I Dyed and Went to Heaven!

I finally did it, I dyed something, albeit small and fairly easy I was looking for a certain look.  I have always loved the color ecru and find it hard to find when I"m ready to work with it.  I had heard that by dying with tea you could create that colour.  As you see it's a soft pinkish brown, that is so warm and natural, and it's not white.

So I had just knitted up this hat, real quick, a basic really, just a roll brim beanie, and I was not sure what I was going to do with it. As you can see it's creamy white with nothing really much to say, fine as it is, but I wanted something more.

It needs something more I thought, so I decided to give it a tea bath and try out that whole Ecru thing, after all what's the worst that could happen.  So I started to get prepared.  I wanted to avoid that mottled look that can happen if you just plunk it wet into the tea water, so first things first.  I soaked the hat in cold water for half an hour to get it nice and saturated.

The next step was to make a double on the tea.  I boiled 2 cups of water and poured them over 2 teabags in a large enamel pot.

The enamel pot is dark blue in there so it looks a little murky, but it's all good.  I then pulled the hat out of the water, gently squeezed out the excess and then plunked it into what looks like murky depths.  But see, not so murky, in fact it's a lovely color, all orangy brown.  Every little while I gave it a stir, over the next couple of hours.  I was patient and kept checking for color.

Once it was done, I squeezed out all the tea and then I rinsed it until the water ran clear.  Then gently squeezed out the water again.  So far this is what I have:

I know it still looks creamy, but the lighting was not that great, however, the color is pretty, very faded browny pink.  Besides it's still wet in that picture.  At this point I'm waiting for the hat to dry to see the true color, and then it's getting some further embellishment.  Once it's done I'll post.

I had a great time doing this little project.  I love the way the hat looks so far, and can't wait for it to be done.