Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Dyeing Woes...

Sigh.

The search for green is not going well. Yellows, lots of yellows. But greens? Of course not.

I found someone on Ravelry who managed to get green from red onion skins, and thought that I'd try their method. It's simple enough - mordant the yarn using alum and cream of tarter while boiling the skins. Add the yarn to the dyebath, let it simmer for a while, and then when you take it out, it's green. But something seems to have gone wrong. Her yarn went from pink to orange to rust to green. Mine's just yellow. At least I can try it again with the same skein, if it didn't get felted while I wasn't watching.

My blueberry yarn turned out a decent shade of blue (pictures to follow), but the roving felted in the pot, and so the yarn is incredibly stiff and overspun (my fault).

Always, the problem is my lack of patience. Dyeing naturally can't be done quickly. It takes time. Unfortunately.

2 comments:

  1. Time AND patience? That's a lot to ask. Your yellow yarn was so pretty though, don't be silly. How about mixing blueberries and whatever yellowmaker of your choice?

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  2. Blueberies didn't hold fast. I'd have to find a better blue...and unfortunately that's probably going to be just as hard to find.

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