Sunday, April 19, 2020

Sunday Happenings Here

On a perfect Sunday I'd be on my way to Ocean City, MD for rug camp.  But not this year.  Hope like heck all is well by September so Rugs by The Sea takes place as scheduled.  However I probably will still carry a mask with me.

Moving along........I was envious of Lauren's accomplishments of dyeing wool particularly since I have some of the same butt-ugly brown and cream plaid wool she had and I've never used.

Decided to over-dye the wool using two different recipes:  1/4 yard with Lauren's Fraktur Black and another pot using Tonya Robey's Evening Shade.

I gathered my Cushing dyes and proceeded to open up a fresh envelope of Dark Green for the Evening Shade recipe.  Say what?  Did someone make a mistake and put the wrong dye in the envelope?  So went to my stash of dyes but that was the only package of Dark Green here.
Oh well, it looked more like a shade of blue/purple to me but what the heck......I put dye in the cup, added 1 c boiling water and took a leap of faith.

Here are the results and in the center the wool used.
 On the left of the original wool is Evening Shade, on the right is Fraktur Black but mine didn't turn out like Lauren's (I'll go borrow pictures from her blog am sure she won't mind).

And on the bottom are two small pieces I added to Evening Shade when I didn't think it was going to absorb all the color.  For you non-dyers, here is an interesting fact for when you decide to dye.....not all dyes absorb at the same rate.  As the wool and dye mix had been in the pot well over 30 minutes when the small pieces were inserted, it appears the black and the Dark Green absorbed faster than Seal Brown.  That is why that piece looks  more brown.

Here was Lauren's before photo but her brown and cream plaid looks darker than mine...
And her after photo using Fraktur Black.  Her results look more grey and mine more brown.  Could it be the camera, is it the water?
Whatever it is, the wool I dyed today will be used whereas it would not have been the way it was.  Thanks Lauren for inspiring me to dye.

Saundra
www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com


7 comments:

  1. I have never tried to dye wool , but sure have some pieces that could use it . Yours & Lauren's look so nice . Some day I will get brave enough !!!

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  2. Your water has a lot to do with the dye results. I am on well water a friend and I dyed the say wool with the same dye vastly different results.
    still nice and usable for sure
    cathy

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  3. If I dyed any wool, it would all be wrong. Kudos to you for trying. Janice

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  4. No rhyme or reason to my dye results. The first couple times my fractur black came out a wonderful greyish color. The last two times, more a dark teal.
    Your evening shade looks really good!

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  5. Forgot to mention...rug camps being cancelled. UGH! Necessary but still not an easy pill to swallow. HOPEFULLY in September camps will be a go!!!

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  6. Well, if I didn't need another reason not to tackle dying, you've given me another.... Oh your results are nice enough...especially that Evening Shade on the left....but I couldn't live with the variation in results from time to time (and minute to minute LOL). Dye on!! ~Robin~

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  7. I used to love playing aroumd dyeing,,,, with wool and yarns,,,,
    Maybe this summer will give it another try,,,, for fun!
    Thanks for inspiration, ,,,,

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Thanks for taking the time to visit and I always welcome comments.