Several years ago I bought a big mill end skein of lace weight merino that turned out to take plant dyes well.I'm working on collecting as many colors as I can. The nice thing is that I can pursue my dye experiments on a much smaller scale. I've just started on some fermented dye, a technique that requires no mordant or heat. The dye material is fermented for at least a week, then strained off and divided into an acidic bath and an alkaline bath by adding vinegar or ammonia to change the ph. The wool is dyed with the acidic bath first, dried, and then re-wet and put into the alkaline bath. My first attempt is making use of some wild muscadine grapes that, not surprisingly, smelled like wine after a week fermenting on our warm front porch.
The musings of Wandering Lydia on creativity, fiber arts, sculpture, painting and whatever the heck looks intriguing on a given day.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Naturally Dyed Crewel Wool
Several years ago I bought a big mill end skein of lace weight merino that turned out to take plant dyes well.I'm working on collecting as many colors as I can. The nice thing is that I can pursue my dye experiments on a much smaller scale. I've just started on some fermented dye, a technique that requires no mordant or heat. The dye material is fermented for at least a week, then strained off and divided into an acidic bath and an alkaline bath by adding vinegar or ammonia to change the ph. The wool is dyed with the acidic bath first, dried, and then re-wet and put into the alkaline bath. My first attempt is making use of some wild muscadine grapes that, not surprisingly, smelled like wine after a week fermenting on our warm front porch.
These yarns are even more beautiful in person! Lovely and natural!
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