The Dye Pot

Come Sail Away

Materials

Approximately 6 ounces aran weight wool (Lionbrand Fisherman’s Wool)
PAAS dye tablets: 3 violet, 3 blue
White vinegar
Water

Method

Crock pot

Colorfast?

Yes

Color name

Come Sail Away

I did wash this yarn and left the detergent in it for the dye process.  No salt, however, was harmed in the dyeing of this yarn :) Dye was dissolved in vinegar and water added to create enough solution to cover the yarn - except it didn’t :) There was a lot more yarn than I usually dye at one time and it filled the crock.  The dye went over and around, in and out and didn’t come anywhere near covering the yarn.  So I quickly filled the bowl with tap water and poured that into the crock until the yarn was submerged.  Everything was processed on low until the dye was exhausted.  The yarn, after cooling, was washed in dish detergent, rinsed, towelled and hung to dry.

The colors in this remind me of sunset on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, where my family vacationed when I was a kid.  There’s slightly less than 6 ounces of it and that’s not going to go terribly far, but I want to do something really special with it.  The swatch was worked on size 8 (US) needles.

Notes: I had been aiming for a solid blue-violet but after the dye tablets had dissolved, the dye in the bowl looked very blue, medium dark, and showed very little red presence at all.  I shrugged mentally, decided I could live with the color, and proceeded to pour the dye over the yarn in the crock pot.  It didn’t, of course, hit all of the yarn nor did the liquid completely cover the yarn so I quickly added more water.  When the water hit the parts of the yarn that had absorbed some of the dye it washed away the color - except for the reds (which turned out to be there after all!) leaving a pink color in the yarn!  After getting the liquid level right, I stirred everything together (gently, of course), set the crock pot on low and went and did some last minute grocery shopping.

When I got home, I checked to make sure the yarn had absorbed all the dye (it had), turned the pot off and let it cool.  From what I was looking at the top of the crock, it looked as though the purple had established a presence and what I could see looked very close to the blue-violet I had originally had in mind.  Imagine my surprise when I lifted it out to be washed and saw all kinds of colors running through the hank ranging from pink/purple to blue to blue/green! 

I want to try this “technique” (fortuitous accident!) again, with a little more deliberation and planning as to where the colors are placed before adding enough water to cover the yarn.  I’m also wondering about doing this with an already colored yarn.  You know - just to see what happens!

Again, as before with the LB FIsherman’s wool, there was no felting.  However, as I did the final wash with dish soap rather than a shampoo/conditioner kind of thing, the yarn was still a bit rough. 

Posted by Robbyn on 07/03 at 02:58 AM