Not at all proper dyeing

So I bought some cream fine cotton yarn to dye with my fibre reactive Procion dyes that I've been using for years on cotton fabric.

There is a right way to do this, and I do know what it is. You should put the balls into skeins, wash them to remove the residue, soak them in soda ash, apply the dye, batch for twenty four hours, rinse, dry, and wind into balls.

You should not just take the paper labels off and stuff them into plastic cups half full of dye and soda ash. You should not leave them in that dye for two weeks while you go down the beach. You should not then try and rinse them out, without success, so leave them a tub of water while you go to Cambodia for a week. You should not then try to dry them in a towel, realise they're never going to dry, and leave them on a plastic plate outside for a week while you go to Hobart. This will not work well.

I was aiming for a ball that was half dyed and half not, with perhaps a difference between the outer and inner of the balls. I actually dyed them all navy blue. I was hoping for an indigo look. Here is one half way through - like a used tampon from a very unwell giant.

But I wove with it, because why not. And the purple got less as I went into the balls, and even less after I'd washed it. It is light and summery, and strangely randomly blue, and I actually quite like it.