In the pot, part 1

Well I finally conquered my (pointless) anxiety about dyeing and got the pot out this afternoon. Why be anxious, you ask? I just hadn't met with much success - the dye bath would never clear properly, the colours weren't coming out the way I wanted, SO MUCH of the dye would rinse out after the dye...it was just very underwhelming, and I was tired of mediocre results.
But.
I have so many colourways in my head, and some big plans coming down the pipe, and I figured it's about time to get over these perceived issues and GET IT RIGHT. Plus Barney got me a PH meter so now I can unlock the secrets to acidity (important because I'm using wool, which needs acidic water, and acid dyes).
So I hauled out my dye equipment and got to it when I got home today. This is why it's so nice to get to work for 8am; I get a full chunk of time at home again after work and it really rounds out the day. Anyway. I dip-dyed four skeins of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes worsted weight in a black-red, which seems so far to have come out purple (but I kind of expected that, reading that blacks take some time and effort to really ring true), and then threw in some more red for variety (accidentally pouring some directly on the part I was going to leave white on one of the skeins, so then I just put the skeins all the way in), and even trying out some speckles...well, we'll see about those, but as long as all the colour doesn't rinse out, I'll be well pleased!
Right now the pot is cooling on the stove - it's strongly recommended you wait til everything is COOL before rinsing - so I'll clean it all up tomorrow and then rinse and dry the skeins. Stay tuned for some "after" shots...and then some more colours! :D