dye day
I had a dye day on Monday of this week. I want to hook a pattern of an orange striped cat’s face but did not have any wools that would work for the cat’s base color, nor the stripes. I started out with 2 beige windowpane wools – one wool had darker windowpane lines than the other. I created a few shades of the same gold color by cutting the recipe in half, doing the recipe as written or by doubling the recipe. I got some great shades for the orange cat! I also dyed a dark pumpkin color.
I did a few other colors – a dark purple, orchid, peacock and a blueish grey. I can see these colors being used as flowers! I also started a new dye record book. Since this was the first time I have dyed wool at Fair Oaks, I am figuring out how the well water affects the dye process. I documented everything – how much wool I used, the name of the color recipe, how long I simmered the wool before the vinegar, how much vinegar I added, how much longer I simmered after the vinegar, how long I left it in the pot to cool and how much color was left in the water before rinsing. It is a lot of documenting but will give me insight into how the minerals in the water affects the dyeing process.
I did not have any unexpected results so called the dye day a success!
Fair Oaks Wool Designs 