To dye for
Quite a while back, I dyed my NZ wool roving using Easter egg dye and microwave steaming to set it. I have to admit I had some doubts, but it works really well!
I did two batches, a little more than half the ‘bump’ dyed (8 oz.?) and half of that spindle spun one weekend. Bump is one of those technical terms that crop up in the jargon of any field, and seems to mean a quantity of processed fiber rather than locks or raw wool. This bump took up a gallon zip-top bag. I’ve managed a fairly fine single, thanks to all the practice on the cat fur and the felting fiber. Then I chain plied it into about 92 yards of DK to worsted weight yarn.
At some point I’ll decide what to do with it!
This year I dyed more fiber with egg dyes, this time a pound of Romney wool and about an ounce of silk cap.
Pretty, don’t you think? I decided to do color families on the wool instead of the rainbow effect I did last year.
I used red, blue, and lime green on the silk and you can see that brilliant in the cap does not necessarily mean bright colors after drafting for spinning!
I also tried using the egg dyes on the cotton roving, with baking soda to make the mix more alkaline.
It is very pale, but pretty. I may try using wash soda to premordant the cotton as recommended, then use straight food coloring and see if that gives stronger colors. I also intend to try fiber-reactive dyes and some natural dyes on the cotton.
One kind of dyeing I really want to try: lichen dyeing. I think a good chunk of the lichens I collected from downed limbs after the ice storm can be fermented to produce a nice purplish color. The rest should produce some nice grays and browns. It’s really fun to experiment!