i acquired several fleeces while in maryland and just finished washing the lot! a stunning black romney fleece (natalie) was made into roving you'll be hearing more about her in the future :)
a white romney ( ryanne ) was dyed and i'm slowly carding it into batts. i split a moorit colored fleece with joan, and i'm s l o w l y getting her carded. in fact, i
pleaded spoke with amythefibergoddess to use her picker to make the process easier. finally, there was the coopworth fleece that i purchased in the fleece sale and split with joan. i had 3 pounds of raw wool and it was painful to have these lovely summer days end without finishing her up. by that i mean, i decided to dye her and card her into lovely fiber. the plans always seem so realistic when i start, then they just snowball into..... life!
it was my first attempt at oven-dyeing and it worked! i washed the coop, soaked it in vinegar and then layered it into the pan. i used cheap foil roasting pans and cushings dye in old gold, plum and bronze green. it all fit in two roasters and into the oven it went.
temperature was set at 350 degrees for about an hour. when i checked it there was still a lot of color in the water, so i added a huge dollop of vinegar and reduced the heat to 300. after 30 minutes, it turned the oven off and let it set overnight. the water was clear when i drained it and after about 10 hours still warm. i rinsed it well, then onto a sheet in the driveway to dry in the sun.
notice anything about the color? it seems that i 'like what i like' as these are the same colors that i got from sandy to knit my sweater last year. i was anxious to see what it would look like, so i carded some up....
stunning! it really makes me appreciate all the work that goes into this process.
2 comments:
Lovely! Are you bringing some tonight for us to see in person?
Gorgeous! Can't wait to see it as yarn. Isn't dyeing FUN??
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