In the Dye Pot - More Preparations for Weaving

 Knit Picks Fingering Gloss (merino wool and silk) dyed with Procion Grape and Cerulean Blue. 

Dharma has a method for using fiber-reactive dyes (using vinegar, salt  and heat in place of the soda ash) on wool.  I've had good success with it, as you can see!

Turns out, I wasn't all that enamored of the 'spensive cashmire yarn I bought to make more circle scarves.  So I looked through my stash to see what I could dye myself that was a comparable fiber type (not cashmire, but soft) and weight.  

I had some alpaca and some Knitpicks Merino and Silk that look to have the same weight (1 or laceweight).

It's my usual comfortable color pallet:  Blue, Green, and Purple.

 

Procion Cerulean Blue (Knitpicks Gloss: Merino and silk)

 

Procion Cerulean Blue in the dye pot. 

 

Dyer's notes.

In the Dye Pot:  Bring water to just below simmering.

Add the following:

• 1-1/2 T Salt
• 1/3 cup Vinegar
• 1/4 cup Dye Stock (I could have used more.  These feel a little too pastel-y.)
  
• Add pre-soaked yarn.
  
• Simmer until dye has been taken up by the yarn.   (About 2 hours or so.)

  It came out a nice sky blue.

Yarn label.  Knit Picks Fingerling Gloss. 

Procion Grape (with a little extra Cerulean Blue) on Knitpicks Gloss: Merino and silk.

 

 Dyer's Notes.

Procion Leaf Green on alpaca yarn. Looks almost black!

 

Dyer's Notes.  I thought I might have to mix the color myself.  Greens and purples are tricky to get "just the right color." 

 

Yarn label with specifics. 

 This is how it came out -- much lighter than I expected. More of a Granny Smith apple green.  Gorgeous under normal circumstances, but not quite what I was going for here ...

All of these came out pastel-y.  Will another round of dye deepen the colors?  

What if I use the Wilton's food coloring dyes this time?

Black Cherry Yarn

Black Cherry Hand-dyed Yarn

Another batch of black cherry yarn, dyed on the stove top with Procion Dye, salt and vinegar.  This one came out plummier than the earlier batches because I did not add a splash of wine red this time.  Still lovely!  I used my favorite method of dying a loose ball of yarn held together in a net onion bag.

In the Dye Pot,
1-1/2 T salt
1/3 cup white vinegar (No soda ash, as you would normally use with Procion dye.  It can damage wool fiber, so we substitute vinegar and heat instead.)
Enough water to cover / submerge the balls of yarn,held together in a loose re-used onion bag (just to keep it from unraveling in the pot.

Heat this until it gets just ready to simmer.

For the dye concentrates, I mixed up
1 tsp Procion dye powder with
about 2 cups warm water.
1 put that in a plastic bottle with a tight-fitting cap, so I could shake it up until the dye powder was completely dissolved.

When the water is just ready to simmer, add the dye concentrate and the balls of yarn.
Let them simmer for about 1 hour.

Let cool, then rinse, and dry.  I can't wait to see this knit up!