gazerwolf into swinging by ReBelle on the way home to see if they had anything in stock. There were some nice oranges in worsted or bulky wool, one alpaca sportweight I almost settled for but I've heard alpaca by itself won't hold up in socks. Besides, they were all hand-wash only, and I know I'm not going to wear anything I can't toss in the washer.Then it hit me - why not dye my own orange? They had a whole section of undyed yarns, including a fingering weight Kona superwash wool, and tons of little jars of powdered dyes. So I got a pound of the yarn (one skein) and a jar of pumpkin orange, and a flyer with directions. $16.50 seemed a little high for the yarn at first, but once I did the math I figured out that's over 450g, with 100g/pair average that's four pairs' worth with some left over. Even adding in the dye ($4.75 for enough for 2 pounds of yarn) it's still under $5 a pair, which is *really* cheap for sock yarn.
Okay, for those who've dyed their own yarn before - which method's easiest, and which yields the best results? Stovetop? Crock pot? Microwave?
Note to self: Just found a suggestion online for using a dark-colored roasting pan, and just leaving it in a sealed-up car on a sunny day for a few hours to heat-set. That one might just work.
