Experimenting with fibres

This is Rae. Rae is a Goddess.
Quite recently, she gifted me (yes, GIFTED me) with nearly 2 kilos of merino and alpaca roving. It is absolutely lovely stuff. Apparently her father had bought it, but hadn't used it all and so rather than having it sit there doing nothing, she thought she would indulge my new found curiosity in dying and spinning.

Now those of you who spin will know how much of a generous gift this was. Those who don't, well let me just say, that I am poor. And this gift has given me the opportunity to experiment with fibres on a level i would not have been able to afford otherwise. Oh and HAVE I been experimenting! So far i have dyed 3 lots of roving, one in berry colours, one in greens and blues, which i have spun, and another small amount in purple, which was an experiment for a large lot i am going to do for Rae as a thank you. Below you can see the ones i have done so far, in order from top to bottom. You can also see my ability improving with each one. :P


I LOVE dying roving. I LOVE it. I have seen many methods for dying roving, the most common being to paint the dye on and then wrap it and heat it. But i have found a method that i find positively delightful. It is far from precise, but is so exiting as you never really know what you will get. if you are pedantic about your dying then this method is not for you, but i love it.


Pot Dying Method as used by ERYN

1. Soak the roving in warm water and a fair amount of white vinegar for about half an hour, in the same saucepan you will be heating it in. The amount of vinegar is not important, except that the more you have, the better the dye will set. If you are going for a pastel look, less vinegar is better, if you want deep, rich colours, then more vinegar is better.

2. Prepare your dyes. I use Queens food dyes. They are completely edible and safe to use in your regular pots and pans and the colours are pretty good (the blue is a bit iffy and i am still working on getting it to be brilliant) plus i am poor and they are $1 a bottle.

Mix a quantity of dye (more for darker colours) in straight white vinegar to the quantity of dye you want. Eg, if you want 1 cup of dye, use one cup of vinegar and pour the colour into it and mix. You can mix colors, but be prepared for them to separate a little bit, especially the blue. For me though, this is part of the charm of this method.

3. Once your roving has finished soaking, pour off the excess vinegar and water so that there is just enough to cover the roving (reserve the water and vinegar and put it in your wash with your whites as the vinegar removes yellowness from white clothes). Put the pot on the stove on a LOW HEAT. You do not want the wool to boil too much as it will cause the roving to matt, making it difficult to draft.

4. Once the liquid is very hot, pour the dyes in.you can do this any way you want. The dyes will run together where they are touching and make new colours, so you should keep this in mind when you choose your colours and when you are pouring them in. The dyes will sink below the surface of the wool, and all is a mystery! What the dyes do under the surface, you will not know until it has finished! WONDERFUL! You can of course do this with a single colour, but you WILL get many different variations in the shade of the colour.

Cover and let it SIMMER for half an hour NOT BOIL. if it starts to get too hot and begins to boil, turn down the heat. To check if the dye has been absorbed, push a clear measuring cup into the pot and collect some of the liquid. if there is still colour in it, it needs a bit longer.

5. Once all the dye has been absorbed and the liquid is clear, you need to take it off the heat and let it sit until it is cold. This is the hard part! I get so impatient! but once it is cool, drain off the liquid and squeeze out the excess from the roving(you can use this in the wash too). Then, hang it up to dry. Done! It is at this point that you will get to see what the dyes have done. it is fascinating to see the way that the colours have all run together and blended. i think it is just WONDERFUL!


It really is a delight. I think this may be the beginning of a new obsession....