Friday, November 11, 2011

More Color Play

I decided to try the same color combina-
tion as I used last time on oatmeal Mickey. This time I used white Robby (left) and cafe au lait Ollie (right). The left is far more pink and I'm inclined to think I'll use more of Ollie in the future. I think I get a richer tone.
Today was a quiet day so I brought down a couple more bumps and my sample cards with the ratios on them. I decided to divide the bumps in half and dye 2 ounces at a time, still putting the same colors on both wools.
These are my results today. I finally realized how Mim gets her DNA dyeing results. I had been pouring my dye liquors into a cup and then stirring them. Today I didn't stir, which allowed the dyes to strike in the steamer at different times. I love my results! Can you tell which sample is white and which one is overdyed?

These are the plastic cups I use to measure the dye liquors and the syringes that measure the cc.s for me. The liquor is 10 grams of dye power to 1000 milliliters of water, and then I use 100 cc of dyes to 4 ounces of fiber. The bath is exhausted at the end of 30 minutes of steaming - it's perfect.
I unroll the dye packet after the steaming is completed and lay it flat on the garage floor. It's so cold that by the time I've finished clean-up, it's cool enough to rinse and hang to dye. I've experienced no felting at all with the packets, unlike steaming in the lasagne dish. I'm converted.
My mother used to say, Pretty is as pretty does. Pretty!
Charlie, the entitled one.

5 comments:

Annie said...

Lovely results! Dyeing is so much fun.

Jody said...

You are very talented being able to dye, spin, knit and weave so beautifully!

Nina said...

Awesome results with dyeing. Love Charlie's picture. He looks so content.

Benita said...

Well, congratulations on the lovely dyeing. They look beautiful and I can't wait to see what they look like all spun up.

Kathy said...

Atta boy, Charlie! You de Cat!