Dyeing for fun

I’m getting ready to teach a rainbow dyeing class, so I’ve been ordering roving, dyes, and supplies. I also wanted to put a display up at the store to entice people to sign up, so I did a little dyeing to share.

I’m NOT putting in dye warnings in this post. Be smart when you dye, so you won’t die or make anyone sick.

I broke out my dyeing supplies and discovered that I had a bunch of dyes already mixed up. I’m lazy and cheap, so I just used those. That also means I don’t know the names of all the colors that got used, but hey, that’s the way it goes.

Superwash merino roving is an excellent choice for a dyeing project. It is bright white, strikes dye clearly, and it won’t felt even if you muck will it during the process. It also makes nice socks. I tore the roving into eight ounce lengths–plenty for a pair of socks after spinning it.

I soaked the roving in water, a bit of Unicorn Fiber wash, and a glug of white vinegar over night. I then drained the fiber and squeezed it out.

My dyes were already mixed up in squeeze bottles, so I put down long sheets of plastic wrap (the commercial brands are MUCH better than the store brands), put out the roving, and started pouring the dyes.

I try different layouts with the roving for the fun of it. The shape makes a difference if you’re dying yarn, but there’s still so much processing with roving (spinning and plying) that it’s just for fun here.

“Don’t dye too much”. To make sure you don’t end up with muddy color, I leave open spaces between the colors the first time I pour on dyes. Then I use my fingers to massage the dye into the white areas. If the white areas are too big, I add more dye. In the end it looks like this

More plastic wrap goes over the top of the roving, then I roll up everything like a big burrito, sealing the edges. If I haven’t dyed too much there won’t be dye dripping out the sides and the roving will be colored all the way through to the bottom. The burritos are put on a steamer basket in a deep stock pot. I put about an inch of water in the bottom, pop the top on, and put it on the stove on high.

When it comes to a boil, I turn down the stove so the water simmers, and check on it in about 10 minutes. When the burritos puff up with steam, I turn the stove off, and leave the pot to cool with the lid on. The next day I rinse the roving out in the sink (another great reason to use superwash roving) and spin out in the washing machine and hang the roving to dry.

After a day you hang it up to display and hope to get a chance to spin it someday.

So, wanna dye? Sign up at the store.