On 10/1/11 5:41 AM, Sister Claire wrote:
And finally - the merino lace-weight wool I bought is not
the color I thought it would be. It is sort of a dark
ecru or light tan with yellow undertones but I need
something in the brown/tan/khaki/beige range. I've
already started knitting, but can I die the finished
product? How do I do that?
Wool is the easiest fiber to dye, and brown is the easiest
color to get -- but dying yarn is *much* easier than dying
the finished product. If you goof up a teeny bit dying
fabric, you get ugly blotches; the same goof in dying yarn
gives a lovely variegation or a subtle "liveliness" to the
color.
Dharma's web site <http://www.dharmatrading.com/> isn't as
helpful as their paper catalog used to be, but there are
still tutorials and helpful advice to be found if you poke
around.
When you want brown shades is a good time to experiment with
natural dyes -- almost every weed dyes brown when simply put
into the pot with the wool, gradually brought to a boil, and
then allowed to cool in the bath.
I've never had yarn felt when put into cold water and
heated, then left in the water until cold or lukewarm. But
once I was too impatient to boil water to dissolve soap,
then cool and boil again, so I dropped some stained yarn
into boiling soapy water. It turned yellow and felted
thoroughly, but didn't stick together, and it did come out
clean. I made high-definition ribbing for the gloves I wear
while typing in the winter.
(Soap must be followed by a vinegar rinse when used on wool,
because soap is alkaline. Best to rinse in plain water,
then wash again with vinegar as your soap.)
--
Joy Beeson
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/
http://home.comcast.net/~debeeson/DaveCam/
west of Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A.
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