Two glorious days of sunshine in a row. A thing rarely encountered.
I took advantage of the sunshine (still quite cool, however) to test some new dyes. I first saw Greener Shades, an organic acid dye that uses no heavy metals, at Rhinebeck. All the people, sheep, fleece and yarn were so overwhelming in that fantastic, Rhinebeck-y way that I could hardly even begin to think about dyeing so I just made note and walked past their booth.
Later I did think about it. Plant dyes are still my favourites (is anything more witchy than boiling up a cauldron of twigs and leaves? I think not.). But there are some colours that are very difficult to achieve and plus, I like to experiment.
I purchased the starter kit, which has 1/2 oz. of each colour they sell. It arrived and that 1/2 oz looked so miniscule that I wondered about their claim that I could dye 13 lbs of wool with this kit.
Oh ye of little faith!
This stuff is powerful.
I dyed much more than the 3/4 lb that I imagined I would get - some fleece took up the dye more intensely than others. I over-dyed some of my vast stock of yellow fleece to get some really nice greens. I still have a pot of fleece sitting out to see how it does over time in the sun.
Definitely a different experience from the plant dyes, but I am impressed.
2 comments:
Oh that looks like fun!!! Organic acid dyes??? And just where would I get those? Love the colors.
It IS fun! I tried red today, and whoo-hoo! Nice.
If you click on the link in the post or google "greener shades" you go to their website. You can't buy directly from them, but they direct you to retailers. I used a place in Conn. I am really impressed with the starter kit, which cost about $40 with shipping.
Post a Comment