DYEING WORKSHOP - ITS STILL ALL ABOUT COLOR!

Last Friday I held my last workshop of the season. Naturally it was a day in the dye pots. Normally, I think that 6 attendees in my kitchen is a crowd but I accommodated 8 on this day since it was the end of the season.
I like to soak my material in bowls. Each dye lot in a different bowl for ease of handling,

The "tools" of the trade laid out and ready to be used. Note the jar of salt for cleaning measuring spoons. So important not to contaminate one dye with the residue of another dye.

Jill and Brenda at the dye pots. This was a part of the coat hanger dyeing. Jill wanted to see how it felt to "wiggle" the strips so that you don't get a line where the different dyes meet. She soon found out it was not as easy as it looked. Brenda is standing by to take over when jill's arms get tired.

Joan is braiding the wet strips of wool for the braided dyeing part of this session. Joan is an expert braider. She does a four strand braid that is exceptional.

Lunch break. Time for everyone to stand, stretch and get something to eat. This is always a time to exchange ideas and discuss what we have done so far and make suggestions for additional classes. A good question and answer time.

Everyone comes to lunch - here is the chief scrounger at her best. Looking for a "patsy."

Ah - Ha! I found a ham sandwich and a kind, kind lady to go along with me. Hope mom doesn't see me under this table! (I did, of course).

Now for the results of our dyeing session.

On the left is our "abrashed" piece. We dyed a half yard of natural wool with blue dye and when the water cleared we added a small quantity of bright green dye. We waited for the water to clear and then abrashed the piece with more of the green dye. On the right is the result of our braided dyeing. We used blue dye on one side of the braid and gold dye on the other. As a result we have blue, gold and green in one strip of wool.

We did two dye lots of coat hanger dyeing. On the left is a green formula dyed over 4 different colors of wool. This is an excellent way to dye if you are doing scrolls. On the right is three different dyes dyed over natural wool. A good method for doing leaves and flowers. We used bright green, rust and dark brown dye this time.

This is the rsult of our cassarole dyeing. I call this autumn leaves. A truly beautiful piece of wool with many uses.


An aside from Eloise - I knew the ladies were coming today so I made the bed. I thought I did a good job and I don't know why mom is so upset!

A girl gets so tired after a day in the dye pots!!!!!

Enough said! Until next time keep the dye pots boiling and the hook moving.

Doris