Over the past few weeks I've had a gallon jar filled with an odd colored liquid brewing on my back porch. I checked it daily. Sometimes several times a day. Occasionally I picked the jar up and gave it a swish.
And when I'd used up all my patience watching the brew, wool was thrown in the mix to steep for awhile.
The first batch I tried (notice I said first?) used a salvaged piece of copper pipe from the recent water softener replacement. I filled my former sun tea jar with ammonia and the section of copper pipe and waited.
This is how it looked just a few minutes after the experiment started.
And this is how it looked a few days later.
Greener.
I added the chemical symbols (which may or may not be correct) after the Young Man asked if I was "making pickles". And added the "not a pickle" sign just to be sure everything was clearly understood.
After I got restless decided the brew hadn't changed anymore, I took out the copper pipe and added my wool.
And then several days later, when it appeared that this combination had about run its course and I was restless,
and it seemed that the wool was not taking up anymore of the broth's color, I removed the wool, carefully rinsed it and let it all dry.
The wool did not evenly take up the color, which was discouraging at first. And I believe that happened because I had it stuffed into that "pickle jar" with little room for the broth to circulate.
Learning....but.....
the parts that did take up the color in the broth were very pretty, and I pretty much stopped everything and sat down with Daphne Joy to spin.
I spun most of it in one sitting, then finished spinning and plying it to itself last night. That's a lie.
It was early this morning, in the wee hours, when I finished the plying.
But Gosh Darnit, I am so impressed and in love with this yarn and the colors that I couldn't NOT hang in there to see how it all turned out.
It is exactly the colors in the variegated ivy growing on the back porch.
I have another marinade started.......
Love,
Kim
4 comments:
Might as well dye a few eggs to match the yarn!
Hi, I just read last week in an old issue if Spinoff about this technique. You didn't say what the chemicals were that you put in the jar. Anyway the article used a large gallon jar, the piece of copper pipe and non-sudsing ammonia. Their liquid turned a beautiful robin's egg color. The writer said you could use it for several months, same liquid. I think I'll look for a piece of pipe and see what happens. I spent yesterday painting merino and targhee tops with Jacquard dyes and will hang them out in the frosty weather today.
Not a pickle? LOL
I LOVE the color. I just finished reading, The Complete Illustrated Book of Dyes from Natural Sources and I'm ready to start dying things. I may have to scrounge the garage for some copper...
Love the color you got and it made beautiful yarn. There's always a bit of mystery involved in natural dyeing for me, but that's at least half the fun.
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