Dyeing Day

So many of us got a laugh out of telling people we were off to "our dyeing day" this Saturday.

So, yes, yesterday Freyalyn did a dye workshop through Bradford Guild at Queensbury. How fantastic it was! We played with dyes, learnt about indigo dyeing (I now feel I can get mine to work) and had fun.

My photos:

Ladies at work:


Things steaming:

(yes, you really can use a veg steamer, it did a LOT of parcels that day)

Penny's indigo'd yarn:


She dipped just one end in and the indigo travelled up, don't know how much will have stayed though as it depends what state the indigo was in when it got to those bits. I shall try and get a photo of the done stuff from her.

My indigos:


Those are in order from left to right. The left little bits went in at the start of the bath, the bit on the right went in at the end and pretty much exhausted the bath.

My laceweight:


100g DK:

Mohair tops:


Merino tops:


More merino tops:


FInally, all the tops plaited up:

The mohair would have been one skein but I had a stupid moment with my niddy-noddy and the tops split

And the hanks:



So, yes. Busy day. I was absolutely knackered but it was worth it. The indigo are now drip-drying on the airer, you have to leave them 24 hours to cure before rinsing y'see.

I am now no longer afraid of using synthetic dyes and indigo isn't as scary as I thought. I may even do my own bath before the end of the hols, I have a dedicated dyeing pan so I won't be trying to poison us.