Day 1:
The dye bath: I used 900g of plant material, three whole plants, which is WAY more than necessary. (Note to self: shake off bugs *before* bringing plants into house.) After roughly chopping the plant material, I added it to three gallons of water and heated the pot to around 175 degrees. I maintained the temperature between 160 and 180 for an hour, then let dye bath cool overnight.
Meanwhile, I applied a cool alum mordant on 200g of Cascade 220 yarn - 4 100-yard skeins, 2 mini skeins - using 10% alum by weight of fiber (WOF), as described in Wild Color.
Day 2:
After straining the dye material from the bath, I add the (rinsed, wet) yarn, heated the pot to 170-180, and held it there for one hour. I then removed the yarn and divided the dye bath into five containers for my experiments in modifying.
- One container - no modifier; removed one mini skein, left the other mini in the unmodified dye bath overnight to see how much darker it might get.
- One container - ammonia modifier for one 100-yard skein (a small glug); tested the pH to confirm.
- One container - vinegar modifier for one 100-yard skein (two healthy glugs); tested the pH after one glug, but a little off, hence the second glug.
- One container - iron modifier for one 100-yard skein (half tsp?)
- One container - chrome (was supposed to be copper but I grabbed the wrong container) modifier for one 100-yard skein, loose crystals in bag (1 T?)
I let them all set for "a while" (less than an hour), then rinsed and hung to dry.
Day 3:
I rinsed remaining mini skein and hung it to dry.
A few days later, I washed all the skeins with Eculen, then hung them to dry again.
And here are the results:
 |
| No modifier |
 |
| Vinegar |
 |
| Ammonia |
 |
| Iron |
 |
| Chrome |
 |
| No modifier, long soak |
I just love, love, love these colors. Now I am wishing I hadn't used all my plants at one time. I guess I'll just have to grow some more next year and try again.
