OK, so dyeing is WAY. TOO. FUN. I had the remains of a bag of 50:50 merino/silk roving in my fiber closet, and the dye that I got for the Urchin Shawl, and no particular spinning project going at the moment, and well, colorful roving is more fun to spin, right? (Not that natural colored roving isn't lovely as well....)
I did take the time to mix up all the powdered dye into stock solutions this time though. I just measured out the powder when I dyed the shawl, but using stock solutions is much easier and less dangerous. You don't want to inhale dye powder.
I had a total of 200 g of the roving left, so I split it and did half in Purple:
and half in Sapphire:
The merino took up the dye much more than the silk did (I soaked the roving for half an hour before it went into the dye, but that probably wasn't enough to thoroughly wet the silk) so the finished dye job is streaky and variegated. However, when the roving is predrafted a bit to loosen it up and attenuate it, the silk and merino blend together, and the result is beautiful.
This is a 3% depth of shade, using each of the colors pure. The darker merino and lighter silk give the roving interest, and the finished yarns should have great depth.
I was originally going to spin a single of each color and ply them together, but now I'm thinking that I'll do each separately. The colors are so clear and bright, and if I spin a fine yarn, each batch will be enough for a shawl or stole.
I did take the time to mix up all the powdered dye into stock solutions this time though. I just measured out the powder when I dyed the shawl, but using stock solutions is much easier and less dangerous. You don't want to inhale dye powder.
I had a total of 200 g of the roving left, so I split it and did half in Purple:
and half in Sapphire:
The merino took up the dye much more than the silk did (I soaked the roving for half an hour before it went into the dye, but that probably wasn't enough to thoroughly wet the silk) so the finished dye job is streaky and variegated. However, when the roving is predrafted a bit to loosen it up and attenuate it, the silk and merino blend together, and the result is beautiful.
This is a 3% depth of shade, using each of the colors pure. The darker merino and lighter silk give the roving interest, and the finished yarns should have great depth.
I was originally going to spin a single of each color and ply them together, but now I'm thinking that I'll do each separately. The colors are so clear and bright, and if I spin a fine yarn, each batch will be enough for a shawl or stole.
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