Dyeing to Tell

Here is the saga of my latest dyeing adventure. I painted rovings! Starting with superwash rovings is supposed to insure that I don't felt the roving before I get a chance to spin it. To the right I am prepping the fibers, spreading them out so there are no thick spots to inhibit even dye uptake. The rovings are all wet from a long soak in warm water with synthropol. I am using Jacquard acid dyes. The saffron (pictured) & sky blue rovings are mill ends from The Shed.

Starting with a colored fiber means I am over-dying and the original color will tint every color I paint onto the fiber. With that in mind, I chose Fire Red, a dark orange mix, a light orange mix and pure Sky blue for the saffron rovings. I was hoping that the red would be strong enough to completely overpower the yellow fiber, and it did. And the Sky Blue would tint into a bright green which it also did. The colors interacted with the saffron pretty close to what I expected. What I did not expect was how much the dyes would wick down the fiber. My stripes of color almost all turned out too close together and I lost much of my fabulous green to the red leaking over it and turning it purple. Not really what I wanted. You can see from the upclose picture of the roving that the stripes were relatively separate when I applied them. However, as they soaked in and then got steamed, they spread out quite a bit. To the left is the 4, 1oz strips of saffron just after painting. To the right is the close up of the stripes. Can you believe that most of those narrow, dark stripes that look green are actually pure blue and got covered up by the red stripes to either side? Cool.


After painting the rovings on both sides I rolled them up into saran wrap coils. They had been prepped on top of saran wrap, so this step was relatively easy. Then I steamed them in a big pot for at least 20 min. Let them cool overnight and then rinsed them out. I was really impressed with how little dye bled out. That steaming really sets the color! Next I laid them out to dry. After a day or so trying to keep the kids from knocking the trays with the fiber over onto the floor they were ready to braid up for storage.

I love the picture below of the colorful rovings drying.
I wish the sun had been shining on them, but that will have to wait for another day.



Finally, we have the finished products. A colorful mass of fiber that, I hope, will spin into bright, confetti yarns. I will try a different colorway on the sky blue next time. The red covered over more than I expected. I think it would have been better with just the dark blue, black & purple. The entire process took much longer than anticipated. I thought I was embarking on an hour or so playtime at 9pm and instead finished wearily at 12:30am, leaving the coils cooling in the steam pot. I definitely learned a ton. So, anytime you want to paint some rovings, come on over and let's have at it! Just plan for twice as long as you think it might take.

Let the dyeing begin!

I realize, as I sit down to write this note, that I have no pictures to wow you as to the total coolness of dying. When I start dying I tend to let the world fade away as I pretend I am a mad chemist mixing potions that will change the world. My poor children. It is as if they do not exist. Which is why today I only mixed potions. I do not have enough time before needing to make dinner to ignore the universe.

I am planning ahead this time. I would like to recreate any awesome color I happen to make, so today I made 1% dye stock solutions. Before I began actually mixing I delved into the topic of the ideal dye powder to use. Jacquard Acid Dyes or Sabraset dyes.

Deb Menz recommends Sabraset. I adore Deb Menz. I have her book, Color in Spinning, and it is well on it's way to becoming dogeared. I took her workshop on plying as well. Which is why I bought her book. She is a color genius and entirely more concerned with the details than I am and her book has LOTS of info on dye formulas, DOS and everything else. She ONLY used Sabraset for protein fibers. That is a problem. Sabrasets are available from Pro-Chem and until I call them and whine about shipping to Alaska, the shipping is PROHIBITIVE.

Jacquard Acid dyes are available all over the place. Dharma Trading seems to have them for the best price and the shipping is half that of ProChem. Hmmm, do I sense an AK prejudice?

prepare for shipping rant: Extreme shipping to Alaska is usually charged by companies who think saying 'continental US only' excludes Alaska. HELLLOOOOO we are on the continent of North America, just like you!! In fact, Fed Ex & UPS have, like, their 3rd largest hubs in Anchorage so the chances that your packages go through AK on a regular basis are pretty good. Contiguous is the word to use and when a company or person knows the difference I accept their shipping prices. If the shipping is still unreal after using Contiguous I politely use a different vendor. We use the same stamps that you all do. We even share the US Dollar. Okay, rant getting out of hand. Whoa there Nelly! Let's go pet a moose and remember why we live here.

Jacquard dyes use only vinegar or citric acid to bind and have lots of pretty colors to choose from. If I wasn't obsessed with mixing and blending I might not even have to if I ordered all their colors. But that would take all the fun away.

Based on availability I have decided to go with Jacquard for now. Besides, it is available in my studio RIGHT NOW. And I would have to order any Sabraset and wait. I hate waiting. So, today I mixed up 1% solutions. Why? I guess it will be easier to mix colors, less mess to inhale when I don't have to mix powder each time, and I get to have big jugs of mysterious chemicals on my shelves. What more could a wanna be chemist have? The next step is to photo all my fiber in it's current state. Do a ton of math to figure out my Depth of Shade (DOS) etc and come out with exact amounts of dye stock, vinegar, water & fiber. I am exciting just writing that. Lord, help me, I'm addicted.