This week was spent mostly digging out the barn from the huge snow storm. We ended up with about 15 1/2 inches of the white fluffy stuff. When I wasn't shoveling away I managed to take some new fiber I bought last week and a purple cabbage to dye up some beautiful purple silk noil.
It was quite easy to do and once I had mordanted my silk in alum/cream of tartar the entire process was smooth. I used the immersion method and allowed the dye pot to just reach the simmering point. I let the silk remain in the dye for about an hour and then it was pretty late at night I turned off the stove and let the silk stay in the dye bath overnight.
I had a really deep purple/blue color and then I added a dash of vinegar to the rinse bath to set the dye and remove the smell of any lingering cabbage. The vinegar brought out the red in the cabbage and gave the silk noil a variegated blueish-purple finish.
I also finally finished plying this skein of yarn. In another blog I showed the orange batt with some brown alpaca and banana silk. I ended up using my hackle to blend the fibers together.
I spun the orange mix and plied it with some dark brown alpaca. And I did not like it at all! I basically un plied it and this took forever. And plied it again using only the orange fiber. I guess that happens sometimes. How you might think two colors look together actually don't look great when plied. Oh well. Next time I will do a test trial. That is all for FAF this week. Click on Wonder Why Gal's and Creative Friday's Button at the bottom of my blog to see what other fiber people have done this week!
It was quite easy to do and once I had mordanted my silk in alum/cream of tartar the entire process was smooth. I used the immersion method and allowed the dye pot to just reach the simmering point. I let the silk remain in the dye for about an hour and then it was pretty late at night I turned off the stove and let the silk stay in the dye bath overnight.
I had a really deep purple/blue color and then I added a dash of vinegar to the rinse bath to set the dye and remove the smell of any lingering cabbage. The vinegar brought out the red in the cabbage and gave the silk noil a variegated blueish-purple finish.
I also finally finished plying this skein of yarn. In another blog I showed the orange batt with some brown alpaca and banana silk. I ended up using my hackle to blend the fibers together.
I spun the orange mix and plied it with some dark brown alpaca. And I did not like it at all! I basically un plied it and this took forever. And plied it again using only the orange fiber. I guess that happens sometimes. How you might think two colors look together actually don't look great when plied. Oh well. Next time I will do a test trial. That is all for FAF this week. Click on Wonder Why Gal's and Creative Friday's Button at the bottom of my blog to see what other fiber people have done this week!
I'm always facinated by your natural dying techniques.
ReplyDeleteI love the orange! Oh, I think I told you that somewhere else didn't I? You're rockin the dyes. I can't wait to see the cabbage fiber in person. See you Sunday!
ReplyDeleteYou UNPLIED yarn?! Wow! That's patience!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing the spun silk!
Wow, I love your silk noil, it so beautiful! And the yarn turned out great too!
ReplyDeleteHow did you un-ply? I tried to do that several months ago and just gave up.
ReplyDeleteOoh, the silk looks pretty!
ReplyDeletethat silk is yummy looking, and wow, you UNPLIED yarn? Way more patience than I have...
ReplyDeletethe colors are great-I've tried to dye with cabbage and only gotten yukky brown
ReplyDeleteYour orange is gorgeous but I can't get the smell of the cabbage and vinegar out of my nose now. Really! I can just imagine the smell. tehehe, the color is amazing. I really would and need to try natural dye. Your colors are always amazing.
ReplyDeleteHappy Fiber Arts Friday!
Awesome colors... haven't tried it yet, but your posts are inspiring. I'm hoping to use some plants from the garden this summer to play around with natural dying. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYes I unplied the yarn. It was a lesson in patience for sure. I put the skein on the swift and attached one ply to a bobbin on my wheel and the other on a bobbin on the lazy kate. I slowly unplied it while I watched a documentary on youtube! It was a painful experience.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for dyeing with red cabbage...it only works on silk not on wool, I tried.
Thanks for all your comments!