I don't think age really has anything to do with it.  After my forays into dyeing this weekend, it is now confirmed that I will leave the fancy dye jobs to those who really get it.  I would rather do the knitting part any day.  I only made this attempt since I had a truck-load (no, not really that much) of worsted wool in a color dubbed "Palomino" and was partially worked into an afghan.  The color was not something I preferred so a dye job was in order.  I counted up the loot and had 10 full skeins (including the ripped afghan) that needed some color.  Here's what I ended up with:

I've patted my back for getting through the ordeal.  And I'm happy with the majority of the finished colors.  Some of the results were not as planned or expected.  My attempt at purple (mixing yellow and blue powder in the dye-pot) is the skein on the second row up on the right.  The splotches of blue were created by globs of dye-goo that wasn't dissolved at the bottom of the pot while the yarn was cooking/soaking.  This could have been a nice effect using some other colors and if done intentionally.  The skein on the third row up on the left was the result of a badly dyed red.  Here's what I did to make it look that way:

I took the red skein (noticed the spots that didn't catch the dye) and wrapped it tightly with white cotton yarn.  I tied it off and tossed it into a pot of black dye.  And this is what it looks like afterward:

The black came out more of rosy brown (darker than shown here) and there are 1 inch spots left in the original red color.  I've named it "Cherry Cordial", you know, after the candy.  Strange, I don't like the candy and I don't quite like this colorway. 

One good thing can be said about the hot temperatures outside.  It made the drying time of the yarn go much faster.  I hung them from the trees high enough so the pup/hound couldn't get them tangled in her toothy grip (that short-legged dog sure can jump!) 

I'm going to be using this yarn for felted projects and I expect there to be some bleeding.  I'll have to plan color combinations carefully.  The cost of the project was around $30--zero $ for the yarn, $20 for the dye set (KnitPicks Jacquard Acid Dyes Starter Set) and $10 for a stainless steel 8 quart mixing bowl.  Not bad for 40+ ounces of worsted wool.  Here's another shot of the pyramid showing the undyed color at the top:

~Inner Monologue:  Should I drop the hint now that I'm planning a contest/giveaway in the near future?  The details are still sketchy so maybe I should wait.  I don't know if anyone will be interested...~