This is the pot of Gulf Native Sheep wool, soaking in water with alum for a mordant.
This is the wool with the fermented but strained fruit juice.
(I have set the jar in the pool area to get the sun and heat up but not too hot!)
The color is really this bright fuschia!
I set the pan of roving with a lid in the sun for several hours.
After I poured off the excess water/dye mixture, the wool looks like this. A but more blue violet or violet blue!
Next came a very good rinse followed with a long soak in warm water with citrus acid to help set the color. The roving is spun out in my washer and then hung in the bathroom to finish drying!
I can't wait to spin it but I am going to wait until the TDF this July. I am building up my stash for the big spin! This was a great experiment and worth the work to see such a great color!
wow, gorgeous colour! I thought that it might look great in the dye pot - and turn yellow or beige on the wool (yes, has happened to me before:)... do you think the pink will be lightfast? looks like you're planning to do a lot of spinning for the TDF:)
ReplyDeleteLook at that!!!! What a fun project!
ReplyDeleteFor once, I wish I lived where there were cactus plants. ;)
ReplyDeleteThis will be awesome for the TdF and I can hardly wait until July to see it spun up.
You forgot to mention the stink! Lol. :)
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to mention the stink! Lol. :)
ReplyDeleteYour roving looks gorgeous! Am trying to understand your method and was wondering why you wait to add citric acid after you rinse? When I've seen people dye roving or in books, they usually pre-soak in the mordant or use citric acid during dyeing. Is it just specific to this type of juice, to get this color from the juice, or as an extra effort to make the color more permanent / lightfast?
ReplyDeleteYour roving looks gorgeous! Am trying to understand your method and was wondering why you wait to add citric acid after you rinse? When I've seen people dye roving or in books, they usually pre-soak in the mordant or use citric acid during dyeing. Is it just specific to this type of juice, to get this color from the juice, or as an extra effort to make the color more permanent / lightfast?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information you left on my blog about using the citric acid after the mordant to help fix the color. When I've had the color run when I wash yarns I've spun or items I've knit with yarn made by others, I've used Retayne a couple of times and it has stopped the running. I'm wondering if it would help (don't know if it helps with ligtfastness). Also, I believe Jacquard has a product for fixing dyes after dyes are applied that you may want to research. Both of these were for fabrics, but may work for fibers. I bet the manufacturers might be willing to answer questions.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information you left on my blog about using the citric acid after the mordant to help fix the color. When I've had the color run when I wash yarns I've spun or items I've knit with yarn made by others, I've used Retayne a couple of times and it has stopped the running. I'm wondering if it would help (don't know if it helps with ligtfastness). Also, I believe Jacquard has a product for fixing dyes after dyes are applied that you may want to research. Both of these were for fabrics, but may work for fibers. I bet the manufacturers might be willing to answer questions.
ReplyDeleteYour Prickly Pear Cactus looks so very good. I dyed using it once and made myself a tea cozy with the yarn. It is so wonderful to see your work. Beautiful!!
ReplyDelete