Friday

Dyeing Yarn - My First Experience

During a recent trip to a fiber festival, while there, I bought a couple packages of fiber Cushing's Perfection Dyes from W. Cushing & Company in Kennebunkport, Maine, USA.  I bought the colors strawberry and chartreuse.  I chose strawberry to try for my first experience dying fiber.

  I chose a grey sheep fiber and a white merino fiber.  Both fibers are very soft.  I was curious to see how each fiber would take the strawberry dye. 


 With the pots full of water, I sprinkled in the dye being careful not to breath in the dust from the dye.  Next I added the 1/2 cup vinegar for each pound of fiber, then put the presoaked fiber into the dyebath.  The instructions said to keep the fiber in the dye bath until all of the color is absorbed into the fiber.  
 

 This is the results of each fiber in the strawberry dye.  The grey fiber (above left) has grey bits going through it, turned out to be kind of a raspberry color.  The white merino (above right) took the dye in a bright strawberry color.
                                                                                                      
 
Waiting for the fiber to dry was the longest it seemed, but I had a very good day with the weather a slight breeze was blowing.  The lavender smelled so good drying next to the fiber. 



I spun the bright strawberry fiber on my Kromski Sonata spinning wheel.  I think it turned out pretty good for my first experience dying yarn and it was really fun too! So don't be intimidated by the fiber dyeing process; you can do it too!  If you love it, that's all that matters. 
 

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