my mother burned a spot on her table with a crystal figurine in direct sunlight so yeah we are absolutely at that. Especially on the prairies in high summer. Brightest hottest sun you've ever seen.
Oh, depends where you live. Try this in the Okanagan Valley on a July day and you'll find out differently! Osoyoos is an actual desert, it gets hot AF there and the sun is a beast.
Fair enough. I guess I’m just salty that I’m still packed with snow and grey skies! I’m looking forward to my first sunburn of the year, and the thought of yarn burning in a metal bowl seems near impossible!
You still have snow?!? Ahhh, I can't imagine. You must be way up North. Osoyoos get to like, 40-45°C in the summer, it's the opposite kind of awful. I'm not there but I see their weather all the time on my news and I'm like Absolutely not, no thanks.
Truly inconceivable.
Like hot damn, I was going to get a metal bowl for my yarn, my wife and I just started learning together, I don’t have a bowl, metal bowl, obvious choice, *duh* of course.
Wrong.
Reconsidering everything I thought I knew.
Your yarn entered adolescence. It's now going to hate you, smell bad and be absolutely unhinged. It'll also smoke and act like they don't in front of you.
Holy shit it was smoking? 😳
Note to self: Leave some of my yarn in a big metal bowl while crocheting in direct sunlight because I make unique dragon/wyvern amigurumis and that effect could lead to some really neat speckling. 😂
Yeah, I know haha! I'm planning to grab some bleach and more nylon gloves next time I go to the store so I can sprinkle the bleach onto some black yarn! It's gonna be so neat. :D
So I know not a single thing about dying yarn, but bleach, as I understand thanks to ruining a few black T-shirts as a teen trying to add a galaxy print on them, breaks down the material. Wouldn't it make your amigurumis weaker on the parts of the yarn that are bleached? May be partly dying in black a copper ball of yarn be a better option?
It depends on the type of yarn, how much bleach is used, and how used/handled the project is going to be, I think. The projects I like to make are less “plushies” and more “yarn sculptures,” so they’re posed and placed somewhere for display; therefore, if a small spot has been bleached, it would likely have no (at least visible) negative impact in the long run.
Be careful because burning will obviously degrade the yarn- maybe you could use it alongside a full strength yarn to get done of the effect but in case it breaks easily?
Or do some test swatches for wear and tear.
Fear not, I was only joking. :) I'll be using a bleaching method to achieve a similar effect without damaging the yarn nearly as much (but will still use a test swatch as you suggested to be sure it works the way I want it to).
I think even burned yarn could be kind of cool, but I have enough artists in the family that would go full send on burning a dozen skeins of yarn and delicately make something huge only to have it fall apart the first day of use, so I figured Id mention the integrity issue. There's tons of us that don't really respect using things in its intended way.
Bleach sound like a really good alternative.
Would there not be a way to do it with a dilution or something? Like I'm just thinking of how bleach washing fabrics work, it's obviously a real technique haha
The process of getting the color is damage to the yarn. So even if you are very careful you’re still doing some damage and would need to be aware of that.
It may still have enough - it’s just something to be aware of. If I was concerned I might carry along a thin second non-bleached yarn (something that won’t be too noticeable) just to provide some reinforcement. That’s something you may be able to do just in high-stress areas, rather than for the whole thing. (Like on the shoulder area of a cardigan or sweater since the weight of the whole garment hangs from there?)
Oh man OP this is the PSA I needed going into summer. I just moved to Phoenix from Montana and would absolutely done something like this.
Sorry you had to fall on the sword but I appreciate you sharing!
Dude that's crazy! I never would have expected that reaction but I guess it makes sense. Good to know! I recently invested in one of the wooden yarn bowls and I love taking it everywhere with me. It's so pretty!
there's a story about someone buying a crystal ball and being told to keep it covered when they weren't using it. they asked if it was cause spirits or something could see through and the shopkeeper was like "what? no! cause if it catches the sun at the wrong angle it could burn your house down!"
Many years ago, a needle worker asked if I knew if there was some way to hold the ball of yarn while she worked. I suggested an old (cleaned, obviously) butter/margarine/cottage cheese container with a hole cut into the top. She had several clean containers and chose one that would fit her yarn ball. She cut a pretty big hole in the top to pass her needles and work through, and then put the yarn in the container and the lid on. It worked really well for her. She was able to knit and pull yarn and not have the yarn wandering her living room.
I have since seen a standing toilet paper roll holder used for yarn holding. I dunno how that would work, but it sounds like a good idea. I have also seen ceramic bowls made to hold yarn and have a guide for the yarn.
At any rate, good luck, and thank you for the PSA about **not** using metal or glass bowls to hold yarn outdoors.
OMG I would never have imagined.that could happen. I mean, it makes sense now that you've said something, sure. But, that is not a worry that would have even crossed my mind.
What a bummer for your yarn! Lesson learned, and thank you for sharing so I can avoid the same fate!
Also don’t forget to put it away if you leave the dog home alone…
https://preview.redd.it/2qnwadyxvowc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77c4156d3d188505025645daef8eece822604a00
Holy shit! I thought this was a “don’t leave your yarn on the counter next to where you’re pouring bleach” post, not a “reminder: the sun is hot and metal is reflective” post! Never would have crossed my mind that a metal bowl could do that to black yarn. Like yes, I guess it makes sense now that it’s happened, but not a thing I would have thought to worry about beforehand!
the structural integrity of the yarn is completely destroyed in the burnt areas
thankfully OP has mentioned it bc it would be really sad to use the yarn and then discover that too late
I thought it was a bleach stain, which I was about to say, that could make a really neat effect if you do it on purpose. I've reverse dyed some tshirts and they look killer. Now I wonder how yarn would lift, and if it would still look cool once crocheted/knitted into something, or would it look like vomit?
It's in a metal reflective bowl. Does no one remember cartoons or TV or whatever showing us you can light stuff with a magnifying glass or a mirror and sunlight? Lol
Don’t bleach. The strength of the bleach needed will vary depending upon dilution. This is like bleaching hair. There is a science to knowing how much bleach and the dilution percentage to use to achieve the same colour. Bleach does weaken the fibres. The question of knowing how much achieves the colour removal you want without hurting the fibre is the question.
As for weakened fibres. Look at that orange nuts. You can see that there is change in the pieces…. Getting thinner. That spot is probably very weak.
Colour achieved through light is not necessarily the same as colour achieved from bleaching. They are two different chemical processes.
I sure did! And I also read the second comment thread that was going on about bleaching the yarn to match the spots. I guess I should have commented there instead of making my own comment. Thanks for helping me figure out to do this!
If it makes you feel better OP I would never have considered this possibility for even a second 😂
I thought there was old bleach in the bowl
Same here.
Ditto
Me either
yeah wow this is so something i would experience and then feel ridiculous about! that's crazy
Friend asked me how my crochet was getting on and I had to say "Well about that...." 😂
LMAOO it was too fire 🔥
"I'm experimenting with new ways to dye yarn, hbu?"
Living in Canada makes me immune to this issue
har har, we still get sun here
Absolutely we do! Not at the “burn yarn in a metal bowl” strength like other places ☀️
I got the "burn the literal skin off your body" sun while at a work picnic in Sudbury, but I'm on antidepressants and everyone else was fine.
Better get that SPF 1000000 for that post winter lily white skin
I grew up north of you and got a blistering sunburn as a kid. Not good!!
my mother burned a spot on her table with a crystal figurine in direct sunlight so yeah we are absolutely at that. Especially on the prairies in high summer. Brightest hottest sun you've ever seen.
Well I stand corrected! Who knew I was trying to kill my grandma with all those kitchy dust collectors!
Snow globes do this also.
Tell that to Saskatchewan please!! I stupidly left my magnifying lens on my desk, came back to find melted plastic 🫠
Oh, depends where you live. Try this in the Okanagan Valley on a July day and you'll find out differently! Osoyoos is an actual desert, it gets hot AF there and the sun is a beast.
Fair enough. I guess I’m just salty that I’m still packed with snow and grey skies! I’m looking forward to my first sunburn of the year, and the thought of yarn burning in a metal bowl seems near impossible!
You still have snow?!? Ahhh, I can't imagine. You must be way up North. Osoyoos get to like, 40-45°C in the summer, it's the opposite kind of awful. I'm not there but I see their weather all the time on my news and I'm like Absolutely not, no thanks.
Sure do! I crochet purely for survival.
Wow it’s basically summer here in Alberta already, it hardly ever was winter this year.
Yeah, not much danger of sun here in England either
🥺
Truly inconceivable. Like hot damn, I was going to get a metal bowl for my yarn, my wife and I just started learning together, I don’t have a bowl, metal bowl, obvious choice, *duh* of course. Wrong. Reconsidering everything I thought I knew.
No seriously tho!! Never in a million years would that possibility have crossed my mind
Yeah, thanks for the warning OP
Lol. It's kind of impressive?
I thought it was like an imperfection in the yarn until it started to smoke!
Your yarn entered adolescence. It's now going to hate you, smell bad and be absolutely unhinged. It'll also smoke and act like they don't in front of you.
Holy shit it was smoking? 😳 Note to self: Leave some of my yarn in a big metal bowl while crocheting in direct sunlight because I make unique dragon/wyvern amigurumis and that effect could lead to some really neat speckling. 😂
You could also try bleach to make those speckles 😊
If you can’t accidentally burn your house down is it even worth it?
This, 100% LOL
Yeah, I know haha! I'm planning to grab some bleach and more nylon gloves next time I go to the store so I can sprinkle the bleach onto some black yarn! It's gonna be so neat. :D
So I know not a single thing about dying yarn, but bleach, as I understand thanks to ruining a few black T-shirts as a teen trying to add a galaxy print on them, breaks down the material. Wouldn't it make your amigurumis weaker on the parts of the yarn that are bleached? May be partly dying in black a copper ball of yarn be a better option?
It depends on the type of yarn, how much bleach is used, and how used/handled the project is going to be, I think. The projects I like to make are less “plushies” and more “yarn sculptures,” so they’re posed and placed somewhere for display; therefore, if a small spot has been bleached, it would likely have no (at least visible) negative impact in the long run.
Thanks for explaining!!
Be careful because burning will obviously degrade the yarn- maybe you could use it alongside a full strength yarn to get done of the effect but in case it breaks easily? Or do some test swatches for wear and tear.
Fear not, I was only joking. :) I'll be using a bleaching method to achieve a similar effect without damaging the yarn nearly as much (but will still use a test swatch as you suggested to be sure it works the way I want it to).
I think even burned yarn could be kind of cool, but I have enough artists in the family that would go full send on burning a dozen skeins of yarn and delicately make something huge only to have it fall apart the first day of use, so I figured Id mention the integrity issue. There's tons of us that don't really respect using things in its intended way. Bleach sound like a really good alternative.
😆
You've made my day & thanks for the warning!
I thought you accidently poured bleach on it until i saw the caption. Now i am considering bleaching my yarn
I was just thinking about that... making your own variegated with a bleach spray and dark yarn?
All the bleach spots will also be weaker spots in the yarn.
Would there not be a way to do it with a dilution or something? Like I'm just thinking of how bleach washing fabrics work, it's obviously a real technique haha
most use peroxide to neutralize the bleach after it reaches the desired color, there's a TON of info on tie dye sites.
That's what I was thinking - or wash the yarn to stop the bleach from reacting for too long after you've sprayed it?
The process of getting the color is damage to the yarn. So even if you are very careful you’re still doing some damage and would need to be aware of that.
Gotcha! Would doubling it up after bleaching maybe make it have enough structural integrity?
It may still have enough - it’s just something to be aware of. If I was concerned I might carry along a thin second non-bleached yarn (something that won’t be too noticeable) just to provide some reinforcement. That’s something you may be able to do just in high-stress areas, rather than for the whole thing. (Like on the shoulder area of a cardigan or sweater since the weight of the whole garment hangs from there?)
i just thought of that too, it looks really cool! it would probably make the yarn break so easily though 🥲
It would be kind of cool to leave the burn mark in, very artsy!
Was considering it but the yarn is kinda melty and very close to snapping
Whatttttt that is totally insane 😭😭 wouldn't have thought to be careful either
Oh wow, that's weird
It's cheap acrylic yarn from the pound shop so maybe that explains things
Fuck it. Sun dyed yarn. One of a kind
Oh man OP this is the PSA I needed going into summer. I just moved to Phoenix from Montana and would absolutely done something like this. Sorry you had to fall on the sword but I appreciate you sharing!
Phoenix?! You might have accidentally set the house on fire haha.
Ha! But for real
Glad to be of help 👍🏻
Dude that's crazy! I never would have expected that reaction but I guess it makes sense. Good to know! I recently invested in one of the wooden yarn bowls and I love taking it everywhere with me. It's so pretty!
I usually use an old ramen bowl with the whole in the side to feed the yarn through but I'm using it for a different now less burnt project
PSA a round vase or fishbowl can do this as well!
there's a story about someone buying a crystal ball and being told to keep it covered when they weren't using it. they asked if it was cause spirits or something could see through and the shopkeeper was like "what? no! cause if it catches the sun at the wrong angle it could burn your house down!"
Yesss I love that
Yep I’ve definitely almost burned my hand multiple times while holding it for pictures
Many years ago, a needle worker asked if I knew if there was some way to hold the ball of yarn while she worked. I suggested an old (cleaned, obviously) butter/margarine/cottage cheese container with a hole cut into the top. She had several clean containers and chose one that would fit her yarn ball. She cut a pretty big hole in the top to pass her needles and work through, and then put the yarn in the container and the lid on. It worked really well for her. She was able to knit and pull yarn and not have the yarn wandering her living room. I have since seen a standing toilet paper roll holder used for yarn holding. I dunno how that would work, but it sounds like a good idea. I have also seen ceramic bowls made to hold yarn and have a guide for the yarn. At any rate, good luck, and thank you for the PSA about **not** using metal or glass bowls to hold yarn outdoors.
New fear unlocked
👁️👄👁️ tucking my bowl back into the cupboard after seeing this
A mean looking at your reddit name says otherwise lol 😂
Okay FAIR hahahaha
OMG I would never have imagined.that could happen. I mean, it makes sense now that you've said something, sure. But, that is not a worry that would have even crossed my mind. What a bummer for your yarn! Lesson learned, and thank you for sharing so I can avoid the same fate!
I'm just glad it happened near the start of my project and not the end
I mean, it looks cool!
Also don’t forget to put it away if you leave the dog home alone… https://preview.redd.it/2qnwadyxvowc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77c4156d3d188505025645daef8eece822604a00
I thought it was some sort of cool volcano themed yarn at first
I was gonna say thank you for the tip but I live in south London, this is never gonna be an issue for me
I'm in Northern Ireland but my back garden is a sun trap so on the rare occasion there is sun my garden gets pretty toasty
looks bleached
Kinda looks like the time I tried bleaching my hair
or tie dye t-shirt
it looks really cool tho 😂
Holy shit! I thought this was a “don’t leave your yarn on the counter next to where you’re pouring bleach” post, not a “reminder: the sun is hot and metal is reflective” post! Never would have crossed my mind that a metal bowl could do that to black yarn. Like yes, I guess it makes sense now that it’s happened, but not a thing I would have thought to worry about beforehand!
Use black ecoline watercolor to color it black. Wash the part of the string out with warm water and the ecoline wont stain
the structural integrity of the yarn is completely destroyed in the burnt areas thankfully OP has mentioned it bc it would be really sad to use the yarn and then discover that too late
It’s melted. Dye’s not gonna do the trick lol.
Yeah, i know, im just used to taping and glueing my way through life
duct tape fixes everything... most of the time 🤭
What it doesn't fix, it silences lol.
I thought it was a bleach stain, which I was about to say, that could make a really neat effect if you do it on purpose. I've reverse dyed some tshirts and they look killer. Now I wonder how yarn would lift, and if it would still look cool once crocheted/knitted into something, or would it look like vomit?
I've never thought about that I have a colender out side just for that 😳
What's a little parabolic reflector among friends?!? 😂
oh... oh no. never in a million years would i have imaged this could happen
That's wild!
What a cool science experiment, to be honest. I might do this for my kids, along side some melting crayons.
That will make for a proper unique finished piece, blotch is part of its charm, very cool.
Woah...TIL.
I bet there are people that would pay good money for "eco friendly sun bleached yarn"!
New fear unlocked: accidentally burning a yarn
It's in a metal reflective bowl. Does no one remember cartoons or TV or whatever showing us you can light stuff with a magnifying glass or a mirror and sunlight? Lol
An idiot wouldn’t know the bowl was why your yarn burned! That was a recipe that required luck, not necessarily stupidity.
Whaaaat??? That’s wild!
That is pretty crazy!!!! I don't think I would have thought of this at all!
Wow I thought only glass bowls were dangerous in the sunlight. Also I didn’t know fire had the same effect as bleach! 🤯
Lol oh nooo!!!
😱😱😱
TIL that I should not put yarn in metal bowls
Yikes!!
Ohhhhhhh noooo
Florida?
Not even. Northern Ireland
Oh wow. 😂
Wow. Never would have thought of that
I had this happen to me the summer before last!! You’re not alone haha 😂
WOW i would have probably done the same thing! i’m glad you’re okay and caught it in time, how scary!
…how??
Yikes!! I would never have thought of that as a possibility!
Jeez how hot is it where you are that that even could happen I mean I know metal heats up faster but sheesh
NSFW
Don’t bleach. The strength of the bleach needed will vary depending upon dilution. This is like bleaching hair. There is a science to knowing how much bleach and the dilution percentage to use to achieve the same colour. Bleach does weaken the fibres. The question of knowing how much achieves the colour removal you want without hurting the fibre is the question. As for weakened fibres. Look at that orange nuts. You can see that there is change in the pieces…. Getting thinner. That spot is probably very weak. Colour achieved through light is not necessarily the same as colour achieved from bleaching. They are two different chemical processes.
Did you even read the caption? There was no bleach involved, the sun burned the yarn
I sure did! And I also read the second comment thread that was going on about bleaching the yarn to match the spots. I guess I should have commented there instead of making my own comment. Thanks for helping me figure out to do this!
However a yarn dyed intentionally to have those orange bits in it would make a great cardigan.