The Hollyhock Blog

I’ve often spoke of my love of dyeing.   The science, the art, the anticipation, the uncertainty.  I like it all.   Here is some Suri yarn from Twisted Suri Alpaca Ranch that I dyed for them.  I used commercial acid dyes. 

5 newly dyed skeins

3 more skeins

Below are the same skeins after I re-wound the skeins. 

5 skeins ready to go

Red, green and blue - various shades in each

And since the pots were cooking….

My skeins - just dyed

The first skein is variegated blue – destined for mittens.  The others got re-wound.

Ready for sale

The first is bulky, the others sport weight, all 6 ounces, all $27.

Summer is quickly flying by and my indigo is ready for dyeing and so is the goldenrod.  With a little luck and good timing, I’ll some natural dyed yarn to show you soon.

All my yarn

100% alpaca bulky

80% alpaca / 20% silk lace

100% alpaca sportweight

All still a little damp, so it is enjoying the cool, dry air on the deck.  If you are interested in a certain skein let me.  It will soon be going the farmer’s markets with me.  And supper…  as yummy as the yarn!   Dyeing and dining with friends is my favorite way to spend a day!  Thanks, Sandy and Terry!

I dyed a skein (100% alpaca, from my new supply!) of each of the colors of commercial dye I purchased.  I mix each dye the same – 1 teaspoon of powder in a bottle that holds 3 cups of water.  I then measured about 50 cc (using a big syringe) of my dye solution for each 6 ounce skein. 

Day 1, yellow, purple, orange, green

My thought is this will give me a base for future dyeing and color mixing.  

Day 2, blue, pink, black, red

I keep all the dyeing specifics in a spreadsheet.   I cut a short piece of yarn from each skein, fold a piece of scotch tape over one end and code each sample to match a line of my spreadsheet.  The plan is to be able to re-create the colors if I choose.    I realize I won’t be able to match close enough to use in the same garment, but I should be in the ball park.  I will also know how to go lighter or darker than previous samples.   That is my plan anyway! 

More girls in full fiber.  Shearing is tomorrow! 

Honie's Gold

This is Honie, who belongs to Sawtooth Star Alpacas, but is boarded here.   She will be the first to have a baby – the end of May!

Camille

Camille is Honie’s daughter.   YUMMY fiber and still up for grabs!

Spotsie Dotsie

This is my Spotsie. 

Georgie

And Georgie is Spotsie’s daughter.   Her black fiber is not reserved either.  Let me know if you would like a fleece for your spinning pleasure!

I’m starting a new alpaca felting kit  design and have started dyeing roving in the new colors needed for this design.  I decided to try acid dyeing in aluminum pans heated over water in my big roaster. 

After soaking the roving in soapy water for about a half hour, I put it in the tins over a couple inches of water in the roaster.   I added the citric acid directly to the dye, which I mixed up in a little glass jar and sucked up in a big syringe.  I squirted the dye onto the roving and squished it around with chopsticks.  I added a little more water as needed to get better coverage.   Then I cranked up the heat and let it cook!

Cooking over the roaster pan

I have an ounce each of 2 shades of what I was hoping to be a rusty red roving.  In the smaller pan I have 1 ounce of roving divided into 2 shades of green.

Since the roving is not directly in contact with the hot roaster pan, I could use higher heat.   The roving got more steamed than boiled. 

This is the result.

New colors of roving

The purple was done in a dye pot on the stove.  The 2 reds are more red than the brick color I wanted and I didn’t get solid coverage of the color.   Neither of these really matter for the felting design.  That is why I chose this project for my experimentation.  The green also has some lighter areas that didn’t get much dye, but grass and leaves can be that way!   Now I know – I need a little more liquid to get the dye to reach all the roving in the tin pans.   The citric acid in the dye makes the dye stick to where it is squirted faster than when in a big pot of water.  Good lessons to learn.

I’ve a few more colors to dye before I can felt the new design, but I’m hoping to to get it done this week!

I must praise Dharma Trading.   I bought my dyes from them.  When faced with the question of forgetting the citric acid, I emailed them.  Within hours, I got a reply.   They suggested I wash the yarn in the hottest tap water and detergent.  If the dye stays, it is good!  So I washed and the dye stayed.  

Ready to go

The skeins re-wound to properly mix the colors.

On Saturday, I dyed this. 

My favorite colors

It is the last of my imported 100% alpaca bulky yarn.  My goal is to dye all my imported yarn before I get my Wisconsin grown yarn back from Rach-Al-Paca.   I have a cone (about 2 pounds) of 80% alpaca / 20% silk lace weight and over a cone of 100% alpaca sport weight to dye!   I got some dyeing tips from the Wool Princess  and I’ll be trying these out soon and sharing the results with you.

I’ll be consigning my yarn and a few finished items at a new shop – Art Reflections near here.  I’m very excited to see how my things will do there.  And Delightful Day Boutique has had requests for yarn.  So I’ll be bringing in some yarn to join the felting kits  already there.