the dropped spindle

Register

natalie · Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:23 pm Post subject: making a recipe book

I spent today dyeing. Today was all about reproducible results. I dyed short lengths of yarn with various proportions of different colours and then diluted them several times, testing all the dilutions. What I ended up with was the dyeing equivalent of a Dulux paint mixer machine with all the little cards. All the dyed sections are now mounted on hole punched card like the kind you see in wool shops. Today was a purple and green day.
When I'd done all that I had a sandwich (needed one!) and then this afternoon I chose three of my dyed colours and followed my own recipes to make the new colours.... and it worked perfectly!!! Then I dyed mini hanks of yarn using the three colours in different proportions, thirds, sixths etc. They are all different, some with long sections of a single colour, others with more short sections. What is really interesting is that when the little hanks are twisted up, they look pretty much identical. I made them, and I can't tell the difference between them.
The next bit is the knitting.
I like the unpredictability of spray dyeing, and I know I can make a nice hank of yarn that way, but it's good to know I can now make a particular colour too, when I want to.
Tomorrow will be orange and brown, I think.
natalie
_________________
www.theyarnyard.co.uk

wellington womble · Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Posts: 58

That's useful - I'm always making things and not being able to remember what I did (If I'm not careful, I can't remember by the second sock what I changed for the first!)

sally · Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 148

I'm a bit like that to, endlessly changing things, I sometimes have both socks on the go at once if the balls of wool allow for it so I can make any chanegs to both, but sadly I'm not often organised enough to do that consistently Embarassed

Well done on the shade cards n, bet they look really pretty too!

cledry yarner · Joined: 29 Jun 2006 Posts: 176

I started a book like that for my spinning. I had the sheep details, the wpi, the wheel ratio etc etc. It's got one entry in it Very Happy

Well done n, you're much more organised than me.

natalie · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:33 am Post subject:

I just had to, it's one thing having a sock pattern committed to memory, ( Laughing

) but quite another trying to remember the proportions of this colour or that once it gets past 50:50.
When OH gets back I'll take a photo of it.
n

_________________
www.theyarnyard.co.uk