I was using to rinse my utensils was now a bath of a beautiful dusty pink dye stock.  It immediately occurred to me to use this bath for dyeing up a couple one of a kind tonals.  Waste not, want not!  

Ever since that first Lucky Strike dye bath two years ago, I've made it a regular part of my dyeing sessions and most shop updates feature a collection of these one-of-a-kind colorways.  Not every dye session requires a Lucky Strike bath, but when I do have need for one, it's a joy to see what beautiful colorway it bears.

When you choose to purchase a Lucky Strike colorway, you are adopting a truly one of a kind skein with lots of character, and helping to promote the "waste not, want not" values of Fiber for the People®.

Thank you,

Tayler

(Owner and Dyer of Fiber for the People® yarn.)

Post and Photos by Tayler Earl