Adventures in Dyeing - A Tale of Woe
When spring comes to this neck of the woods, it brings with it bright sunshine and gentle breezes - perfect for hanging freshly dyed skeins out to dry! I will begin this tale with a success story. I'm sure you remember the mill end sock yarn I got from Discontinued Brand Name Yarn in a color called Chocolate Cherries - a hideous, unharmonious combination of red, fuschia and bright grass green!
My intent was to over-dye the green (which I hated), perhaps with a purple or dark blue since it would take a dark color to overcome such a shade. I was concerned because I don't know anything about commercial dyes so I thought it safest to overdye with something I knew - Koolade! I used a few packages of grape/purple and a couple of blueberry. I didn't get anything in the range of blues or purples but I DID get a dark purply brown which I think softens the red/fuschia combo. (yes, the first picture is a little off, color-wise)
Before After
So, with this success under my belt I picked up my three skeins of freshly spun confetti yarn and marched straight into disaster! Like so many of the best laid plans, I had good intentions. I had decided that the yarn did, indeed look very grey and the nebs really weren't shown off to their best advantage. I thought maybe if I dyed it a very light pink, the bright blue, dark pink and sunshine yellow nebs would really 'pop'.
I actually purchased an 11 quart enamel canner to dye with, since you're not supposed to use pots used for food. I know how important it is for there to be sufficient water for the skein to move around in. I was well prepared - I thought. Since I am the proud owner of several hundred packages of Koolade (purchased for $1.00 for 20 from the discount bin at the grocery store) I was confident I wouldn't run out.
I started with Strawberry-kiwi but I know it produces a rather coral-pink so I added a bit of plain strawberry which is a nice red. It made the water more pink and less coral. I was pleased with the color (I know the color of the water will be the color of the yarn) so I began to submerge my first damp skein. Then it happened - ALL the dye went into the first 1/3 of the skein as it submerged!! I could hardly believe my eyes!!! Naturally, it also meant that the part of the skein with dye was now a very dark pink, instead of a light pink! To add to the disaster, the supposedly cotton nebs had successfully taken on the dye as well and disappeared! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!
What to do? What to do? What to do?? This turn of events was so unexpected I had NO back-up plan. All I knew is I couldn't reverse what had happened. I looked at the yarn - all my hard work, all the pretty nebs that I had loved in the first place completely gone - how could I turn this around?? My eyes fell on a zillion packages of Koolade so I started opening them. I checked some files on my computer of some favorite skeins I had seen on the internet and resigned myself to neb-less hand dyed handspun yarn. Sigh! Yes, we can pause a moment here while I hide in the closet and cry....
I finally decided the best thing to do was try to work with the color I already had so I dyed all three skeins red. The places held by the cotton string didn't take on dye much at all which was now part of the plan.
This left spaces for a second color blend. I decided to do my own version of Spinning Bunny's Oriental Poppies. I had to use a commercial dye for this part. No Koolade in the world makes a color this dark. I blended Birches (dark grey) and Bright Blue with a touch of Royal Purple. I mixed a gallon batch and applied it with come condiment squirt bottles I picked up for .77 each.
I have to admit that this part was actually kind of fun, in spite of how depressed I was. It was my first time actually "hand painting" and it felt so cool applying the color where I wanted it and it stayed!
When I was finished all 3 I carefully layered them in the enamel pot. I added about an inch of water in the bottom and put on the lid. Then into the oven, pre-heated to 250, for about 2 hours. Then I turned off the stove and left it over night to cool.
In the morning came a happy outcome!
So I hung them out to dry (another very poor color pic - the one above is more accurate). The center skein needs a bit of a red touch up but I will do that later - after I have recovered from this "adventure"!!
My intent was to over-dye the green (which I hated), perhaps with a purple or dark blue since it would take a dark color to overcome such a shade. I was concerned because I don't know anything about commercial dyes so I thought it safest to overdye with something I knew - Koolade! I used a few packages of grape/purple and a couple of blueberry. I didn't get anything in the range of blues or purples but I DID get a dark purply brown which I think softens the red/fuschia combo. (yes, the first picture is a little off, color-wise)
Before After
So, with this success under my belt I picked up my three skeins of freshly spun confetti yarn and marched straight into disaster! Like so many of the best laid plans, I had good intentions. I had decided that the yarn did, indeed look very grey and the nebs really weren't shown off to their best advantage. I thought maybe if I dyed it a very light pink, the bright blue, dark pink and sunshine yellow nebs would really 'pop'.
I actually purchased an 11 quart enamel canner to dye with, since you're not supposed to use pots used for food. I know how important it is for there to be sufficient water for the skein to move around in. I was well prepared - I thought. Since I am the proud owner of several hundred packages of Koolade (purchased for $1.00 for 20 from the discount bin at the grocery store) I was confident I wouldn't run out.
I started with Strawberry-kiwi but I know it produces a rather coral-pink so I added a bit of plain strawberry which is a nice red. It made the water more pink and less coral. I was pleased with the color (I know the color of the water will be the color of the yarn) so I began to submerge my first damp skein. Then it happened - ALL the dye went into the first 1/3 of the skein as it submerged!! I could hardly believe my eyes!!! Naturally, it also meant that the part of the skein with dye was now a very dark pink, instead of a light pink! To add to the disaster, the supposedly cotton nebs had successfully taken on the dye as well and disappeared! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!
What to do? What to do? What to do?? This turn of events was so unexpected I had NO back-up plan. All I knew is I couldn't reverse what had happened. I looked at the yarn - all my hard work, all the pretty nebs that I had loved in the first place completely gone - how could I turn this around?? My eyes fell on a zillion packages of Koolade so I started opening them. I checked some files on my computer of some favorite skeins I had seen on the internet and resigned myself to neb-less hand dyed handspun yarn. Sigh! Yes, we can pause a moment here while I hide in the closet and cry....
I finally decided the best thing to do was try to work with the color I already had so I dyed all three skeins red. The places held by the cotton string didn't take on dye much at all which was now part of the plan.
This left spaces for a second color blend. I decided to do my own version of Spinning Bunny's Oriental Poppies. I had to use a commercial dye for this part. No Koolade in the world makes a color this dark. I blended Birches (dark grey) and Bright Blue with a touch of Royal Purple. I mixed a gallon batch and applied it with come condiment squirt bottles I picked up for .77 each.
I have to admit that this part was actually kind of fun, in spite of how depressed I was. It was my first time actually "hand painting" and it felt so cool applying the color where I wanted it and it stayed!
When I was finished all 3 I carefully layered them in the enamel pot. I added about an inch of water in the bottom and put on the lid. Then into the oven, pre-heated to 250, for about 2 hours. Then I turned off the stove and left it over night to cool.
In the morning came a happy outcome!
So I hung them out to dry (another very poor color pic - the one above is more accurate). The center skein needs a bit of a red touch up but I will do that later - after I have recovered from this "adventure"!!
Wow! Thanks for sharing your adventure. I actually felt like I was experiencing it along with you as I read!
Oh, and I love the little sheep on your side bar...so cute!!
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Sorry to make you CRY! (oh, not quite that real?) Not one of my better days, to be sure!!
Thanks! I LOVE my little flock!! I'm always looking for new ones to steal!
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I am so sad about the confetti yarn! I want to hide in the closet and cry with you! I really liked that and it took so long for you to make it. I suppose if you are happy with the new colour it wasn't a complete loss. Why do some mistakes have to be so permanent!
I must say I am enjoying reading your blog entries this week! I hope you are having as much fun writing them!
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"Sad" barely begins to express it! Thanks for the sympathy! Of course I've thought of a million "fixes" since then - like using some dye remover instead of going ahead and coloring the whole batch - oh well, it's all water under the bridge now!
And believe me - blogging is fun but it can be a lot of work too! Fun work, but still work! tee! hee!
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You are a braver woman than I am! :o)
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You mean for doing it - or for having the nerve to tell the tale?? ROFL!!!
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