Hey, it's Easter, and guess what I did? I did some dyeing! Fiber dyeing that is. Aided by chocolate from Cole, the Easter Bunny 'round these parts, and inspired by this photo of someone else's easter egg dye yarn (those colors! mmmm...), I decided to give it a whirl myself.Only my 2nd 'dye job' (tried Kool-Aid awhile back), I pulled out some egg dye I bought at the Dollar Store last year, my gallon jug o' vinegar, and every glass dish I could find in the house (including a loaf pan and a pie plate). Quick read of the package and an online tutorial or 2 (sorry, didn't pay attention to which ones; they're all about the same), and me and the microwave are off and running!
I dug out some undyed Wensleydale roving, some bamboo noils, and some hemp - completely forgot that this is the wrong-o dye for either of the latter 2. Doh! So the first batch was hinky. But no worries, I soldiered on.I used 2 tablets per batch of ~2oz. of roving, plus a couple of glugs of vinegar to dissolve the tablets and a half cup or so of cold water. Found that the roving took the dye better and more evenly when wetted before entering the dyebath (gee, just like the tutorials said!). Then 2 mins in the nuker, and 2 mins. of cooling - each 3 times for a total of 6 mins. in the hot box and 6 cooling. Then they sat for an hour or 2 out on the deck and cooled some more, while I had some more coffee and waited for them to set and exhaust the dyebaths. All but the orange and the green did, which was weird. That's them sitting all pretty in their various receptacles.
Then a rinse with the hose, a whirl through the Oxo salad spinner, and on to the drying rack. (Notice the disc golf basket in the background).I like all the colors, although I wish the green was less Xmas and more lime. The purple is very splotchy, which I didn't initially like, but it's growing on me. I'm thinking maybe I didn't get the dyebath stirred up properly with that one?
These short lengths of roving will be the perfect additions to my new BOMBits art yarn ingredient kits. Look for them in the COLORBOMB Creations Etsy shop this week!
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Wow,
ReplyDeletethose came out amazing well...hmmm, probably less toxic than the jacquard too.
I don't own a hot box, but i wonder if I could kettle dye with them.
might be a way to get the little man involved in my next dye day.
I like the litte white baby daisy's or oxalis in the background.
It is so sunny and nice in CA today.
MMmmmm.
If you are on LJ too I am
here...
http://atomHEARTeve.livejournal.com
I know it is kinda a commercial place but everyone is there and I like to read and spy on everyones lives...haha.
I will bookmark you and check back to see what other oddities you get into.
xo
E
thanks for the kind words, E!
ReplyDeleteyes, you *can* kettle dye with the easter egg dyes; they are regular food grade dyes (like Kool Aid and Wilton's). non-toxic as a result. but jacquard isn't toxic unless you inhale it, fyi. i'm just waiting 'til i have the cash to buy some dedicated pans and a buttload of dye, then i'm all over the acid dyeing.
i'll try to remember to read your lj blog, but i gotta say, i'm so crazy busy these days i hardly ever remember to read my peeps' blogs. but i'll try!
(those are daisies in our lawn. spring has sprung, baby!!
Peanut butter and chocolate are the best combo EVER. Anyway, I tagged you. Come over and play if you want.
ReplyDeletedude, no way! i got tagged by another knitter w/ this exact meme, and drafted a post for tomorrow w/ it!! haha, what are the freakin' odds? i'll put you as a dual-tagger in the post. thanks for stoppin' by!
ReplyDeletecheers, v
I read somewhere that purple dyes are notorious for doing that kind of thing... something about the blue and red being absorbed at different rates (but you prolly already knew that)
ReplyDeleteoh, CNE, thanks, I *had* read that somewhere, but had completely forgotten! the hank of roving i didn't wet first took almost no dye, and is even more splotchy, which makes sense. i'll have to go read up on other ways to get purple to absorb. and then figure out what to do with the ugly purple. (blend, probably.)
ReplyDelete