Saturday, June 23, 2007
Finally. . . we get to part two of ‘Wool 101’. . . (the part where it turns those pretty colors!). As you can see above. . . so much of my time lately has been just this. Above you see the 110+ yards of wool that I have been dying to fill my Spring Market orders. . . whew! (& believe it or not. . . I have 56 more yards to dye this week - to meet a couple of post market orders that came in.!) So - for a few brief days - for a ‘break’ - I’ve been working on some new quilting projects. . . but more on those later!
Okay - for the wool dying. . . we left off with the plain wool pre-felted & ready to dye. . . well - almost. Before the wool pieces can go into the dye bath, they need to soak in hot water & get thoroughly wet. (This is so the wool will be better able to soak up the dye when it’s placed in the dye bath.) You know when I’m about to dye wool - because there will be a 5-gallon bucket in the bathtub filled with hot water & bunches of half yard wool pieces!
To prepare the dye - there are a few basic kitchen tools that you need - (but note, these tools are to be used only for dying purposes. Once they are used in dying - you can never use them for food preparation. . . a big no - no.)
I use: two measuring cups - a 1 cup size & a 2 cup size, a teaspoon, a big stirring spoon, several measuring spoons, a small container of salt (for cleaning dye powders off measuring spoons), citric acid crystals (a dye mordant /color fixer), & plenty of paper towels. Although there are a bunch of things that you need to be aware of & careful of when using dye products for wool - I’m not going to go into all the safety stuff. . . just know it’s there & you do need to be aware of them of you choose to try it yourself.
So - now the wool has been soaking for at least 30 minutes - & it’s ready. I fill the dye pots with water & get the water to almost a boil. Following my little “recipe” book that is filled with all the colors that I have created, I carefully measure out the amount of dye powder that I need & dissolve it in one cup of boiling water. (I use what is known as “washfast acid dye” for my wool.) I then pour the needed amount into the water in each of the dye pots & stir to distribute the dye evenly in the water.
Next - each pot gets one of the half yard pieces of plain wool. I stir them a little bit - & then make sure that the wool is submerged under the water.
Depending on the color - & how long it takes for the wool to absorb the color (it differs with different colors) - the wool soaks for a bit (anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes) & starts to absorb the dye. To get all of the dye to be absorbed, I use the citric acid crystals. (This is the same ingredient that is used to give candy & drinks that tart zing!) Although you could also use white vinegar - & I have in a pinch!) - I like using the citric acid crystals - no smell & much neater.
Again - boiling water is used to dissolve the crystals & then the mixture is poured into the wool pots & then it’s stir, stir, stir! . . .
. . . & before you know it - the wool will absorb all of the dye in the water - & the water will turn clear. When that happens. . . it’s done! Then it’s just a cold rinse in the sink, a spin cycle in the washing machine (to get out all the excess water) . . .
& then a turn in the dryer - on high heat (again). This felts the wool one more time & it’s all ready to use. Whew!
If you haven’t given felted 100% wool a try - please do! It is so much fun to use. . . & can be used alongside with cotton (& can be washed!) The possibilities are endless!
I hope that you are enjoying whatever creative projects you are working on. . . !
