Back in the dye pots

Yesterday I took some time out to dye this sweet bittersweet wool for my friend Angie’s moose pillow.

I tried taking the picture like 4 times and it just looks SO INTENSE!!

Well, it is intense, but not quite like this shows.

I used to dye wool by the bolt loads, but it’s been a year or so since I’ve ventured into the dye pots.

 

I went back through my dye books and notes and found two recipes that I thought would be just right.

One is called BITTERSWEET and it is from the dye book of Dick LaBarge, the other is from a dye book

from Laurice Heath.

 

Of course, when I went to my dye cabinet, I didn’t have all of the dyes that they called for in the recipes.

 

Back in the day, I would have found myself frustrated and on the phone with ProChem ordering up

what I didn’t have, but now that I’m a casual home dyer. I just got in my ProChem swatch book and

thought to myself, what could I mix together from what I have to get what I want?

 

This is what I came up with…….

1tsp bright orange

1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp bright red

Mixed this in 1.5 cups boiling water with citric acid

Added 1 cup of the solution to the dye pot and then added (4) 1/4 yard pieces of pre-soaked wool.

2 of the pieces of wool were plaids and 1/2 yard was a light solid

The plaids got to the color I needed right away, so I pulled them out and then drizzled spoonfuls

of the remaining 1/2 cup of dye onto the solid pieces, so they would be even more mottled.

I spooned and flipped, spooned and flipped.  When those solid pieces got to the intense mottled color I wanted,

I added the 2 plaid pieces back in and let them simmer until all the dye was taken up.

 

I’ll share pictures of the hooking tomorrow.