Back in the days when I had lots of time to experiment with natural dyes on the yarn I had time to spin (Oh for the days of no kids!!) my hubby made me a set of stretchers to keep the shrinkage to a minimum.
Basically, it is no more than a couple pieces of 2x4 with dowels plugged in. Before the dye bath, I would wind the yarn across the bars in a single layer with fairly firm tension. Leave on the bars until you are done immersing in the dye bath and rinse water. Dry on the bars. By keeping it under a fair amount of tension it didn't have as much opportunity to contract. The nice part is that you can construct them to fit down in whatever size tub you have for your dye bath. We were lucky to have come across some fairly deep metal pans being discarded from the VA Hospital kitchen. Worked like a charm. Good luck. --- Lavolta Press <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Procion is not a literally cold-water dye; you need > to use pretty warm > water for best results. > > The dyeing process almost always shrinks the fibers, > sometimes quite a > lot. Also, the earlier in the process you dye the > fibers, the more > thoroughly the dye penetrates. Dyed in the fleece is > better than dyed in > the spun yarn, dyed in the yarn is better than dyed > in the woven > material, and dyed in the material is better than > dyed in the made-up > garment. Hence the old saying, "Dyed in the wool." > > Ever buy a dyed-after-sewing garment, unpick the hem > to take it up, and > discover that it is pale, or even still white, on > the inside of the old > hem? And when I have dyed crocheted articles, the > dye visibly penetrates > better into the upper surface, than further down > into the intertwinings > of the yarn. > > Fran > Lavolta Press Books on Historic Costuming > http://www.lavoltapress.com > > Maureen Campbell wrote: > > > If you're going to use a cold-water dye, like > > Procion, I don't think it makes a difference. > > Anything involving hot water, though, will > > shrink cotton, so in that case, the yarn should > > be dyed first, then crocheted. > > > > Yay, crochet!! :) > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > Rebecca Burch Center Valley Farm Duncan Falls, Ohio, USA The only twelve steps I'm interested in are the ones between the flat folds and the brocades. --Anonymous Costumer-- _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
