Techniques- Dip dyeing, single colour, multiple shades

I recently discovered the fun that is dip dyeing, and having tried to describe the process in words to someone I thought I would share photos of the process with you this week.

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First up prepare your yarn- tie the skein in several places then soak it. It needs to be good and soggy to avoid white patches so be generous with the time you soak it for. Give it an hour or so, it can usually even be left over night- some fibres, like silk, need a lot of soaking.

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Once it is well soaked, lift it carefully out of the water and squeeze it gently to let some of the excess water out.
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Prepare your dye bath with enough water for the yarn to swim around and whichever dye you want to use according to the instructions, as these vary I will not go in to them here. If required by your dye add vinegar to the pot.
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Bring the dye bath to a simmer.

Wrap your soggy yarn around a stick that is longer than the top of your dye bath is wide (or a wooden spoon/fork is good as the flat surface of the spoon stops the stick rolling).

(The cider in the photo is not for drinking while dyeing, it just happened to be in the kitchen when I took the photo).
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Sit the stick across the top of the dye bath and unravel the first section of yarn into the dye. This will be the darkest section, how much you want to unravel is entirely up to you.
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At intervals unwind a little more yarn into the pot. Each section should come out lighter than the previous one. This one was done in four intervals, each two minutes apart, but again that is up to you depending how you want the yarn to look.
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Unless you want a white section to the end of the yarn drop the final length of yarn into the pot and give it a gentle swirl with the stick to get it under the surface. If you leave the last stage too long there will not be much dye left in the pot and it will come out very pale. That might be what you want, but if not don't leave it too long.
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Leave the pot to simmer to set the dye. This should be about fifteen minutes but may depend on the make of dye.
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Take the pot off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Rinse the yarn then squeeze out the excess water and allow to dry (as for handpainting).

Twist into a pretty skein and take artistic photos on the lawn (this stage is optional :D).

Plan what to knit/gift/sell skein.

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Next dyeing adventure should be dipping for multiple colours so watch out for that one.

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I would love to see what you make if you follow this tutorial, please leave a link in the comments to pictures so I can see (why yes, I am nosy! :D).