Tuesday, June 2

Getting the dye pots out of hibernation

Wow June already!!! Can't believe it is June, but every year goes faster and faster. Anyway its just about time for the dye pots to come out of hibernation. The flowers will be blooming soon and the indigo vat is on its way!! I am looking into undyed yarns for just this reason, also looking to get more fleece. I want to try some experiments with the fleece that I have been thinking about.
So now I have to brush up on my mordant and dye recipes and look for new ones to play with. I have a few things in mind for a couple of projects, so we shall see. Also I have some stuff I want to overdye for some things I want to do this winter. I have a feeling I will be doing alot of dyeing this summer.
I also am taking a spinning workshop in August!! Yippee, its right here in NYC, Insubordiknits is doing a 2 day workshop on art yarn. I have been looking to take classes for that but couldn't find any around here. And her workshop is really reasonable too. So I am looking forward to that. And if I can hurry up and get some fiber dyed I can use my own dyed fibers, maybe I can do some blending on the drum carder as well. I just have to many things I want to do and not enough time. I really need to quit my job LOL
So off to read some dye recipes.

2 comments:

Robyn said...

Hi! Just did an experiment with dandelions today - loads of them. Probably equal to the weight of the wool. Boiled for about 1/2 hr, then simmered for another 1/2 hr. Strained into a new pot, added about 20 pennies to the pot and about 2 TB of alum, added wet wool and simmered for about 1/2 hr, now cooling down. Colour is nice - somewhere between yellow and green, but in a good way. So magical!!!

LICraftgal said...

That sounds pretty!!! I just love dyeing with nature! The pennies sound like a great idea too. I have tons of them in a jar.