A good day to dye

The weather was so much cooler this weekend I decided on Saturday morning to tackle the first of my Ravelympic events. To dye my sock blank.

I gathered all the necessary tools:
For any project I tackle music is the most important component.

Here's the other stuff:
As an extremely messy person by nature I decided to do the dyeing on the deck. Just to be safe. When I was picking up vinegar at the market I saw this bottle and knew it was a sign from the fiber gods that all would go well:
Yes, I realize it's leftover from Easter but leave me to my fantasy.

I had been soaking the yarn for a number of hours:
I rang it out and dried it in a towel. I laid it out on the table and started working. No one was home so I didn't get any action shots.

I made a huge mess, got dye all over my fingers but in the end I was done. I wrapped it up in saran wrap as instructed:
Then I steamed it for 30 minutes. I left it to cool. Once it was cool enough to handle I rinsed it out and hung it up to dry:

It's far from perfect but it's pretty damn good for a first attempt. It looks pretty much exactly as I pictured it. I can't wait to see it knitted up. Rinaldo loved it and since it's destined to be socks for him that's good enough for me. In fact he's always wanted Smallville yarn but I've never seen it at White Oak Studio. The minute he saw this he designated it his Smallville yarn.

They tell you that you can knit directly from the blanks but that didn't really appeal to me so I balled it up:

A bit sloppy yes but it got a bit tangled coming out of the blank and I was exhausted by the time I balled it up.

I guess I better get my ass in gear and work on the lace portion of my events.
What did you do this weekend?