In the previous blog the fiber was mordanted and ready to go. We got our dye bath prepared. So if you left your fiber to dry you need to soak it in room temperature water so that it will accept the dye or if your fiber is still wet from the mordant bath you can use it right away. Once the dye bath is strained from the walnut husks it should be very dark and free of walnut matter. Place your pot with dye bath on the burner and slowly begin to warm. As the dye bath's temperature increase to room or a bit warmer add the fiber slowly. Make sure that your stainless steel or enamel pot is large enough so that the fiber has room to spread out. The dye bath should be able to reach all of the fiber.
Slowly bring the temperature to 160F and let the yarn simmer in the dye bath for 1 hour. Turn off heat and let the bath cool. At this point you can remove your skein of yarn or let it sit in the bath for as long as you wish depending on how dark you want the color. In the above pictures the medium brown was in the dye bath for one hour and the darkest skein sat for a few hours in the dye bath. You can easily leave your skin in overnight for a very dark rich color.
When your remove your skein, again do so carefully by removing it with a pair of tongs and catching one of the ties. If the skein is a bit twisted you can dip it back in to the bath a couple of times and the fibers will straighten themselves out.
The skein needs to be rinsed. I have a big plastic tub I fill with water and place the skein in and let soak for about 10 minutes and then I remove the skein and dump the water out and repeat until the water in the tub is clear. I also add a dash of vinegar to help set the dye and knock off smells from the dye bath. When the rinse water is clear remove the skein and gently squeeze out the water and hang to dry on a rack.
A couple of notes:
Black walnuts have a very permanent dye. The dye bath will stain everything so be careful when using this dye bath.
Natural dyes are not consistent as acid dyes and I am never sure quite what the finished product will look like but I enjoy the entire process.
Other interesting plants to dye with are sumac, Queen Anne's Lace, Foxglove, marigolds, onion skins, purple cabbage (on silk), snake grass, raspberry vines/leaves, Virginia Creeper and geraniums.Once you began dyeing with plants you began noticing all those "weeds" along the roadsides. It is amazing what you an find in your own backyard.
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