My First Dyeing Day

It has been a whirlwind re-entry into real life. I managed to pick up some sort of cold either in Bonaire or on the plane, so I've been feeling crappy and unposty since my return.

I was, however, greeted by an extremely happy supervisor.

 

I, on the other hand, was less than thrilled with him. Apparently in an attempt to get at the other cat's food, he made huge gouges in the hallway floor. Fortunately I wasn't finished with it, and it was easy to sand out, or he would be supergrounded. 

 

I spent my first day back at the allergist, getting tested for various things, most of which I'm allergic to. The doctor also suggested I might be allergic to nitrites. Unwilling to let this be an unknown, I stopped and bought crappy hot dogs on the way home, which caused my lips to swell. I am definitely allergic to nitrites. This effectively means I'm allergic to bacon. I expect my friends to throw me a telethon at some point in order to find a cure.

The remainder of the day was spent dyeing the cover for my red couch. This is an ikea couch that a friend gave me, and the cover is removable/washable/replaceable. Ikea doesn't make them anymore though, so to buy a new one is about $400, which is more than a new couch would cost. Mine has gotten faded from being in the sun, its now more pink than red. I have toyed with the idea of trying to sew a new cover, but the fabric is expensive and its a lot of work so I decided to try to resurrect it with $17 worth of RIT dye in cherry red.

I don't have a top loading washer, so I opted to try to let it soak in a tub. The worst that could happen is that it would come out uneven, and since its uneven already that didn't seem like much of a worry. My outside faucet is super noisy for some reason, so as I was filling the tub the neighbor came out to check on the sound. I told him it was just my hose, and he went back inside, only to immediately reappear and ask what I was doing. "It's not blood!!!" probably shouldn't have been my first response regarding the tub full of dye.

The red came out evenly, and the couch looks like new. The soop couldn't wait to make his mark on it, and jumped on the first arm as soon as it was covered.

 

I opted to switch up the configuration of the couch a bit to give it more of a chaise longue feel, so I left off the back, back cushions, and one of the arms. Who knew Ikea built transformers? Couches, roll out.

 

I've been slowly loading things back into the living room. It takes a lot of dusting to get anything settled, so its been a slow process. I had some friends over for a dinner party last night, so I had to get the table, chairs, and other necessities in. They decided to help me out by leaving mature and thoughtful messages on the mirror above the fire place.

 

Nothing says "hostess gift" like a dust-drawn dick.