Here is the results from the Greater Los Angeles Spinners Guild annual dyefest. I didn’t have everything so planed out other than wanting to make some primary colors for blending on the drum carder.
I don’t think I realized how much raw fiber I actually had. I didn’t even take any of the four or five washed whole fleeces I have. I ended up taking about 16oz of white Coridale, a small bag of angora, A silk brick, 16oz of bombax nori silk noils, a silk cap, two pounds of mohair roving, two pounds of mohair locks, and last but not least, 16oz of bamboo/merino.
Now on to the colors! This was the first time I used Aljo dyes. You never know how much pigment is in a given dye so this was a bit of a craps shoot. Boy did it pay off! I wanted to do a red pot and a yellow pot with time left over for a third. I consulted twitter as to the third color and purple was decided on.
The Scarlet Pot
A bunch of stuff soaking in vinegar
The Purple Pot
Overdying some of the reds in the yellow pot
Coridale soaking up the last of the scarlet
Ready for rinsing
Everything Drying
Close-up of the yarn on the blocker
Yarn on the blocker
All in all, it went swimmingly well. My favorite result is from the bamboo/merino roving dyed in purple. Since I was using acid dyes, I knew it wasn’t going to have much effect, if at all, on the bamboo. In fact, the bamboo didn’t take at all. So you can see these really pretty silvery streaks throughout the now purple merino roving. I can’t wait to spin that roving up!!
