I was a bit dissappointed with kool-aid because it seemed like the colors were really bright and it didn't seem like I would be able to produce a variety of colors.
Well I've since decided that spinning is for me. Just look at our two adorable sheep!
They are Cormer. A girl and a boy who is fixed. They come from a registered Cormer dad and different mothers.
The other day it was raining and I thought 'poor lambs!' and went out to pet them. They were wet, but if you looked deeper into their coat they were dry and warm. I'm so excited to use that wool! It has a great crimp to it and it's so soft.
Don't tell hubby, but the next thing for the sheep is coats. This makes the wool that much nicer and keeps trash out of the wool, and is supposed to improve your yield.
So back to dyeing. I decided to stay with food based dyes. They can fade over time, but I really like the thought of this being safe to use around my kids. The only thing I have to worry about is staining fingers and clothes. Chemical dyes you have to worry about inhaling and it looks like you have to be careful with it, and of course your kids can't help! So food dyes work for me at this time in my life.
Another thing I've learned is that yes, red yellow and blue are primary colors. But its really hard to make all the colors you may want from them. Using icing colors works great when you want a specific color. And its much easier!!!
Anyway, Here are my adventures from dyeing from today.
All of these results were obtained in the microwave. The wool was soaked in water for 10-15 minutes to wet it. Then the wool spent anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes in the microwave. I just kept cooking it until the dye was exhausted, or nearly exhausted. :)
I also added about 1/4-1/2 cup of vinegar. I didn't measure this.
First up is hot pink!
I used 1.1 oz of spun wool and Wilton icing paste, color pink. 1/8 tsp. Way to intense. Doubt I'll do this one again.
Next up is blue and purple tie dye.
I used 1.4 oz of spun wool and 1/8 tsp of Wilton icing paste, color delpinium blue.
Next is a pretty rosy pink
I used .9 oz of spun wool and 1/16th tsp Aster Mauve wilton icing paste.
Next is another hot pink. Just a little lighter.
I used .9 oz of spun wool and 1/16th tsp of pink wilton icing paste. I was trying to get the pink just right.
Next is something I made up myself! It turned into a pretty light pink.
I used 1.1 oz spun wool and the Neon food coloring kit from Mccormick. 10 drops of purple, 2 drops pink and 1 drop blue.
I tried to take a picture of all of the pink colors I created in my quest for the perfect pink. It didn't turn out well, but it does show the differences in shades.
Next I made another sort of tie dye blue/purple.
I used 1 oz spun wool and the neon food coloring kit from Mccormick. It was supposed to be sky blue. 12 drops blue, 6 drops purple, 2 drops green.
3 comments:
Cool Megan! This is very interesting. You need to show pictures of what you have made now. I wondered what happened to that cake decorating book...x
can you dye the wool while it is still on the sheep?
Yes, you can dye wool while it is on the sheep. You would definately have to use a food based dye for this because a chemical dye would kill the sheep!
You would need to use vinegar if you wanted the color to be permanent. Or you could just dye the sheep for fun I guess.
The Sheep shed which is about 10 minutes from here does farm tours every spring where they let you play with the days old baby goats and lambs. They also give you a short how to on spinning and carding and dyeing and weaving. They also have a small store where you can buy finished products, or all the stuff you need to do all of that.
Anyway, my point is that they lady at the sheep shed dyes one of her sheep rainbow colors for the tours. She uses kool aid. She says it washes out. Interesting because online people argue that koolaid is acid enough to make the color permanent when dying and you don't have to use vinegar.
Anyway, she would laugh at me if she knew I was using food based dyes. So lets keep that between you and me ok? :)
Oh, and my next post will probably be about chickens and our quest to own a few.
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