So, I had purchased 3 ounces of undyed BFL roving back in November, just for practice sake. And when I got my new spinning wheel (a Jensen Tina II), I spun it up as a 2-ply. Came out about DK weight. I liked it a lot and eventually hit upon the idea of dyeing it and knitting it into a scarf for my mom for her birthday. With about 232 yards, I thought the Cream of Spinach Scarf would work well.
So the last (and only) time I dyed fiber, I used what the The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook
refers to as the “Cold Pour” method. Which is basically pouring the dye onto the fiber (or yarn), wrapping it in Saranwrap and steaming it to set the dye. I found it messy, awkward. I thought I’d try something else. The Hot Pour method, of course.
With the Hot Pour method, you put your (pre-soaked) fiber into a cold vinegar/water solution and slowly bring it up to about 190 degrees F.
Then you pour the dye onto the part of the fiber where you want it to go. Supposedly if the temp is right and the pH level is right (about pH 4), then the dye will “strike” and basically adhere to the fiber where you pour the dye on. Supposedly.
OK, I didn’t have any pH test strips to test the acidity. And maybe my water wasn’t quite hot enough. Not sure. I had planned to use the following four colors from the Jacquard acid dyes: turquoise, sky blue, spruce and teal. (Yes, I suppose instead of ordering so many similar colors, I should try buying fewer colors and mixing them to achieve different shades. I’m working my way up to that point…not there yet…)
So I started with the lightest/brightest color first: turquoise.
I really don’t think I put too much dye in at all. But it didn’t seem to take and bond to the yarn very quickly. At all. It just dispersed throughout the pot and started going on all parts of the yarn, eventually. I added a lot more vinegar. The Twisted Sisters book cautions that too much vinegar will make the dye adhere on the surface so quickly that it will not go all the way through the fiber. So since mine wasn’t adhering at all, seemed to me there must not be enough vinegar.
After watching the turquoise simmer for about 10 minutes and not be completely absorbed into the fiber, and the water not become completely clear, I decided what the heck, I was just going to add other colors anyhow and sort of overdye (as the whole thing right now was a very light turquoise color…greenish and not much blue).
So first I put in some of the sky blue in one area.
That seemed to take somewhat to the fiber. And then I put in some spruce in an area adjacent to that. And finally the teal on the other end of the skein opposite the turquoise end. With each of these additions, the dye didn’t strike and adhere firmly to one spot. It did a bit, but then dispersed and in the end it turns out I have a yarn that is pretty much a blended color although there are some color-on-color variations in certain spots.
It’s not at all what I had planned, but I think it will still come out pretty. Not sure what I will do next time I dye. I have some 100% angora that I’ve spun up and want to knit a headband out of. I really think I’m going to do that one cold pour, so the colors go and stay where I want them, a definite advantage of the cold pour method…
Here is the yarn after rinsing:
You can see some color-on-color variations. It’s almost dry now (the picture above was taken several hours ago). I will re-skein it tomorrow and hopefully get some good/pretty pictures of it that show the very subtle color variations a bit…
Lovely colour!