Stinky Silk Woes, Part 2
So I decided to be a masochist and tried to dye my silk again. This time I read the section of my dye book on dyeing silk and silk-blended yarns. I soaked (really, I did) my yarn OVERNIGHT and with soap. I started with my snafoo yarn from last time, which leached blue-green water (go figure, because it was baby blue).
Above Left: 1st Snafoo, Part 2, attempt 1: I painted it darker blue (shown) and other shades of teal, turquiose and algae green. After 40 looong minutes and lots of citric acid, the color still wouldn't take, so I tried a different approach.
Above Right: 1st Snafoo, Part 2, attempt 2: I put it in a steamer basket and re-hand-painted all the colors which also was laced with acid. I steamed for about 40 minutes. I still have a Baby Blue Bomb. I can't even see any green. Why? see below!
Above Left: Although I think my water level was a little bit high (only barely touched part of yarn when on high boil), it should not have leached green water. I still have baby blue yarn, albeit a darker baby blue, and it still is not colorfast. :( boo hoo.
Above Right: I am really a masochist. I didn't think nearly 2 hours of Stinky Silk was enough. hmm, maybe something is wrong with that yarn. I should try the extra hank I soaked last night. So I did. I painstakingly hand-painted the yarn, all 500 yds of the 50/50 silk/wool, put less water and steamed for 50-60 minutes. Towards the last 20 minutes, I threw in the Baby Blue Bomb. This one is a little better than Baby Blue Bomb, but it is still leaching color since it hasn't set.
Wait, there IS a rainbow! I miraculously have the gift of foresight and somehow knew that I would be disappointed. So before doing the silk, I unraveled an embroidered thrift store find (new w/tags!) made in Scotland from shetland wool. It was cut and then stitched from the armpits up (maybe b/c of embroidery), so I couldn't really unravel the top third without getting a pile of short yarn pieces that my kitties would drool over. I treated those parts like fabric.
My house smells awful. What's worse? Hot Stinky Silk or Hot Vinegar? Yuck.
Left: The sweater. Right: What I got.
I dyed some of the sweater parts and yarn. Success!! What's even better is that I am able to multi-task and had the Stinky Silk and wool dyeing at the same time. Right: A picture of all the yarns in the drying process. (Click on it and any other picture for better detail.)
Above: The top back of the sweater. I painted the stripes and will be felting it for a clutch.
Above Left: 1st Snafoo, Part 2, attempt 1: I painted it darker blue (shown) and other shades of teal, turquiose and algae green. After 40 looong minutes and lots of citric acid, the color still wouldn't take, so I tried a different approach.
Above Right: 1st Snafoo, Part 2, attempt 2: I put it in a steamer basket and re-hand-painted all the colors which also was laced with acid. I steamed for about 40 minutes. I still have a Baby Blue Bomb. I can't even see any green. Why? see below!
Above Left: Although I think my water level was a little bit high (only barely touched part of yarn when on high boil), it should not have leached green water. I still have baby blue yarn, albeit a darker baby blue, and it still is not colorfast. :( boo hoo.
Above Right: I am really a masochist. I didn't think nearly 2 hours of Stinky Silk was enough. hmm, maybe something is wrong with that yarn. I should try the extra hank I soaked last night. So I did. I painstakingly hand-painted the yarn, all 500 yds of the 50/50 silk/wool, put less water and steamed for 50-60 minutes. Towards the last 20 minutes, I threw in the Baby Blue Bomb. This one is a little better than Baby Blue Bomb, but it is still leaching color since it hasn't set.
Wait, there IS a rainbow! I miraculously have the gift of foresight and somehow knew that I would be disappointed. So before doing the silk, I unraveled an embroidered thrift store find (new w/tags!) made in Scotland from shetland wool. It was cut and then stitched from the armpits up (maybe b/c of embroidery), so I couldn't really unravel the top third without getting a pile of short yarn pieces that my kitties would drool over. I treated those parts like fabric.
My house smells awful. What's worse? Hot Stinky Silk or Hot Vinegar? Yuck.
Left: The sweater. Right: What I got.
I dyed some of the sweater parts and yarn. Success!! What's even better is that I am able to multi-task and had the Stinky Silk and wool dyeing at the same time. Right: A picture of all the yarns in the drying process. (Click on it and any other picture for better detail.)
Above: The top back of the sweater. I painted the stripes and will be felting it for a clutch.
Labels: dye, knitting, misc babble
posted by Anne at
9:50 PM
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1 Comments:
absolutely amazing...i love the effects of the dye. it is really impressive...anne, you should go into business for yourself.
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