Hand Dyed Wool – Advanced Methods
One night, years ago, a friend invited me over to learn how to hook rugs. I was a seasoned crafter and explained to her that, with three young children, I wanted a project that could be completed quickly. So she showed me how to make a penny rug. Penny rugs are comprised of pieces of wool that are appliquéd onto a base piece of wool, or other fabric. Long ago, women used scraps from their wool rug hooking efforts, and cut the scraps into circles, using a penny as a template. The circles were arranged in pretty designs, stitched onto the base fabric, and turned into decorations for the house — table runners, doilies, coverlets, etc.
So my friend supplied me with wool from her stash to get started. From the moment she brought out The Wool, I loved the craft, and I couldn’t wait to do more. When it came time to shop for more wool, I realized that, as frugal as I was, I would have a hard time affording all the colors that I wanted for future projects. So I decided to learn to dye my own wool. I needed somewhere to start, and a way to sample a big variety of colors from which I could choose my favorites. So I rifled through old issues of ‘Threads’ magazine to see if there might be helpful information there. Sure enough, I came across what turned out to be a life-changing article by Linda Knutson about dyeing using just the three primaries, dissolved in water to a 1% dilution. This sounded perfect. The article also outlined a systematic approach to trialing colors, using progressive percentage-based formulas. Excellent! A way to address my need for organization, while allowing me to be creative.
So I would like to share with you, after the many hours I have spent using these methods, why I love them.
KEEPING COLOR CHOICES SIMPLE The first decision I made was to use only white wool. Since then, I have had to make do with using natural, because white is not always available, and I want to be as consistent as possible, since I also sell wool. I further standardized by creating formulas using only the three primaries. I work in color families or ‘tiers’ of color, from very bright to primitive, and I determine where a color belongs by how much of the third primary it contains. If I were using mixtures of pre-formulated colors, this kind of organization would be impossible. My method also allows me to see gaps between formulas, ensuring that I have a continuous selection all around the color wheel in each family. See how this looks:
It is also easier to find colors that are in between colors I already have. By expressing all formulas in the same simple terms (three colors, in percentages), we reduce an unknown formula to a mathematical equation, rather than an educated guess.
THE BENEFITS OF USING LIQUID DYESTOCK Liquid dyestock is, without doubt, the easiest way to dye wool. Even if you use pre-formulated colors, maintaining dyestock in the colors you use most will speed up your dyeing — you can walk into the kitchen and dye a few pieces easily. One of the great conveniences of this method is that you need only produce dyestock occasionally, if you produce a fair quantity. Once made, your dyestock will keep for a long time. Dyestock will, theoretically, last indefinitely, given the quality and sterility of the water you use, but for practical purposes, ProChem, makers of the brand I use, says it will keep a minimum of 6 months.
Using liquid dyestock gives you the kind of control needed to dye small amounts with accuracy. Using a 1-ml syringe (the type used to deliver insulin) helps make this possible. And when using several colors to produce a formula, small nuances in tone can be made. For instance, yellows are very, very difficult to formulate with accuracy, because tiny changes in the red and blue of a yellow formula produce significant results. Working in drops, however, these fine changes are very possible, in fact there is a predictable mathematical progression of formulas in yellow that produces everything from near-green to near-orange, and every variation in between.
Contrary to what you might imagine initially, I find this method to be a tidy way to dye, especially when the dye powder (nasty, messy stuff, I think) spends most of the time in the cupboard. I use various-sized syringes and small graduated pitchers to dispense dyestock. Because the dyestock that I use is dilute, spills don’t usually cause a stain if I wipe them quickly, even on my oiled oak floors and birch countertops. I use screw-top lids to store dyestock, and keep the lids screwed on when not in use, and I pour larger amounts of dyestock over the sink to avoid big accidents.
USING PERCENTAGE-BASED FORMULAS I standardize my methods by writing all formulas in percentages, rather than teaspoon fractions. This creates a ‘universal’ formula that will work, regardless of the size piece being dyed. For instance, if I am using a formula that is 90% red and 10% yellow, that percentage will remain constant for any piece I dye. Since every formula, no matter who makes it, is really a mathematical equation, whether it is rendered in percentages or 1/16 teaspoons – working in percentages broadens your ability to apply that formula in any circumstance.
GOING METRIC Using the metric system makes the math involved in dyeing easy to manage once you are accustomed to it, and not beyond the average person with basic math skills.
The great beauty of the metric system is that 1 ml of water weighs 1 gram, so liquid measure and dry measure can be treated as equal for wool-dyeing purposes. This rule is absolutely key to everything one does when using this method. You can compare the gram weight of dye powder equally to the ml measurement of water when making dyestock, and you can compare the gram weight of the wool equally to the amount of ml in the dyestock, when choosing a value for a color.
For example, I mix 1 gram of dye with 99 ml of water, creating 100 ml of a ’1% solution dyestock’. Because 1 ml of water weighs 1 gram, this 1/99 ratio of dye to water is mathematically accurate and easy to measure. I make 1% dyestock for each primary, and store it all in milk jugs. So remember:
1 gram dye powder + 99 ml water = a 1% dyestock solution
A FEW CAVEATS Using the three primaries does have its limitations, but they are few. I have formulated many browns and blacks using the three primaries, however, these colors are harder to produce. A lot of stirring is needed, and the use of Glauber’s salt mandatory to produce any kind of even result. Even then, your results may vary from batch-to-batch. If you are fussier about your results, you might prefer to use pre-formulated browns and blacks, and add a little of the primaries to adjust them.
I hope this inspires you to try this method, which has worked so well for me. My passion for wool dyeing turned into an on-line business, and I have made the most of the many hours I have spent learning and implementing these methods. I carry over 1,100 colors and each color is available for as little as $1.00, making the wool arts more affordable for all. To see the results of my many color trials, and the four families
of color that I work in, (all colors produced using the three primaries), please visit:
Ram in the Thicket Hand Dyed Wool
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