The Dye Pot

Terra Copper

Materials

Paton's Merino wool, worsted weight. 50 grams, natural color
PAAS dye tablets: 2 orange, 1 red, 1/2 purple
White vinegar
Water

Method

Crock pot

Colorfast?

Yes

Color name

Terra Copper

Soaked the yarn in cool water, dissolved the dye in white vinegar, added the dye solution to about 4 quarts of water, mixed and poured into the crock pot. Added the soaked yarn (soak time - about 45 minutes), stirred gently to acquaint all the yarn with the dye bath, put the lid on and turned the crock pot to the high setting.





The use of 3 1/2 tablets of dye is more than I would normally use for 50 grams of yarn. However, I wanted a really intense, saturated color and so decided to go a little overboard by nearly doubling the quantity of dye. It did take a while for the dyebath to exhaust - close to 6 hours - but eventually the liquid cleared.





The swatch was done on size 9 US (5.5 mm) needles.

Notes: This is much closer to the color I was aiming for with Here Comes the Sun!. This color is fun and vibrant without looking garish (well, maybe it's a little bright!) and I think a slight muting (maybe using strong tea as a base liquid rather than plain water?) would make it absolutely perfect. Just, please don't call it pumpkin. I'd have to shoot you and that would make us both unhappy :)

Posted by Robbyn on 06/03 at 08:42 PM