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This happy face is Chris McDuffy's. She is one of the R&R Spinners. We all met at our friend Beatrice's place for our meeting yesterday to talk, spin, eat (the food was, as always, fabulous) drink and be merry.....and also to dye wool in the huge dyepots which had been kindly set up for us out in Beatrice's expansive back yard. Her back yard also holds a fire pit, a pottery studio, chickens, cats, dogs and sheep. I could kick myself for not getting you pictures of the new Jacobs lambs.....maybe I'll swing by next Tuesday to get them for you. They are adorable black and white spotted babies. I know, I am sorry, but I did try to make it up to you by showing you Chris's lovely face. The day was warm, for Maine Spring warm, and sunny and we were all a little giddy with the absence of snow and the presence of sunlight. |
This is a shot of some of the roving that I dyed. I'm trying to show you the range of colors that I got. The orange/red is dyed over white wool, the green and purpley color is dyed over a grey stripey blend of black and white wool, and the rosewood color in the back is dyed over a creamy mohair. Now I have to decide whether to hoard this stuff to spin for myself, or to bring it for sale to the Farmer's Market on Wednesdays at Monument Square in Portland. And next to it is a closeup of some of the darker colors. I have to confess that I am not a measure and weigh type of dyer.I use what I like to call the Empirical Method which involves Trial and Error and Happy Surprises. (See Bag of Tricks for more on my methods of design.) I'm hoping that you can see the individual threads of different colors which happened in the dye pot.
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I had dark blue and turquoise in the pot, along with some of the leftover weak green from the first batch that still had plenty of vinegar in the mix. I stuffed the grey and white stripey wool into it, without presoaking, and left it all to simmer for some extended period of time while I wandered around talking and having lunch (let's say an hour). There was a leftover pot of turquoise/green/yellow left over sitting beside my pot, so once it became clear that no one else wanted it, I poured some in on top of what was there. For some reason (I really don't know why) this had the effect of bringing out the redder colors in the wool at the top of the pot. Evidently the dye takes up differently over time, with some color particles absorbing quickly, and some absorbing more slowly. I will have to think about this for future dyeing adventures.
I am very, very happy with my results....but I am also virtually certain that I could not possibly duplicate them. This is the downside of the Empirical Method.
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