Ice Dyeing

Here are the 4 scarves ice-dyed yesterday. Carol's are on top - they're stunning.  Mine are on the bottom. My red/orange one dried much lighter and is a coral color now. Lesson learned on that one - if you use a primary color dye, like red, it's going to dominate the scarf where as with other color dyes they are really mixtures of colors so when they ice dye they separate - much more interesting. What doesn't show up in this photo is what the scarves look like close-up - reminds me of marbled paper. We're hoping for snow this winter to try snow dyeing.

One of the chores on the to-do list now is photography of all the scarves dyed this past week - what a time sucker that will be....but first back to working on gifts.......

A day of dyeing..........

Friend Pat and I had a day of dyeing silk scarves and shawls. First they're washed, then soaked in soda ash, then fiber reactive dyes are applied, wrapped in plastic and they sit overnight to batch. The next day is rinse, rinse, rinse as fiber reactive dyes don't exhaust. I haven't see Pat's scarves yet as she took them home to batch and then rinse.

How's this for dramatic???

 

The shawls I had to dye have a burnout design on them - they're silk and rayon. I fell in love with the amethyst and blue wisteria dyes.

They take only 5 minutes to dry in this heat. Yes, we are back to summer, hot and dry, news tonight said the drought will be intensified through the end of the year - we were teased by that couple days of rain and cool weather......at least it got the fires contained.......but if we don't start getting fall rains fire season will never end.

How did I get so many scarves in these colors???  Some scarves will have a little surface design added to them using Shiva Paintstiks with stencils or rubbing plates.  It's hard to see in this picture but a couple of these scarves have very subtle color changes in them.

Here are a couple shawls - I was going for the ombre effect.

Love these rich colors

Very pretty

This looks weird in the photo but it's really pretty in person - nice autumn tones

I love the dramatic color change here

 

And here's that Blue Wisteria and Amethyst shawl again - love it

 

Next up was ice dyeing - we've never done it before so it was a learning experience

 

After the scarf is washed and soaked in soda ash it's put on a grid over a pan.,,,emphasis the pan or bucket as all that dye will be dripping off as the ice melts.  A screen would work better but I have tons of these grid pieces from my roving booth display so that's what I was using.....didn't want to go out and buy screening.

Pile the ice on high

 



Sprinkle the dye powder on top.  This is one of mine and I put too much  dye powder

This blue lavender one is Pat's - she put less dye powder which was better, as I said a learning experience.....I think perfect would be a tinge more dye than Pat used.

This is what they looked like the next morning after the ice all melted

And here are the finished ice dyed items. I should have taken close-ups because the patterning is incredible.  My favorites are Pat's blue lavender scarf and her silk top - she hasn't seen them yet as they had to stay here for the ice to melt. It's hard to tell in this photo but the designs the dye makes while the ice melts are stunning.

I've always been under the impression that the fiber reactive dyes are best used in 70 degree temps or warmer, while dyeing and while batching. So, how does ice dyeing work then??? Does anyone know?  And apparently it can be done in the snow too.

On a different subject - the van - we heard back from Dodge today and they're sending us a check for $500 of the $750 alternator repair - whoo hoo. Our position that it should have never happened to a vehicle less than 3 years old, 3000 miles out of warranty was justified.

Dye day

Today the temps were in the low 80's, only in the 50's in the morning - a perfect day for dyeing. What a change from the 100+ temps for the past few weeks.....but it's coming back - 100's starting Saturday all the way through next week.  Friend Kathy G asked if she could come over and help me, she's not a spinner so doesn't deal with roving but that didn't matter.  It was a fun day of dyeing and visiting.

I asked Kathy if she wanted to dye 2 pounds of roving - she mixed up southwest colors.

There's Kathy's roving on the left,  a bit brighter than southwest colors now but really nice.

Dyeing hundreds of pounds of roving every summer is wearing me out so this summer I'm only dyeing around 50 pounds. It's hard on the body standing on concrete all day plus I want to spend more time painting/dyeing warps for weaving.  Those will come after the roving is all dyed..........and after I wind a ton of warps.

Final dye day for a while.......

Today was another dye day, then I'm taking a break for a bit. It was a merino/tussah silk dye day. I love all of it except for that orangey one - it's just plain ugly and weird looking........but I'm thinking positive that when I spin a sample up it will be beautiful. Friend Pat came over to dye with me, she calls that orangey roving Hobbs, as in Calvin & Hobbs. I didn't get a picture of the yarn Pat overdyed, that she overdyed last year when here - it was pretty ugly but is not looking pretty nice.

If, a big if, this dries by tomorrow I'll get it weighed, bagged, labeled and photographed.  Then it's back to the quilt project - I really need to get that finished up, the sewing/craft room put back together and then clean up the piles in the weaving room so I can get back to the loom.......I'm having serious withdrawals.......

More dyeing.......

I spent more time at the dye table and steamers today.  Unfortunately my photo isn't showing true color, much prettier in person. One of these days I should take a picture of the roving on the drying racks after it's dried, it's much prettier all fluffy and big. The 4 rovings on the right two racks are merino/bamboo - the 2 on the left tall rack are alpaca/merino/silk - 11 pounds today.  I've got 10 pounds of merino/tussah roving on the schedule for Thursday......need a day off from dyeing tomorrow, it's hard on the feet and back working on the concrete and asphalt.

All in a day's work......

The temperature was below 90 today so I decided to do some dyeing, below 80 is even better for me but that's not going to happen for a while. This is all merino - 11 1/2 pounds of it. Fellow guild member Lucy came over to see my set-up and how I do my dyeing - I warned her it was not scientific (like how I started a number of years ago) but 'by the seat of my pants' dyeing and I'm having so much more fun with it. Lucy helped put some dye on roving and rinse and hang some fiber while here. I was trying for 2 custom colorways on the right, maybe the blue is ok, but the other definitely isn't - I've told that customer I am not a custom dyer so I may not be able to get what she wants. I like everything that was dyed today. I can't wait to spin up baby sample skeins of these.  Maybe tomorrow will be another dye day.........

Dye-Day

I've never posted step by steps of my dye day because I've got my wet gloved hands and don't feel like dealing with the camera. Today while dyeing 10 pounds of merino/tencel roving I decided to stop and take a few pix.

This is a long post on dyeing so if you're not interested stop here or go to the end to see Bailey, my dye companion.

One question I get asked quite often is "Why don't you dye more saturated bright colors?". Why? Well, they're not the colors I like as much. They are very fun to spin but then I find I have no clue what to use the resulting handspun for other than crazy sox. So I dye more muted colorways, many times in varying shades of one or two colors that will hopefully result in beautiful knitted, crocheted or handwoven items. I do dye colorways that don't appeal to me to spin but I try to have a bit of something for everyone.  Last year I got away from dyeing exact color separations because I personally am tired of spinning yarns that create definite stripes or barberpoles. I love the results of my current dyeing where I get more complex looking handspun yarn but no worries about color pooling or striping. If someone wants those bright colors there are plenty of other indie dyers out there that create beautiful colorways.....and they are beautiful.

My dye day actually starts with getting everything out - tables were already set up from yesterday, 2 burner propane stove set up, all squeeze bottles, measuring devices, buckets out from yesterday too so this morning all I had to do was pull the dye stocks out of the garage along with the papertowels and surgical gloves (Costco has a great price on these in boxes of many). I like having all my dye stock already made and ready to go - I make them up in 2 1/2 gallon containers at the end of the dye day so they're ready to go the next time. I make up red, blue, yellow, cyan, pink and then so I don't have to make brown I have a gold ochre and brown, and also black.

I fill up 2 buckets with a bit of synthrapol, some glugs of vinegar (yes, that is a technical term - glugs) and water. I already have my roving weighed out into approximately 8oz lengths - I put 2 8oz lengths in each bucket to soak for around 20 minutes. I buy my vinegar in large quantity at either Costco or Cash & Carry, a restaurant supply store - same prices, within blocks of each other. As soon as this roving moves to the table to be dyed, more roving goes in the buckets - it's a carefully orchestrated schedule I work on. I had to do this since I used to dye anywhere from 15-20 pounds in a day, now my limit is 10 pounds in a day, just too hard on the body anymore.

While it's soaking I work like a mad scientist mixing up my colors for that roving. My dyes are Jacquard that I buy in the monster containers since I go through a lot of dye - much more economical that way.

Then I layout 24" wide plastic wrap on both sides of the table with enough overhang on the ends to pull up over the roving after painted. This can be a pain to do if the wind is up - downright aggravating. Here I've got a total of 2 pounds of roving laying out ready to paint. See the edge of the table leg? I've got my tables sitting on bed risers to add height to them so I'm not bending over as much. I've also got cushioned floor pads on each side of the table and in front of the dye table - it's the gray 'thing' on the concrete.

Here  it is after painting. I use the squirt bottles to apply the dye and my fingers to make sure it's all worked in to dye all the fibers. Then I cover this up with the plastic, roll it up and put it in 2 gallon bags to steam. A pound of roving will not fit in a 1 gallon ziplock bag - Albertson's has been my store of choice for the 2 gallon bags for years (actually they're my only store that carries them), now all of a sudden they're not selling them - argh!  I had one box left. My cousin called and told me the dollar store had 2 1/2 gallon bags so I ran over there a couple weeks ago and bought lots and lots of them.....thinking I should go back and clean out the store shelf if I have time.

Here are two bags in one of the steamers. I have two of these pots going on the propane burners all day. Occasionally I have a turkey roaster (no, not with turkey, with roving in it) going on a side table too. They're big canning pots with the canning jar racks in the bottom covered by metal vegetable steamers to keep the bags out of the water. I steam them for around 45 minutes, give or take.

Here's what the roving looks like after it comes out of the steamer. I lay it out on the concrete, open up the plastic wrap, carefully because it is hot, and let it cool down before putting them in buckets to rinse. I thought about taking pictures of the roving in the buckets but then forgot - mind wanders while I'm out there listening to 60's music on Sirius radio.

Important little tube of ReDuran used at the end of the day to get dye off my skin, not sure what's in it but it's a pumice type of 'stuff'. I do wear gloves but occasionally get a splash of dye up on my arms but mostly the dye ends up on my feet - I'm a sloppy dyer. This works great at getting the majority of the dye off so I can go out in public tomorrow.

Here's what I dyed today. Yes, that's a yellow in there. When I first started dyeing yellow I thought no one would buy it but I love yellow and wear it often so figured I'd spin it myself. I still haven't spun any because it all sells. Maybe this time I'll get some spun for myself.  After the roving is all dry I weigh it, photograph it for my etsy shop, braid or bag it and spin a small sample. I've been braiding most of the roving (not the merino/bamboo or merino/tencel as those are thinner rovings) - braiding makes for pretty pictures, it also makes for easy storage but I really don't like how it compacts the roving.....not a big deal, just open it up a bit and it spins beautifully, but I'm considering going to bagging it all this year.

Bailey, Bailey, we're finished with dyeing today - you can wake up now.  His favorite spot laying under the maple and smooshing down my blue vinca and hostas.

Uh-oh, the wind just picked up and I heard a drying rack fall over - not a good thing as my drying racks are already being held together by duct tape and tie-wraps from constantly being blown over. Guess I better get down there and pick it all up..........

'tis the season.........

'tis the season to be dyeing - I'm behind, I usually would have started in May, if not April. Each year I seem to be cutting back how much I dye in a day - today it was just 8 pounds. All the standing on concrete/asphalt and bending over is wearing on me year after year. Today's fiber is merino/bamboo/silk.........this is the first time I've dyed this blend........I can't wait to spin the samples up after it's dry. I've been getting better with this camera on my handwovens but didn't do such a great job on the roving here.

Dye day....Bailey approved......

I only dyed 6 pounds of merino roving today but it felt like twice that much, guess I was running on empty and moving slow. I always take a picture of my roving soaking wet hanging to dry - I guess sometime I should take a picture of it after it dries when it's all fluffed up and 3 times it's size, so much prettier. Not sure what I did with the lavendar in the center - was originally thinking silver grey with a bit of blue but got carried away and added some lavendar. Bailey was his usual helpful pooch self today.

Dye day......

Today was a dye day as the temps have come down a bit and it was lovely out. This is 8 pounds of merino roving, tomorrow I'll finish up the remaining 6 pounds. Fiber friend Pat came over and overdyed some merino yarn from her sheep of days past, dyed some of her handspun merino and roving too. Nice day.

Thank you to those who have commented on Pinterest from my post yesterday.....hoping to get more feedback, still mulling over the whole idea of being pinned.......hmm, wasn't that a good thing in high school???  Well, at least for some, I was with the counter-culture/flowerchild/hippie/make love, not war crowd and being pinned was not something on my radar.

Another dye day.....

 It was another good dye day, this time merino/bamboo.......Bailey is always a big help

This is where he spends quite a bit of time on dye day laying under the mini japanese maple squishing down flat the hostas and vincas........it's nice and cool in there.......but Bailey look at the camera.....

 "I'm looking now mom but that sun is too bright"

"Did I hear you say we're done mom, we're really really done for the day and I can go inside and sleep on the bed under the ceiling fan with the air conditioning going? Whoo Hoo"

Successful dye day.....

Today was a very fun and very short dye day - here it is 2pm and I'm ready to shower after dyeing 10 pounds of merino/tencel roving. It's hard to show what the roving looks like in a photograph but the sheen is incredible due to the tencel. I'd love to spin each of these colorways....but being realistic I can't spin some of everything I sell, there are not enough hours in my day, let alone lifetime. I do get to spin a little sample of each to help sell it though so I do get satisfaction from that. The one on the far right, the grays and taupes is so beautiful. I can picture it being spun fairly fine and knit or woven into an elegant shawl. I might have to think on saving a bit of that for myself.........or I can just dye something similiar when I tackle the 10 pounds of merino/bamboo on the next dye day.

Dyeing....and a new friend....

Yesterday I dyed 6 pounds of merino/tussah - a very manageable amount with time left to mix up more dye stock solution and weigh out 10 pounds of merino/tencel and 10 pounds of merino/bamboo to dye in the near future. I can't wait to spin up some samples, that apricot colorway is beautiful. The golden yellow and golds with deep red are special orders, at least part of it is, the rest will be up for sale as soon as it's dry enough to braid, weigh and tag.

Here's my new friend Perry the Peacock, although I'm not sure I really want him hanging around the house. Yesterday evening he was hanging out just 10 feet from the front door but it was dusk and too dark to get a good picture. This morning he was halfway up the hill so it was tough to get a picture but these are my attempts at it.

Here's a side view of Perry. Some of you may remember that we had Phil the Pheasant hanging around on this hill for a while buddying up with the turkeys - not sure where he went or who ate him but he hasn't been around in a long time. Now I'm wondering where Perry came from......if I see him again I'll give a call to Wildlife Images to see if they're missing a peacock, they're just down the road a couple miles. If you're ever in SW Oregon they have a great tour you can take.

Back to the dye pots.....

I'm finally back to the dye pots and my body is feeling it from standing on concrete all day. I forgot how long it takes to dye silk hankies, you wouldn't think 1 1/2 pounds of them would take very long to dye since I regularly dye 10 pounds of roving in a day and have dyed up to 20 pounds in a day. Hopefully they'll be dry shortly so I can go collect them, the wind is picking up and being so light they'll be all over the place if I leave them out there much longer. Tomorrow I'll be dyeing some merino/tussah roving. Then I'll be watching the temps to see when the next dye day is.

Whoo Hoo!!!!

Whoo-Hoo.....the last of the roving dyeing for months!  This is the second half of the corriedale cross roving I was dyeing yesterday. I've put the acid dyes away, all utensils/pots are drying and will be put away next, two burner propane stove ready to come inside the garage for the winter.Tables will stay out  under the deck for a bit as I want to wind some warps to paint....but that's using fiber reactive dyes, totally different process.  I'm still working on spinning up samples from all the fiber I've been dyeing, then pix of them to add to my etsy shop listings.

Dye day.....

Today's efforts - 8 pounds of corriedale cross. I love the one on the right, it's hard to tell in the picture but it looks like the felted wool fabric that's out there for sewing/penny rugs/etc - kind of heathery, can't wait to spin a sample of it. If I wake up tomorrow in the mood to dye  I'll finish up the rest of it and then then acid dyes get put away for the winter - hurray!

Hand-dyed merino roving

Today's accomplishments.....merino roving........all of it was playing except the center light yellow which is my colorway called Buttercream. I adore yellow and should have put some of this color aside last time I dyed it but I didn't and it all sold....so here's some more.....hopefully I'll pull some out for me before it sells.

Another dye day....

Perfect weather for dyeing today, sunny and around 70 degrees. I finished up the last of the Falkland - that taupe colorway doesn't show off to it's best in the photo but it's beautiful - I might have to spin some up myself. I also had 10 skeins of laceweight 75% merino/25% silk yarn that I dyed. What's with all the blue???  Then I weighed out the next roving to dye - 12 pounds of merino.

Cool weather = Dye weather

Today was a perfect dye day - cool and overcast - sun finally showed it's face late afternoon

I like the days efforts...especially those seaglass colors on the left (whoops, forgot to say that this is Falkland wool)

I love it when the pampas grass blooms....well, it may not be called blooming but that's what I'm calling it - these 'blooms' are around 10 ft tall

Another day of dyeing......

It was another day at the dyepots. Today my fibery friend Pat came over to help, I really enjoyed having company for the day and she was a huge help. She was doing everything from mixing dye colors to painting it on and rinsing it out....and then there's all the washing of tools. The heat is returning so dyeing will be put on hold for a bit, as soon as it cools back down to at least 80 I'll be back at it - have 6 more dye days to get under my belt......if I wore a belt........