Kettle Dye your Balls

Hi all,

I'm trying out a cool new technique that I found in "Yarns to Dyed for" by Kathleen Taylor.  What fun!  She give al sorts of information on how to dye yarns for specific projects.

This is "Immersion Dyeing for Graduated Bands of Color" big name for something that is fairly easy.

Bring a BALL of yarn up to a simmer in your kettle.  Make sure this is a ball done on your nostepinne.  I used a center pull ball, when she specifically said not to, and pulled the yarn from the outside.  Which was all well and good until I got closer to the center.  Then the other end popped out and an unholy mess ensued  Take it from me use a BALL!!

Above is the ball simmering in Strawberry dye, and you can see where my end is draping out as I let the dye soak into the yarn.  I used a Superwash Falkland fingering weight.  I was hoping that the superwash would dye quickly, because it drinks up dye like a Irish sailor drinks up beer, but that wasn't the case.  It still took me the better part of 2.5 hours to get this done.

I'm not using my niddy noddy as you can see.  I could have because it is teak but this worked out better for me.  Allowing the the water to drip into the sik between pulling. and keeping the yarn under relatively even tension.  I got this swift from the Auction at Maryland Sheep and Wool.

As the yarn comes off ou can see how the colors are changing each time I add more dye.  The green portion seems to be the largest.  I was going to dye the last part black but decided it wasn't necessary.

Here is the dry skein all pretty and waiting to have its picture taken and put into the shop. 

All in all a pretty cool new technique.  The next one I think will be a variation on a theme.  Bouncing back and forth in between two like colors to see how that will look.

This skein can be purchased from our shop on Etsy.  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Knitting.....
DD

I Have A New Tool

Hello All,

I came accross this beauty in a local "Antique Barn".  It was hiding in the corner with a very dead spinning wheel.  i took a moment to say goodbye to the wheel before I, literally, jumped on this.

The arms had been broken off and when I brought my new found friend home, my sweet hubby was puzzled.  It was dirty and broken and he wasn;t sure why I would bring a piece like this into our clean and orderly home.

I bathed it and I lemon oiled it and soon the importance came to light.   As you can see it stands alone and rotates by the turning of the crank but what you can't see it that it is ALL made of wood.  The interior crank and the gears are ALL made of wood.  Such wonderful craftmanship.  The only nails int he piece are on the outside where some misguided soul attempted to "fix" it.

The built in counter marks 40 rotations.  Once it marks that it "snaps" and continues on. 

The arms my extraordinary hubby has put on it will hold 2 yards with one rotation.  80 total yars each time it "snaps"  He also improved on the arms to make them adjustable.  I can bring it in to only one yard per rotation if it is needed.  Or when I need to remove the yarn from the machine I just drop in one hand and the skein comes off perfectly.

I plan on darkening the new pieces to match the original.  Oh yeah, and the arms are removable to make it easy for storage.  Like I'll ever NOT be using this.........but it was a nice idea.

I've used it many time since I purchased it 2 weeks ago.  It is light and very easy to use.  I love it!!
Oh and BTW, I got this gem for $20.00.  Some guys just don't know what they have......
He has another larger version that I may have to go snag for Jenn for christmas........


Happy Crafting all!


DD

Fun with Dye

Hello all,

I've been working with my techniques and my mixing.  Seems like my recipe cards are a little old school and need to be updated.  I've been going thru my colorways, slowly, and checking on my dye mixes and seeing if they are easily expandable for more fiber.  I dye in multiples of two right now.  Two 4 ounce hanks of fiber.  For that I have my recipe card......but Jenn is looking at coming up and I want to be able to mix the specific dyes in large enough amounts to cover the pounds of fiber we will be working with.   I don't want to fall short on a dye lot, you can try to re-mix a dye to match, it'll be close but it'll never be exact.

This is what the fiber looks like after wetting and pouring on the dyes and then sprinkled with vinegar and wrapped in plastic wrap.
Dyes blended and placed in their bowls with the appropriate amount of water.





Then it's flipped over and gently manipulated to get the dyes to "chat" , the cool color changes you get where the dyes marry is where the magic happens.  I sue a soft roller and a tilt board, to get my dyes to move about without beginning the felting process.

Mixing bowls are emply and the dyes have merged.  This is a "camo" pour technique.  Named because.........yes! it looks like camoflage. 

Other side, I've purposfully left white patches, they won't stay white once the package goes into the steamer.  The colors will wick over and fill the spot with a interesting translucent shading.

All done!  Steamed and hung out to dry.  I use an old salad spinner to gently take out the extra water.  It helps it puff back up to its original fluffiness.

See where the white has been invaded by the color.....this picture sucks.   The pales portions are a golden tan.  The black broke into a steely dark blue. 

This is the picture that went into the shop.

Soft, fluffy and fantastic color variances.

Mmmmmm, see where the rust and the black meet.........yum!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a quick trip into the dyeing of this fiber.  It's a BFL Silk mix called Jasper and you can find it in our shop.

I'd love to try and answer some of your dyeing questions.  Feel free to comment on this blog or e-mail me at juneprycefiberarts@yahoo.com

Happy Spinning!
DD

Custom, Custom, Custom!!!

Hello All!

I've picked up another custom dye/spin comission from a wonderful man.  DH has asked me to dye, in a June Pryce colorway, something fun and colorful.  BUT it must be washable, no problem SUPERWASH to the rescue!  This stuff is wild to work with.  It drowns itself in the water, and floats apart if you'er not careful. 

But once you get it on the table it plays hard ball, grabbing and hoarding all of the dye placed onto it.  So you can't move the dye about, blending it together.  Knowing this I intentionally poured on extra dye manipulating as much as possible before it struck and I left white patches.

You can see where I was able to get some marrying of the two colors to get that great green.

The next step was to spin it, you see he wants this dyed, spun and then knit up into a hat and mittens for one of his nephews.  Completely hand made, so sweet, my DH. I'll get to do this again for another of the nephews with a different colorway. :)

So here is my first bobbin of clockwise spun singles.  I'll spin another whole bobbin and then ply them together in the opposite direction.  Its should fluff and puff up.  Squishy wonderfulness!

As soon as I have them spun and plyed and before I send them off to one of our test knitters, I'll take some pictures and post them for you to check out.

Happy Spinning
DD

Trying Hand Painting

Hello All!

I've been comissioned to dye some of our Beavertail Line DK weight yarn by this delightful woman.  This stuff is great 80/20 Polwarth and Tussah Silk. 

Well when she approached me we talked colors and shading the first step fun stuff.  Then she asked me to make ther repeats only about 3 inches in length.

Can't, no...... won't,  do this project as a dip dye.  OMG.  So I pulled out a old paint brush and wet my yarn and set to work.  It was difficult gage how much water was left in the skein as it was on the table.  I had left alot and had to abandon my mixed (water to dilute) dyes and go straight to the stocks.  Once I got the concentrations correct with was alot of fun. 

I've kept the repeats about 3-4 inches in length varying each colors size.  I wrapped it all up in plastic wrap just after it was sprinkled with white vinegar and set it into the steamer for 30 minutes. 

The colors, as you can see, stayed put and did minor mixing.  I'll need to be careful of that when working on the custom order, she wasn't interested in any white/pale spots.  I also want the colors richer and deeper.  Not super dark just more opaque/saturated.   

The test run came out pretty and I think that with the modifications to the dye strengths and limiting the amount of water still residing the the yarn, I'll get the results I'm hoping for.

Happy Knitting

DD    

Live and Learn

Hello All!

Long time no blog......

As many of you know we are now Phat Fiber contributors.  Very cool, Jessica Booth is a genius! 

That being said, each month you have a theme to "help" guide your muse.  This months seemed to be easy, "Ice Cream Social" Yum!  Sprinkles and chocolate and gummy bears!!

So I decided to dye this GLORIOUS  Merino Tussah mix to look like vanilla soft serve with multi color sprinkles.  I did and it does!  But along the way I loose my faith in how this would look SPUN UP, would it become mud?? 

I couldn't risk it......all those people waiting, hoping to snag a box only to find, UUGH???.  So I decided,just to be safe, to keep the samples and NOT send them.  What was I thinking?  Darn knee jerk reaction.

The rovings are quite "bright" sprinkles and the underside was left white for the vanilla.  Multi color sprinkles were squirted on in layers.  When it came out I was devastated!! Too Bright!!  What was I going to do?

When it came down to it and I spun some (to get my self more depressed about what a loss this was) I found I was given a lovely muted heathery single. Soooooo soft and the silk gave a killer sheen.

Long story.....short: I should have sent the samples and I'm going to finish off one of the 4 ounce hanks.  Then for funnsies I navajo ply it.  Trying to keep the like colors together and make up for any spinning gaffs. 

Then I'll put it up on the shop along with other unspun rovings. You'll be able to spin this cloud yourself.

Learn something new everyday.

Happy Spinning
Feed that PHIBER PHETISH

DD

New Dye Progression Follow Up

Hello All,

Here is the shawl made with the last progression dye that I showed you.  This was knit by my friend "Nannette the Nanny".

 Dosen't she do fantastic work......

 The progression itself turned out very well.  I'm happy with the amount of each color and how they slowly melt into the next one.  She was happy with the color changes and the "Folk Art" colorway.

I'm REALLY looking forward to wearing this.  Thanks again to Nannette.  I look forward to sending her more to "test knit" for me.  I've sent her a teal grey and black progression for all of her work.  I hope to be able to show off some pictures of what she makes for herself soon.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

C

NEW Color Progression Dyeing!!

Hi All!

Remember the warping board?  Well this is the first of many new progressions to be skeined up on the New Warping Board!!

I have called the colorway "Folk Art".  My monitor shows pretty well the color changes.  I even like the color accuracy.

This cupcake will be sent to that friend Nanette, let's see what she says about the yarn and the dye job!!  This is 800 yards of fingering/sock weigh yarn.  It is a Superwash Merino/Cashmere/Nylon mix.  It is the base of our Saunderstown line.  See the shop for other colors.

Look What I Made!!!

Hi All!

I met the most wonderful woman during the KDO Marketplace the beginning of September. Her name is Nanette, she is strong, intelligent and funny. She also was looking for someone to dye yarn in long progressions. Well I had seen them and have a friend who dyes them but I had never, myself, tried to dye them. So after a great conversation with my new friend, Nanette, I decided that this was my next endeavor. So when I got home I set about purchasing the raw materials for my new warping board. I made it all myself. So very proud, can't you tell.

This is gonna make some VERY cool, dye progressions!! More to come!!!!!

Feed your fiber fetish

With a small amount of help from my eldest son, Hayden, who cut the boards and the dowels for me. That table saw really makes me nervous.......

Have Wheel Will Travel

Hi all,

OK, so I am on vacation in Swan Lake, Maine, just outside of Belfast. Yes, I know this is unusual, but I HAVE to take some time off or I am going to burn out like a sparkler on Fourth of July. This is the perfect place to recharge my batteries. Wow what a beautiful lake.... So quiet and so much to do. Canoe, kayak, fish, hike..... We would be doing more of this hiking if Loving Hubby had not ruputured his achilles tendon and is now waiting of surgery (it will happen the Monday we get back). But this is where I will be spending my time spinning for the next week. Tough huh???

Here we see my lovely and loved Louet S10 waiting to be used on the upper deck. Horrible view huh? I plan on spinning ata least a pound while I am here. I have brought with me different fibers that were not lucky enough to be purchased. Their loss is my gain.


Here is the first four ounces of my Beach Horizon which is a Superwash Merino. Sorta fits for the location...... I have a full eight ounces of this that when unsold, so I am going to spin them and then try my hand at plying. Should be fun.
Pretty huh? I'll check in with more photos of the spinning and mabie of me in the Kayak.

Hope you all have a wonderful day and I'll be back soon.

DD