HAND DYEING

YARN AND FLEECE

Dip-Dyeing, Hand-Painting, Tie-Dyeing, and Other Creative Techniques

GAIL CALLAHAN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN POLAK

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by
publishing practical information that encourages
personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Gwen Steege
Art direction and book design by Mary Winkelman Velgos

Photography by © John Polak Photography,
         except swatches on pages 159–63 by Mars Vilaubi
Photo styling by Lisa Newman
Charts by Leslie Anne Charles, LAC Design

Indexed by Nancy D. Wood

© 2010 by Gail Callahan

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Callahan, Gail.
   Hand dyeing yarn and fleece / by Gail Callahan.
        p. cm.
   Includes index.
   ISBN 978-1-60342-468-4 (hardcover with concealed wire-o : alk. paper)
   1. Dyes and dyeing—Textile fibers. 2. Yarn. 3. Wool. I. Title.
TT853.C35 2010
746.6’041—dc22
                                                                              2009028676

To my most important creations,
Ross, Casey, and Tim, and to
my loving husband, Bill,
for everything.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: A VERY REASONABLE CRAFT

The Big Three: Fiber, Color, Heat

CHAPTER 1 YOUR DYE STUDIO

Setting Up Your Studio

Safety First

Be Environmentally Responsible

Organizing Your Supplies

Heat Sources

CHAPTER 2 FIBERS TO DYE FOR

What to Expect from Protein Fibers

The Many Elements that Affect Dye Color

Preparing Fiber for the Dyebath

CHAPTER 3 DYES TO TRY

Types of Dyes

Some Dyeing Warm ups

Playing with Grocery-Store Dyes

Simple Handpaint Method: Monochromatic

CHAPTER 4 COLOR POWER

Finding Your Color Comfort Zone

Searching for a Variant of the Color Wheel

Tweaking Your Color Combinations

CHAPTER 5 NO-FEAR DYEING

Simple Handpaint Method: Multicolor

Dipping for Shades

Dip-and-Dye: Multicolored

Handpainting a Silk Cap

Handpainting a Wool Roving

An Injection of Color

Dunkin’ Cones

Basic Immersion Dyeing

Half-and-Half Immersion Dyeing

Drip-Paint–Immersion Combo

Basic Tie-Dyeing

Tie-Dye/Drip-Dye Combo

2-Step Immersion: Monochrome

3-Step Immersion: Multicolored

Parking Meter Yarn

Mozzarella-Style Dyeing

Knit, Dye, Unknit, Knit

CHAPTER 6 SHOW-OFF PATTERNS

Kangaroo Mittens

Rainbow-Dipped Baby Sweater

Infant Cardigan and Ruffled Cap

Neck Ruffle

Slouchy Ballerina Leg Warmers

Lace Scarf

Guy’s Ribbed Hat

Hidden-Message Socks

Swatching Your Dyed Yarns

RESOURCES

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A VERY REASONABLE CRAFT

Of the many reasons for dyeing my own yarns, what first dragged me kicking and screaming to dyeing was need. The lovely yarn I wanted to use for a weaving project was available only in white, but I wanted color. With some trepidation, I chose some green and blue dyes, partly because I love these colors and partly because I knew that if they were either accidentally or intentionally mixed together during the dye process or during the weaving, I couldn’t go wrong. And it was true! With this success behind me, the world of dyeing possibilities opened endlessly before me, and it continues to inspire and tempt me on.

Need isn’t the only reason — and perhaps not the most important one — to dye your own custom colors. I strongly believe that the more you are part of the creative process, the more invested you become in any project you undertake. A recent survey confirmed that people who’ve taken part in some way in creating their own yarn are more likely to complete their projects than those who did not, whether they’ve raised the sheep, spun the fiber, and/or dyed the yarn. Unfortunately, I can’t have sheep (although I do sometimes fantasize about having pygmy sheep that could be domesticated!). However, I learned to spin because, as I began writing this book, I wanted to understand what happens to color during the spinning process. Like my first dyeing efforts, I tackled spinning out of necessity! For some dyeing initiates, however, with no compelling reasons to dye, curiosity is enough to spark their interest.

Some reasons to begin dyeing will quickly become apparent if you just examine your “stash.” If you’re like many of us, some of your yarns sit and collect dust because you no longer like their colors. You may have bought a skein at a great sale or inherited it from a friend’s stash or have it left over from some long-ago project. These are all candidates for dyeing experiments. And even though this book focuses on protein fibers (see page 27), don’t be deterred from dyeing fiber blends, including wools blended with synthetics. The protein fibers will accept the dyes beautifully, and you’ll often get surprisingly lovely results on the remaining fibers.

Reason to Dye #1: Beautiful Fiber, Ugly Color

Unless the yarn is exceptionally dark, a dye bath can work wonders on a to-die-for fiber, transforming an ugly duckling into something very special. New life for old duds!

Reason to Dye #2: Specific Color

It’s rare for a brand of yarn or fiber to carry enough colors to satisfy everyone’s color needs. For instance, to create their intricate pictorial pieces, rug hookers and tapestry weavers require just the right shades and seldom can find enough colors to meet their needs.

Reason to Dye #3: Economy

A complicated project that requires many colors, such as stranded or intarsia knitting, can be exorbitantly expensive if you have to buy a skein for every color you want, even if you need only a small amount of many of the colors. If you dye your own yarns, however, you can wind off small lengths from a single skein and dye each a different shade in just the amounts you need. No need to limit the creative possibilities because you feel you need to stick to fewer colors than you’d really like to have.

Reason to Dye #4: Reuse and Recycle

Apart from your stash of yarns, consider woven, crocheted, or knit fabrics, either tucked away in the back of your closet or inexpensively available at thrift stores. Any of these can be dyed as is, then unraveled and reknit, or you may want to unravel the yarn before redyeing it.

Reason to Dye #5: Because You Want To

Why not? Become your own colorist. Personalize your work and expand your creative potential!

The Big Three: Fiber, Color, Heat

You’ll learn much more about the materials and techniques you can explore in the pages that follow, but let me assure you that to dye successfully, what you always need — and all you need — are fiber, color, and heat. I’ll remind you of this simple trio many times throughout the book. Of course, each member of the trio contains many possibilities.

• Fiber. Although in this book we’re discussing only animal (protein) fiber, that fiber comes from a variety of animals and is processed in many different forms, including unspun fleece (raw locks, batts, top, or roving), yarn, and cloth.

• Color. Among the infinite number of colors to choose from, you can use dyes in the form of grocery-store drink mixes, food coloring, and commercial dyes.

• Heat. Heat sources used to set the dyes might be a microwave or regular oven, a slow cooker, a stovetop, an electric frying pan, or even a solar oven.

These form the basis for all dyeing. I like to think of fiber and heat as finite resources because there are just so many sources of each, while color is infinite because the combinations are limitless.

If you’ve never dyed before, start with one of the simplest dye techniques, such as the Simple Handpaint Method (page 86) or Dipping for Shades (page 89), then be sure to use the yarn you dye. You’re very likely to discover a difference in the way you feel about your project. You’ve become part of the process! I guarantee you’ll feel a sense of ownership and pride in your work that you didn’t experience before making your yarn your own.

Directions for mixing dyestock are on the facing page. See pages 16, 17, and chapter 3 for advice about supplies and dyes.

MIXING DYESTOCK

Before you begin any project, you’ll need to mix up your dyestock. Wear a face mask to avoid inhaling the dye powder and vinyl gloves to protect your hands from stain. Place 1 teaspoon of acid dye powder in a cup or jar (A), add a little tepid water and mix to dissolve the powder (B). Add enough boiling water to bring the mixture to 1 cup, and combine thoroughly (C).

The dyestock should be at room temperature before you apply it directly to fiber. When I’m pressed for time, I pour ½ cup of boiling water into the dissolved paste, mix thoroughly, and then add ½ cup of tepid water. This speeds up the cooling process, and I’m ready to dye!

CHAPTER 1
YOUR DYE STUDIO

What kept me away from dyeing for a long time were the intimidating setups I found in many books. They showed metric scales and measuring vessels and face masks with elephant trunks. Just as intimidating were terms like “DOS” (“depth of shade,” meaning how dark the color is) and WOG (“weight of goods” you are dyeing), as well as a whole foreign language of mathematical calculations.

If you’re planning to become a professional dyer, or need to have predictable results week after week, these details are necessary, but most knitters and other fiber enthusiasts can have satisfying results from their dyeing experiences with very little special equipment or technical expertise. You don’t need a lot of space either. A portion of a kitchen countertop (protected by plastic bags or plastic wrap and newspaper), your kitchen sink, and some kind of heat source are quite adequate.

Setting Up Your Studio

You’ll probably be working in your kitchen, so unless you want a polka-dotted decor, you’ll need to organize it for dyeing.

• Cover the surfaces around your work area with plastic sheeting or other impervious material. Spread newspapers over the plastic and replace them when necessary. You don’t need a large space: the size of two sheets of newspaper should be fine.

• Do not multitask by dyeing and cooking at the same time. It’s a temptation, but it should never be done.

• Because you need water at various stages in the dye process, it’s convenient to set up near a sink.

• To reduce the possibilities of burns or spills, try to have your working surface as close as possible to your heat source.

• If you get into extensive dyeing, purchase heating burners that automatically turn off once the pans are removed.

• Too much direct light can be a deterrent to your successful use of color. In my dye studio, there’s a large window directly in front of my table. When the sun is high and pouring in on the table, I find that I can barely see the colors I’m applying. If you face this problem, a bamboo shade or other light-filtering device may help.

Safety First

When you set up your dyeing area, safety issues are an important consideration, but these are straightforward and based on common-sense attention to ordinary kitchen safety procedures. We use wash-fast acid dyes for dyeing the fibers in this book. Because the dyes I used for my first experiments were from the Cushing Dye Company, I still have a special fondness for them and used them to demonstrate some of the projects in this book. Cushing dyes are packaged in small quantities of about 2 teaspoons and come in a lovely range of colors, which — for the first-time dyer — is a real confidence builder. For many of the projects, however, I used PRO-Chem dyes. The dyes from both companies come in a powder form, are dissolved in water, and used as a liquid. They’re safe to use with children once in the liquid form, but they are chemicals and should be handled with the same care with which you handle all your household chemicals.

Understanding and respecting your materials is just as important whether you’re dyeing or simply cleaning or cooking. Common sense tells you that powdery ingredients can be accidentally inhaled, whether it’s confectioners’ sugar or dye powder, and neither should land in your lungs. Likewise, you need to take care when handling hot, steamy items, whether you’re cooking or dyeing.

When you’re first learning to dye, most precautions are simple; if you get into more extensive dyeing, you may want to purchase some additional safety supplies and equipment, which I’ve noted below. If you get into producing large quantities of dye, perhaps even as a business, greater precautions are needed, because prolonged exposure to the dye particles can create sensitivities to the dyes.

Protect Your Skin

Because dyes must be set with some form of heat, you’ll be handling hot, steamy fibers and/or boiling water, so it’s important to take the following precautions.

• Use potholders when handling pans and pots.

• Use tongs for picking up fiber, if you question whether or not it’s cool enough to handle.

• If you get into extensive dyeing, use a rubber apron to protect your body.

Protect Your Lungs and Eyes

When you’re working with dye powders, the fine dye particles can be released into the air and inhaled, so treat them with care.

• Wear vinyl gloves.

• Use a dust mask purchased from a hardware store.

• Handle dye powders in a draft-free room.

• Mix as much dye as you need for your project all at once. This minimizes your exposure to dye particles. If stored in a cool, dark place, dyestock keeps for months, so don’t worry about mixing too much.

• Wipe up spills as soon as they occur. Once the dyestock dries, the particles can become airborne.

• Place newspapers on your working surface and spritz them with water to attract dye particles that may escape when you transfer the dye to the mixing container. Once you’ve made your dyestock, roll up the damp newspaper and discard it in your recycling bin.

• If you get into extensive dyeing, use a respirator mask, and protect your eyes from dust with goggles or safety glasses when mixing the dyestock.

Be Environmentally Responsible

Although the dyes recommended in this book are safe when used with the precautions described above, being a conscientious craftsperson means being aware of how the materials you use may impact the world around you.

• Reuse and recycle! Reusable containers are just as effective, are better for the environment, and cost less in the long run, and I like to use them, rather than wrapping yarns in plastic wrap, whenever possible. When you do use plastic, look for recycled containers in recycling bins, thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales. You’ll find an excellent variety of glass recyclables there as well!

• Consider using solar energy for your heat sources. Living in New England does not always allow me to use a solar source, but whenever I can, I do. (See page 24 for information about solar dyeing.)

• Make sure that the water is clear before you finish dyeing and dispose of it. (This is known as “exhausting” the dye bath.) You can reuse water from a exhausted dyebath when you’re dyeing colors close to each other on the color wheel. Or if the water is not clear and you like the color, carefully remove the fiber with tongs and save the unexhausted dyebath. You can get some great results by reusing the dyebath and mixing in a new dye color or colors.

The Acid Test

The quantity of dyes used by occasional home dyers rarely exceeds limits set for disposal into municipal or home septic systems, but you might want to take some measures to lower the acidity of the water that you dispose after the dye process. Since the most successful acid dyeing occurs at a pH of about 4, you add vinegar to your presoak and dyebath to achieve that level of acidity. The normal pH (acidity level) of water ranges from 6 to 8.5; neutral is 7. When the pH falls below 6 it indicates increased acidity, which may be corrosive to metal pipes. It’s a good habit to return the water to the system at the same pH you received it. Check the pH of the exhausted bath before discarding the water, and use baking soda to neutralize it, if necessary. (Notice in the photo at the left that adding baking soda or salt to a dyebath can also make a difference in the color you achieve.)

These two yarns were dyed with the same dyestock, but I added baking soda to the dyebath for the skein on the right, and additional vinegar to the dyebath for the skein on the left.

TESTING THE pH

For more predictable dye results, you may wish to test the pH of the water you use for both presoaks and dyebaths. Using pH strips saves time and expense, because you’ll use less water, less vinegar, and less dye if you provide the proper level of acidity. Depending on the reading, add enough white vinegar to the water to achieve a pH of 4, the point at which most dyes are fully absorbed by the fiber. You can purchase easy-to-use test kits from dye and swimming-pool suppliers.

Using a pH test kit, dip a strip of the test paper in your water, then match the color to one of the blocks of color on the chart.

Organizing Your Supplies

You may already have much of what you need to begin dyeing. Supplies include containers for mixing and storing dyes, measuring tools, and applicators. Always remember that once you use any of the following for dyeing, it should never be used in the kitchen for food.

Containers. The first place to look for plastic or glass containers is in your recycling bin. Yogurt cups and other dairy containers, salsa containers, and mayonnaise jars are all useful for mixing dyes. For soaking fiber before dyeing, you need a good-sized container, such as a pail, dish-pan, or sheetrock bucket. A gallon jug with the top portion cut off is just perfect.

Measuring devices. For measuring the volume of liquids, you can use ordinary measuring cups and spoons. Again, be sure not to use them for cooking once you’ve used them for dyeing. If you’re using yarns or fibers already labeled with weight and yardage information, you don’t need a scale, but you may want to purchase one if you get into dyeing fleece or other unlabelled fibers.

A plastic spoon can serve well for measuring dye powder and liquid. (Any size will do, as long as you always use the same size.) When I make up my dye mixtures, I always use 1 teaspoon of dye powder to 1 cup of water, regardless of the dye color or company brand, because I like being consistent. Production dyers, who require repeatable dyelots and colors, often use scales to weigh their dye powders. To keep the process as simple as possible in this introduction to dyeing, however, I measure volume, rather than weight.

You can purchase spoons that measure minute amounts of dye powder in volumes of ¼, ¹/₈, ¹/₁₆, ¹/₃₂, ¹/₆₄, and ¹/₁₂₈ teaspoon. These spoons are called Grey spoons. I own a set but use them only for demonstration in dye workshops. I find them cumbersome, because it’s fussy to remove the powder and clean them when changing colors. You can also get a set of spoons from rug-hooking supply companies that read a “dash,” a “dip,” and a “smidgen.” I love the playfulness of these names! As a new dyer, you don’t need a scientific laboratory for your experiments. In short, find a way of safely measuring your dye powder and be consistent in its use.

MAKE YOUR OWN MEASURER

You can customize a recycled quart-sized container, such as a juice or spaghetti-sauce jar, to indicate 1-cup increments. I find this container a good size for storing dyestock, and by marking off the measurements, it’s very easy to keep my results consistent.

Measure 1 cup (8 ounces) of water, then pour it into the quart jar. Using a permanent waterproof marker, draw a line at the water level of 1 cup. Add another cup and mark the 2-cup measure. Finally, add another cup and mark the 3-cup measure.

Mixing and stirring tools. Plastic spoons, wooden dowels, and a sturdy stick all work fine.

Dye applicators. All sorts of applicators are useful. Start with sponge “brushes,” water bottles with squirt tops, and small cups with spouts. I’m always looking in hardware stores and thrift shops for additional possibilities, such as turkey basters, spray bottles, and syringes.

Other tools. You’ll need permanent markers for identifying and dating containers of stored dye. As you dye more frequently, you may also find a candy thermometer and a scale for measuring dyes and fiber useful.

RECORD-KEEPING IS KEY

When you get into dyeing, you’ll learn that there’s no “right” way to combine colors. Developing what you like is completely subjective. One important piece of advice, however: Make certain you keep records of what you like. Believe me, you absolutely will not remember! It’s been my sad experience that the colors I do not document are the very ones someone wants me to repeat, and I am stuck working very hard to reproduce them.

• Keep a pad of paper near where you dye, and jot down what worked and what didn’t.

• Make tags out of strips of Tyvex (the tough, paperlike material often used for mailing envelopes). Punch a hole in one end, so you can attach it with string to samples of fleece or yarn you want to dye. Use a waterproof marking pen to record information such as fiber content, dye colors and proportions, and so on. This tag will endure the dyeing process without losing whatever you write on it. Keep notes on this same information in your notebook.

• You can also add a variety of other yarn samples to any dyebath to see what happens to the different fibers. Don’t limit yourself only to light-colored fibers. These samples can be great learning tools and will help build your confidence to try other fibers in the future.

• Create a system of knots to document your dyes: tie a piece of string or scrap yarn onto your skein, assign each of your dyestocks a number, and then use this number code to make the correct number of knots in your string (for instance, 1 knot indicates your red/yellow dyestock, 2 knots indicates a red/blue dyestock, and so on); be sure to record your code in a notebook for future reference. The advantage of this system is that you don’t have to worry about tags falling off and getting lost or just getting in the way; the disadvantage is that you have to be diligent about keeping good notes.

Heat Sources

No matter what dyeing technique you use, you’ll need heat to set the dye. The heat can come from a number of sources. From here to the end of the chapter, you’ll find options for heat-setting dye, along with the specifics on how to proceed with them. Many of these methods work with a variety of dye applications and techniques, and the step-by-step dye projects in chapter 5 refer back to these procedures. You will probably develop a preference for a particular heat-setting method (or methods) as you experiment with a variety of dye processes.

The most readily available heat source is your kitchen stovetop, which, if you follow the proper procedures, is safe to use for both dyeing and cooking — just not at the same time. Many of the other heat sources discussed below must be dedicated to dyeing only. These include microwave ovens and electric appliances such as frying pans, turkey cookers, and slow cookers.

Electric appliances are convenient heat sources for dyeing because you can set their temperature regulators at 200°F (95°C) to maintain an appropriate, even heat. I especially like using a slow cooker for unspun fibers, because it’s important to handle these very gently so they don’t felt.

If you haven’t yet tried dyeing at all, I strongly suggest that you use food-coloring-based dyes for your first experiments (see page 48). Because they are food-safe, you can safely use any of your kitchen appliances as a heat source, and you can reuse the same pots and pans, measurers, and stirrers that you use for cooking.

Heat can be applied either by immersing fiber right into a dyebath that you keep just below simmer or by positioning the fiber so that it receives enough hot steam to set the dye. Some of the dye techniques illustrated in chapter 5 can be heat-set using either immersion or steam, and the heat source itself can vary as desired. For example, immersion works whether your dyebath is in a kettle on top of the stove, in a bowl that you place in a microwave oven, or in a slow cooker or electric frying pan. You can use steam by placing your wet fibers in a covered bowl in a microwave or on a rack in a covered pan on the stove or in the oven. These are only a few of the possibilities you may wish to explore.

FINDING EQUIPMENT

Once you have put dyes, dyebath, or fibers that are in the process of being dyed into a container, you may not use the container afterward for food preparation. This includes electric appliances, pots, pans, bowls, lids, and so on. Used pans are therefore a good choice when you’re a beginning dyer. Check out auctions, thrift shops, and tag sales for inexpensive, used home and professional kitchen equipment that you can dedicate to your dye projects.

IMMERSION METHODS

Before heating your water, you need to be sure that the container is large enough for the fiber you’re planning to dye to be completely covered with water and move freely in the pot. To check, place the dry fiber in the empty pot. There should be enough space to add water twice as deep as the fiber, with several inches to spare at the top of the pot. Remove the fiber and follow the steps below.

Stovetop

1. Set up the pot. Fill your pot two-thirds full of water and bring the water to a slow boil (just beyond “shivering”), then pour the prepared dyestock and 1 cup of white vinegar into the pot; stir well. (See also The Acid Test, page 14, for information about water and acidity levels.)

2. Add the fiber. Place the prepared fiber into the dyebath. For a consistently even color, gently move the fiber in the pot with a stick or spoon to circulate the dyebath. Do not allow the fiber to sit on the bottom of the pan for long or it will absorb the dye unevenly. Maintain a slow simmer for about 20–30 minutes.

3. Allow for cooldown. When the water is clear, all of the available dye has been absorbed (in other words, the dyebath has been exhausted). Turn off the heat and allow the fiber to cool to room temperature before rinsing. If the water is not clear after about 30 minutes, gradually add increments of white vinegar to the pot, and continue processing until the water is clear.

Slow Cooker, Electric Frypan, or Turkey Cooker

1. Set up the pot. Fill the appliance about two-thirds full of water. Bring the water to a slow boil (just beyond “shivering”), then pour in the prepared dyestock and 1 cup of white vinegar and stir well. Set the temperature so that it retains the “shiver.”

2. Add the fiber. Place the prepared fiber in the pot, cover it, and process on low until the water is clear. Check the progress of the dyeing by using a chopstick or similar tool to carefully pull the fiber away from the wall of the slow cooker and at the same time ensure that there’s enough liquid still remaining.

3. Allow for cooldown. Follow the instructions for Stovetop on facing page.

Microwave

1. Set up the bowl. Fill a microwave-safe bowl two-thirds full of water. Set the heat on High for about 1 minute and check to see if it is almost simmering.

2. Add the fiber. Place the prepared fiber into the dyebath. Cover the bowl. Set the heat on High for 1 minute, then check to see if the dye is being absorbed. Continue to heat and check until all of the water runs clear.

JAR METHOD FOR SMALL QUANTITIES

You can dye small quantities of fiber several different colors in heatproofjars in a pot on the stovetop or in the oven, in a slow cooker (if they’ll fit), or in a microwave oven. If you use a microwave, you can place the jars right on the bottom of the microwave; if you use any of the other heat sources, place the jars in a large pot, add water to stand about 2 inches. (You need only enough water to ensure that the fiber is saturated.) Pour dyebath into the jar and add the fiber. Unless you’re using a microwave, cover the pot that holds the jars. Heat until the water barely simmers. Keep processing until the dyebath runs clear.

STEAM METHODS

In order to get enough hot steam to set the dye, you’ll need to cover your fiber.

Stovetop

1. Set up the pot. Place a wire rack or steamer in the bottom of a pot. (If you don’t have a rack, you can bend a clothes hanger into a support that will hold the fiber.) Add water to the pot until it just barely touches the bottom of the rack.

2. Add the fiber. Wrap the wet, dyed fiber in plastic wrap or a plastic bag, and place it on the rack. Cover the pot with a lid.

3. Heat. Bring the water to a slow boil so that steam penetrates the fiber. Steam the fiber for about 30 minutes.

4. Allow for cool down. Turn off the heat source and allow the fiber to cool to room temperature before handling and rinsing.

Oven

The setup is similar to what you use for steam dyeing on the stovetop (see above).

1. Preheat the oven. Set the oven to 400°F (204°C).

2. Set up the pot. Place a wire rack or steamer in the bottom of a pan, such as a turkey roaster. Add water to the pan until it just barely touches the bottom of the rack.

3. Add the fiber. Wrap the wet, dyed fiber in plastic wrap, and place it on the rack. Cover the pan with a lid, and place it in the preheated oven.

4. Heat. Bring the water to a slow boil so that steam penetrates the fiber. Steam the fiber for about 30 minutes. You may need to reduce the oven temperature in order to keep the water from boiling too hard.

5. Allow for cooldown. Bring the fiber to room temperature before rinsing.

Solar

I know a weaver in Virginia who dyes all of her fiber using the sun as her source of heat. The length of time it takes to thoroughly process the dye depends on the climate where you live and the time of year. If you have a solar oven, you can follow the same procedure as described above for a conventional oven. If you don’t have a solar oven, try this:

1. Prepare the fiber. Wrap the wet, dyed fiber in plastic wrap, or place it directly in a bowl with a lid. Place the bundle or bowl in a black plastic bag, and position the bag in direct sun early in the day.

2. Check the dye absorption. At the end of the day, check to see if the water in the container runs clear. If not, make certain the fiber is still wet and reprocess the following day. Continue to process in this way until the water is clear and the fiber rinses clean.

Microwave

A microwave oven is a good choice for beginning dyers. It’s a bit difficult to provide exact timing, because heat varies depending on the age and size of your appliance. It’s best to start with short increments and increase as needed. You need to process until the water clears. Here’s the basic procedure for heat-setting about 4 ounces (about 100 grams) of fiber. (Most commercial fiber comes packaged in 1.75-ounce/50 gram increments.) The following steps assume that you’ve already applied dye to your fiber using one of the methods described on pages 20–21 or 22 or in chapter 5.

1. Add the fiber. Place the wet fiber into a bowl and cover it with a lid or plate. (As an alternative, you can wrap the wet, dyed fiber in plastic wrap or bag, poke a few holes in the plastic so that steam can escape, and place the wrapped fiber in the microwave.)

2. Heat. Place the bowl in the microwave and cook it on High for 2 minutes. Allow it to rest in the microwave for another 2 minutes.

3. Turn and reheat. Using tongs and an oven mitt, turn the bundle over and process for 2 minutes more. Any water that remains should be clear.

4. Allow for cooldown. Remove the bowl from the microwave and allow the fibers to come to room temperature before handling and rinsing.

MICROWAVE MATTERS

Here are a few precautions to keep in mind.

• Unless you’re using food-based dyes, don’t dye in the same microwave that you use for cooking.

• It’s very important to keep all fibers wet so that they don’t burn. Give fibers a good spray with more water, if necessary.

• Take special care when working with silk, and don’t process it beyond 185°F (85°C). Above this temperature it loses its luster, strength, and softness. (Use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature.)

CHAPTER 2
FIBERS TO DYE FOR

There are two types of natural fibers: one from animals (protein fibers), the other from plants. You need to use a different type of synthetic dye for each type of fiber. The main focus of this book is protein fibers and the dyes that are appropriate to use with them. This doesn’t mean you should disregard blends containing synthetic (such as acrylic) or plant (such as bamboo) fibers. The dye results will differ from what you might experience when dyeing 100 percent protein fibers, but the yarns may suit your needs. We’ll look at both wool animals and hair animals. The only way to get any of these animal fibers is by hand. The fibers are all sheared, combed, or plucked from the animal by other animals — humans! This is what I love most about working with fibers. The human touch has to be present to achieve all of the possibilities. No machine has been designed to hold and shear an animal.

What to Expect from Protein Fibers

Although protein fibers share some characteristics, they vary in the way they look, feel, and behave, as well as in the way they take dye. Before the fiber will accept dye, it must be clean, but you can apply dye anywhere along the process from simple, clean fleece to batt, roving, top, yarn, or finished fabric, be it knitted, crocheted, or woven. The only other requirement is that the fiber be wet.

Wonderful Wool

Since most of the experiments I describe here use wool, I’ll start with it, but as you gain experience, don’t hesitate to try dyeing other fibers.

Over the centuries, sheep have been bred to strengthen their value either for meat or for fleece (the source of wool). Seldom do you get both good meat and good fleece in one breed. The sheep breeds we favor for garments, of course, are the ones bred for their fleece. These include Shetland, Border Leicester, Cotswold, and Merino, as well as a variety of crossbreeds. It’s rewarding to discover the differences among them. Next time you’re in a room full of people, notice the range of differences in each person’s hair — straight or curly, thick or sparse. You’ll find the same wide ranges when you study different kinds of wool fleeces.

Sheep are classified by their wool types, including fine wools and longwools. Each has its own specific qualities, but all wool shares certain characteristics.

Durability and resiliency. Wool is durable partly because its springlike quality makes the fiber elastic. The fibers can be stretched up to 30 percent when dry and 50 percent when wet. This elasticity makes woolen fabrics resistant to tearing and wrinkling and also makes it relatively easy to adjust the size of a completed knitted piece in a process called “blocking.”

Absorbency and insulation. Wool is a hydroscopic fiber, which means it readily takes up moisture from the air. Wool can absorb up to 30 percent of its weight in moisture without feeling damp. An elementary school teacher and spinning friend of mine tells about taking some of her students on a rafting trip. Even though all were instructed to wear only wool, many set out for the day wearing synthetic fleece jackets. By the end of the cold, wet trip, the ones wearing wool were wet, but they were comfortable. The ones wearing fleece were shivering and cold.

Wool also absorbs perspiration, leaving a layer of dry air next to the skin that holds body heat. When wool absorbs perspiration in hot weather, on the other hand, we feel cooler as the moisture evaporates. In fact, wool is worn throughout many desert regions of the world, keeping the wearer cooler during hot days and warm through cool nights. Wool is truly an all-season fabric.

Tendency to felt. Wool felts naturally. This can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on your intent!

Nonflammability. Because wool readily absorbs moisture, it resists fire without any chemical treatment. Instead of burning freely when touched by flame, wool chars, but stops burning as soon as the flame is removed. In other words, it self-extinguishes. For this reason, wool blankets and rugs are recommended for extinguishing small fires.

Dyeability. Let’s get down to the real business of this book: Wool takes dye beautifully! In fact, wool is the easiest fiber to dye. It absorbs many different dyes deeply and uniformly without the use of combining chemicals. Dyes penetrate into the inner core of the fiber, where a chemical reaction causes the colors to change. Wool is known for the beautiful rich colors that can be attained when dyed.

Harvestable Hair

Some of the most popular fiber-bearing animals produce hair, rather than wool. These include camel, alpaca, llama, Angora rabbit, cashmere goat, and Angora goat, for mohair. (I know, the name “Billy Goat Gruff” doesn’t evoke an image of luxurious cashmere or lustrous mohair, but goats are versatile animals!) The fibers from each one are a joy, bringing their own special characteristics to the processed fiber or fiber blend, although I find angora, llama, and alpaca a bit fussier to dye than wool. These fibers tend to be more expensive because harvesting them is usually more difficult than shearing sheep for their fleece. Some of these animals have an outer coat of long, coarse hair; the desirable, finer, downy coat is underneath and therefore harder to gather. If all of the coarse, prickly hairs aren’t removed, the quality of the fiber is inferior.

Angora goats produce mohair fleece known for its beautiful luster, and this fleece loves to drink up dye. The resulting colors are clear and crisp. I especially love mohair from kid goats (young goats), because its silkiness seduces even those who find wool itchy. Mohair has a tendency to felt, though, which makes rinsing a bit of a challenge.

Angora rabbits produce fibers of a much shorter length than those of Angora goats. This fiber is soft and fluffy, and its short, silky fibers are most luxurious when the animal is plucked or combed. This process means that angora yarn is quite labor-intensive and therefore usually very expensive. When the fiber is sheared from the rabbit, the staple length is even shorter and the quality of the yarn is inferior to plucked fiber. At fiber fairs, you’ll often see an Angora rabbit sitting happily on its owner’s lap while its coat is being plucked and fed directly into a spinning wheel. This truly is yarn straight from the source! Angora takes dye at a much lighter shade than wool. When it’s blended with wool, the subsequent blend has both light and dark colors.

Llamas have long guard hairs that need to be removed before the fleece is spun. If left in the mix, the hairs break during processing, resulting in scratchy fabrics. But the most desirable part of the fleece, the undercoat, is soft and downy. Like angora, llama fleece takes dye in a much lighter manner than wool, so achieving deep, intense colors is difficult.

Alpaca does not have as many scales as other protein fibers and does not contain lanolin. Often people who can’t wear wool can wear alpaca. Alpaca, too, takes dye in a much lighter manner than wool.

Seductive Silk

Another fiber usually included in the protein group is silk, which comes from the silkworm. The cocoon spun by the worm is made up of a filament of silk that can be up to one mile long! The silkworm’s life purpose is to spin this cocoon. Silk has a wonderful luster when dyed. Dyeing 100 percent silk is not for the faint of heart, however, because the dye penetrates the fiber unevenly and quickly, often making for a mottled look. It is often blended with other protein fibers with great results, so for your first projects dyeing silk, I suggest that you choose a blend of silk and another fiber or fibers.

WOOL VERSUS HAIR

Only wool fleece contains lanolin. Because some people are allergic to lanolin, they can’t wear wool, but they can wear clothing made from the coats of hair animals as well as from silk, which is another protein fiber. In addition, hair has fewer scales than wool fiber, making these yarns smoother and therefore less likely to irritate skin.

A variety of different white fibers (shown at right) were dyed at the same time in the same dyebath, but each fiber came out a slightly different shade (results shown at left).

YARN BLENDS

Many commercial yarns are blends of different kinds of fibers. Even if all of the fibers in a blend came from animals, you’ll find that fibers from different animals “drink up” the dye in different ways. Yarns made with these mixtures therefore look different from yarns made up solely of one type of animal fiber. Some examples include alpaca and silk, wool and mohair, wool and alpaca, and wool and angora. The list is endless and offers opportunities for many creative dyeing adventures.

Although this book focuses on dyeing animal fibers, you don’t have to be limited to blends solely from the animal world. You may enjoy experimenting with wool blended with bamboo or cotton, for instance, among an almost endless list of other possibilities. Also, don’t be afraid of blends of animal and synthetic fibers, such as mohair and nylon, or wool and Tencel, polyester, or acrylic. Not only are some of the man-made/natural fiber combinations stronger and lighter than completely natural yarns, they sometimes take the dyes we’re using for protein fibers in a most interesting fashion. Experiment with whatever fiber you can get your hands on. Some of these experiments result in the most serendipitous effects. (See chapter 3 for information on what dyes to use for specific fibers.)

The Many Elements that Affect Dye Color

Fiber usually goes through quite a long process from animal to finished product, including cleaning, spinning, and dyeing. Consequently, if the fiber or garment has no label, you may find it difficult to name its source without close study. As you experiment with dyes, you’ll discover that various factors in fiber and fabric preparation greatly affect the way the fiber accepts and/or expresses the dye color.

Effect of Texture on Color

I was once fascinated to notice that the colors of the petals of an almost-black iris seemed to vary, depending on whether they were textured or shiny. Fibers produce the same effect because light is reflected differently depending on the fiber. Study the samples in the photos below: In (A), a dyed skein of 100 percent wool (top) looks very different from a skein made of 85 percent wool and 15 percent mohair (bottom). In (B), compare the ironed and wrinkled pieces of silk. In (C), the unspun fleece appears lighter than the 2-ply yarn spun from it.

You can observe a similar effect in the differently textured fibers you’re working with, as seen in the photos on the facing page. In addition, not only does texture influence the way fibers express color, but different fibers also accept dye in different ways. For example, one of the yarns I regularly dye is a laceweight 80% alpaca/20% silk blend; another is a superwash 75% wool/25% nylon sock-yarn blend (see D, below). When I prepare the skeins for dyeing, I usually tie four together for their presoak. I once inadvertently tied a skein of the sock yarn with three skeins of alpaca/silk. As soon as I applied the dye, I could see there was an escapee in the mix. These two yarns take the dye in totally different manners.

The alpaca/silk yarn does not easily become supersaturated, so that after I apply the dye, it sort of sits on the alpaca, giving me time to decide what direction I’m going to move the color. It allows for lots of creative transition time. The super-wash fiber, however, accepts the dye readily and in a more saturated manner. As soon as the dye is placed on the superwash, the fiber grabs it and does not drift around. When working with superwash wool, it’s important to start with colors of very light intensity because there’s no turning back once the fiber grabs the dye.

Effect of Fiber Condition

As you can see, fiber characteristics vary depending on which animal produces the fiber. Hair has fewer scales and is slippery compared to wool. The dye may seem to slide off hair fibers, requiring a slow, intense application of color in order to get the dye to take. But other factors also influence how fibers react with the dyes.

Cleanliness of fiber. Whether it’s the animal’s natural oils or a spinning oil used when processing the yarn, oils can make it more difficult for dye to penetrate fiber. If the fiber was processed commercially, oil residue generally won’t be an issue. A few drops of shampoo or Dawn liquid detergent in a cleaning bath should take care of it, and if you’re in doubt, another washing won’t hurt the fiber. (For more on cleaning fiber and advice on cleaning silk, see page 44.)

Effect of Natural Fiber Color

You can always make a light fiber darker, but you can’t make a dark yarn lighter. Use this fact to your advantage when your fiber has natural color. Overdyeing a naturally colored yarn can give you great results. Contrary to the nursery rhyme, not all sheep are black or white. Pale gray, tan, and chocolate brown fleeces all look beautiful when touched with dye.

The natural (far left) and white (far right) skeins were dyed in the same dyebath, but notice the color difference between the two middle skeins.

PRESOAKING

Air between the fibers. It’s important to make certain that your fiber is thoroughly damp before you apply the dye. Presoaking in water ensures that the air trapped among the fibers is removed. It’s especially difficult to ensure this when working with silk, so I like to soak silk overnight in unacidified water. (As you’ll learn, before you apply dye to animal fibers they must be soaked in a mild vinegar-water solution; see page 45. Acid can harm silk, however, and cause it to lose its luster. Because of this, I allow silk about only 10 minutes in a vinegar-water soak just before dyeing.) It’s amazing to see the silk float to the top of the pre-dye soak! Often it needs to be pushed down in the water several times. Some fibers just seem more contrary than others.

Effect of Processing

If you’re a spinner and become interested in creating your own colors, you have several options for when in the process from fleece to yarn to apply your dyes. You can apply color right after the fleece has been washed, you can color it after the fleece is carded, you can dye it after it’s been spun into yarn, or you can dye it after it’s been made into cloth. You will achieve different effects, depending on which stage you choose.

Dyeing fleece. Yarn made from fleece dyed prior to carding usually has a more blended look than the rainbow sort of effect you get when you apply dye to carded and spun yarn. The carding mixes the fibers of different shades so they are fairly evenly distributed throughout, but you have less direct control over how the colors play out.

Dyeing carded but unspun fiber. You’ll find commercial fiber prepared in several different ways, including batts, roving, and top. Batts and roving are both carded; top is combed.

• Batts are processed in a drum carder and come out in sheets.

• Roving comes in the form of a long, narrow bundle of fibers, which are not all uniform and parallel.

• Top has the mostly uniform fibers parallel to each other.

If you use the immersion technique to dye any of these preparations before spinning, the color will be fairly consistent throughout, but you can produce many dramatic variations if you use some of the other dyeing techniques. For example, you can apply the color directly to sections of the batt, top, or roving, so that when you spin it, the color changes gradually, as shown in the sweater on page 37. With this method, you can get wide variations from one end of your yarn to the other. You can achieve even more effects by plying with another strand of the same fiber, another type of spun fiber, or a different-color strand of the same fiber.

This yarn, spun from uncarded, dyed fleece, has a heathery look because different parts of the fleece accepted the dye at different rates.

This sweater is being knit with a 2-ply handspun that was dyed as roving (in the basket). Notice the wide stripes between color changes, as well as the softly blending transition that this technique results in. (See page 42 for how to dye roving.)

Dyeing spun yarn. Yarn, too, can be dyed using many different techniques, including immersion, dipping, and hand-painting. Each method produces different results and also provides you with many interesting ideas to explore. Before getting into dyeing techniques, however, let’s first take a look at how the yarn has been made, with its various weights and fiber contents. Each of these determines yarn’s durability, function, and unique look, including its color.

The simplest spun yarn is single ply (or “singles”). This yarn is created by combing the cleaned fibers, then gradually drawing out and twisting them, so that the staple lengths (the term for the length of the animal’s fibers) overlap. This forms a yarn that is relatively stable. To create yarn with more than one ply, two or more singles are twisted together. The combined plies make a stronger yarn than a single. Yarns can have any number of plies, from 2 to 8 or more.

In terms of color, whether or not a yarn is plied can dramatically change its look. Compare the Frog Tree single-ply, worsted-weight alpaca yarn to the 3-ply sport weight in the photo below. The ply affects the way light is reflected off the fibers, giving a different look to the same dye color.

Although exactly the same dye was used to color the Frog Tree single-ply alpaca (left) and the 3-ply worsted-weight alpaca (right), the yarns look very different from each other because of the way they are plied.

EXAMINING DIFFERENT PLIED YARNS

Take some time to examine yarns you have in your stash, including your novelty yarns. Often these consist of a variety of different fibers with varying textures and weights. Comparing the way each of the yarns does or does not accept the dye is an education in itself.

• Singles. Take a 12-inch strand of singles yarn (the photo shows Berkshire Bulky) from your stash and hold it so that it hangs freely (A). Notice that the yarn turns slightly. Now, pull apart the overlapping fibers. It should be relatively easy to separate them. You may notice that they are of different lengths. Usually singles yarn is used for items that don’t need to tolerate a lot of abrasion in areas of wear. It’s not a good choice for the elbows of a sweater, for example. This yarn also has a tendency to pill, meaning that the shorter fibers roll up and form little balls on the surface of the yarn.

• 2-ply. Now take a 12-inch length of 2-ply yarn and observe how it behaves when you let it hang freely (B). Two-ply yarn usually does not twist in the way singles does, because the twisted strands balance each other out. Untwist the two strands (or plies), and note that you now have two lengths of singles. Plied yarns are generally stronger than singles. They are also great when you’re working textural knits, because the twist helps define the patterns.

• Marled. Take two strands of different colors and twist them together; this type of yarn is referred to as marled yarn (C). Notice how different they look from two same-color strands twisted together.

Dyeing woven, knitted, or crocheted pieces. You can dye the woven, knitted, or crocheted items after you’ve made them, of course, or you may want to dye yardage that you plan to use for rug hooking or for a sewing project. A 2-yard piece weighing about 1 pound is probably the largest piece to dye by hand. If the piece is too large and cumbersome, parts of the yardage won’t be exposed to the dye simultaneously, with the result that you’ll get white or pale spots or streaks. Rug hookers may be interested in shaded effects, but if you want overall consistency, resist dyeing too large a piece at one time. It’s also easier to handle smaller pieces when you’re rinsing.

Fabrics made from dyed yarn. The real test of whether a dye has been successful is how the color looks when it’s made into cloth, whether woven, knitted, or crocheted. The complexity of each technique — the way the threads interlace — affects the look of the colors. When you observe a woven fabric from a bit of a distance, your eyes blend the different-colored warp and weft threads in much the same way that they blend the different-colored pixels on a computer screen, “mixing” the various colors into an entirely new color (see example below).

You can also use color to create different textural effects. If you’re knitting in stockinette stitch, for instance, you may decide to change from knit to purl each time you come to a different color in a variegated yarn, creating an interesting textural effect that emphasizes that particular color on the surface of the fabric. The nature of the fiber — whether it’s rough or smooth, shiny or dull — also affects the way light is reflected from the fabric.

Seen from a distance, the colors of two intersecting (warp and weft) yarns blend, creating a third color. Close up, however, you can easily see the individual colors. (Sampler woven by Barbara Elkins using Valley Yarns 100% cotton.

Preparing Fiber for the Dyebath

You’ll find that yarn comes packaged in many ways, including balls, skeins, and cones, and the form usually fits the function. For example, a commercially packaged ball of yarn is spun, dyed, and wound into a ball so that you can easily begin to knit or crochet it without any further preparation. Yarn wound onto cones has the advantage of being available in long lengths of yardage with few or no breaks, which is particularly attractive to weavers.

When you’re planning to dye your own yarn, yarn prepared in skeins (sometimes called “hanks”) is the easiest to work with, especially if you’re handpainting or dip dyeing. In an immersion bath, water moves freely through and around the skein, ensuring more even dyeing. For these reasons, the conventional way to dye yarn is in the skein; we will discuss some unconventional methods in chapter 5.

On the other hand, spinners may wish to dye fleece before spinning, either as raw fleece or prepared as roving.

Preparing Skeins for Dyeing

Place your skein of yarn on a flat surface. Make sure the two ends are tied together in a secure knot. Cut an 8-inch length of scrap yarn. Wrap the scrap yarn around the skein, tucking the ends through about half the thickness of the skein, then crossing the ends in a figure eight and wrapping the other half of the skein. Loosely tie the ends together (see A, below). Make at least two more ties, equally spaced around the skein, in the same manner (B).

Multipurpose Ties

Your ties can be scrap yarn or string. (Shoelaces, which you can use to loosely tie several skeins together, are strong, reusable, and easily identifiable.) If you use scrap yarn, use yarn of a different color from the yarn you’re dyeing, so that you can easily find the ties on the dyed skein. Make certain that all the ties are colorfast, because you don’t want an undesired color to bleed into your skein.

Preparing Fleece for Dyeing

Handling fleece fresh from the animal requires more delicate handling than yarn, because the unspun fiber is more prone to felting. Let’s assume the fiber has been washed and picked clean of hay and manure. Start with a volume of fiber about the size of a cantaloupe.

• Fleece. Loosely wrap a piece of string or yarn around the circumference of your “cantaloupe” about six times and tie securely. This wrap allows you to pick up wet fleece with minimal handling (C).

• Top or roving. Lay about 1 yard of the top or roving on a flat surface: don’t break off the rest of the piece. Turn back and lay out another yard parallel to the first. Zigzag the piece back and forth in this way about six times, then tear it off. Use two or three ties around the whole bundle to use for picking up and handling during soaking and dyeing (D).

FROM BALLS TO SKEINS AND BACK AGAIN

If the yarn you want to dye isn’t already in skein form, you must wind it into that form before beginning most dye processes. There are several ways to do this.

• Human aids. You can enlist a volunteer to hold out his or her outstretched arms about 2 feet apart, so you can wrap the yarn around them to form the desired loop.

• Furniture aids. You can drape the yarn around the back of a chair or two to form the loop.

• Purpose-designed tools. You can use equipment especially designed for winding skeins. For centuries, fiber workers have used a tool that bears the delightful name niddy noddy (at left, below). Niddy noddies are available in both wood and plastic and often can be taken apart for easier storage. Most niddy noddies are designed to wind a skein with a 2-yard circumference. As you can see, this tool isn’t absolutely necessary because you can always employ the back of a chair or a volunteer, but if you find yourself catching the dyeing bug, a niddy noddy is a relatively inexpensive and handy tool to help you make skeins for dyeing.

Another tool some fiber workers use is a skein winder, but this is more costly and not really necessary unless you’re going to dye and spin lots of yarn.

Just as you need to create skeins to prepare yarns for dyeing, you also need to wind skeined yarn into balls, once you’re ready to use it in a project. For this purpose, you might want to purchase a swift (at right, below), which adjusts to different sizes and folds umbrella-fashion for easy storage. Traditionally, skeined yarn is placed over the swift, making it easier to wind the skein into a ball, but you can now find swifts that can be converted to yarn winders: two tools in one!

Ensuring that the Fiber Is Clean

Most commercial yarns and other prepared fibers (such as top, for instance) have already been thoroughly cleaned, but just to be safe, a little bath won’t hurt them. If you’re working with fibers that you’ve gotten directly from a farm, however, it’s particularly important that you clean them well. Lanolin from sheep, or oils from other animals, forms a barrier that can prevent the dye from penetrating the fiber. Even if what you have is handspun yarn, rather than raw fleece, be aware that some spinners spin their yarns “in the grease,” meaning that the fiber has not been washed but only picked through to remove materials such as hay and manure.

Whether the fiber is a fleece, roving, or yarn, it needs to be free of dirt and oils before dyeing. This process is often referred to as “scouring,” though it’s not as harsh a treatment as that word might lead you to believe. It simply means soaking the fiber in a solution of tepid water and dishwashing liquid, such as Dawn (the original formula, without bleach), with a neutral pH. (Do not use soap, which tends to be alkaline, or any product that contains bleach.) Shampoo also works because it’s formulated for protein fiber — your hair — or you can purchase a product called Synthrapol, which is a concentrated, low-sudsing, neutral pH detergent.

Fill a basin with enough body temperature water to cover the fiber, then add the dishwashing liquid and a dash of white vinegar, which helps prevent too many suds from forming. I sometimes also add 3 tablespoons of a dishwasher rinse agent, which can encourage absorption.

After Cleaning

Once you’ve cleaned the fiber, rinse it with tepid water. Always take care not to let water run directly on the fiber and not to agitate any fiber while handling it when it’s wet — unless you’re aiming for felt! Remove the fiber from its soak, run a fresh basin full of water, and gently submerge the fiber in it. Squeeze excess water from the fiber.

A Special Case: Silk

Silk requires special care. It can be a most uncooperative fiber, because it doesn’t like to get wet (see page 35). Silk is contained in the cocoon of the silkworm, which extrudes a substance called sericin along with the silk fiber. Because this substance may inhibit the dye’s penetrating the fiber, it must be removed before the dye process. Giving silk a bath in the dishwashing liquid should remove the sericin, but more than one cleaning is often necessary to adequately prepare silk to receive dye. You’ll discover, too, that silk often has a distinctive odor when wet, but this fortunately dissipates once the fiber is dry.

Preparing a Vinegar Soak

In preparation for dyeing with acid dyes, it’s important to thoroughly presoak your fiber in a vinegar-and-water solution. I use 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water. To avoid pouring liquid over the wet fiber, mix up your vinegar-water solution before adding the fiber. As surprising as it sounds, the energy of running water striking the fiber can felt it. You should have enough vinegar-water solution that the fiber can move freely, with every bit of it submerged.

Place the washed and rinsed fiber in the solution, gently pushing it under the surface. Let it soak for about 30 minutes. To avoid tangles when you remove the fiber from the soak, pick it up by one of the ties, then squeeze the water out of the fiber. You can save the vinegar-water soak for reuse by placing the fiber in a colander or on a screen over a container to catch the excess. Allow the fiber to sit until it is damp to the touch. If the fiber is too wet, it will repel the dye.

Extra Gentle Care

To minimize handling and thus avoid felting: When you remove fleece, top, roving, or batts from water, place the wet fiber on a piece of screen or in a colander to drain.

CHAPTER 3
DYES TO TRY

I named the first dye class I taught “No-Fear Dyeing,” with the subtitle “If you can cook a potato, you can dye yarn.” Over the years students have told me that the name of that class gave them confidence to try dyeing. I hope you will feel the same way!

Types of Dyes

Different types of fibers require different types of dyes. Since this book focuses on dyeing protein fibers, including wool, alpaca, mohair, and angora, I used acid dyes for most of the projects. Most plant-based fibers, such as cotton and linen, require a different kind of dye.

The simplicity of acid dyeing has spoiled me against dyes of any other type. All you need is a protein fiber, dye powder, white vinegar, and water. It’s as simple as that! Commercial acid fiber dyes are available in many yarns shops and at fiber fairs, as well as through Internet Web sites (see appendix for suggestions).

If you’re a beginner, you may want to use premixed colors from dye manufacturers. I built my confidence by using many of the blues and greens offered by the Cushing Dye Company. Try mixing your own colors by using dyes that the individual manufacturers designate as their primaries. For instance, Cushing calls its primary dye colors Cherry, Canary, and Peacock. When buying from the various dye companies, ask which are their primaries. (For more information on primary colors, see pages 68–69.)

Quick-and-Easy Food Dyes

If you have an inclination to dye but don’t feel ready to purchase acid dyes, keep food coloring on hand for some rainy day when the urge to experiment with colors strikes you. You can use any substance that contains food coloring as a dye on protein fibers. Kool-Aid, POWERade, or other drink mix; Jell-O; food coloring; and Easter egg dyes are readily found in the baking aisle of grocery stores (use sugarless only). Craft stores with cake- and candy-decorating sections also carry food coloring and cake-decorating gel. You can even dye with some foods and spices, such as turmeric, which creates a beautiful gold color. All of these dyes are great to use if you’re dyeing with children.

A Word about Natural Dyes

Just because natural substances come from the earth does not mean they are safe, nontoxic, or more sustainable. It’s sometimes assumed that people who use natural dyes care more about the environment than those who use acid dyes. However, responsible use of any substance, natural or man-made, requires understanding something about the materials themselves and how they might affect the environment.

I’ve used natural dyes made from walnuts, insects, and flowers, and they do have a place. It’s fun to grow your own flowers and then use them to achieve the pale, subtle colors that result from natural dyes. But just because the dyes are natural doesn’t mean they’re better for the environment or for the fiber. Many mordants (chemical substances that make the dye bond with the fiber) are toxic, and some are no longer readily available. In addition, the amount of water needed to rinse the extra dye and mordants out of the fiber is often excessive.

You may be surprised to discover that your oil and vinegar salad dressing has the same level of acid as the dyes I use. In fact, there are many products you eat and use in your daily activities that are more acidic than the dye solutions I recommend.

Understanding Union Dyes

The dye that is familiar to most people is Rit dye, which is designed to dye both animal and plant fibers. Rit is a “union” dye, which means that it consists of two types of dye: one works on animal fibers, such as wool, and the other works on plant fibers, such as cotton. If you place a wool sweater and a pair of cotton jeans in the same Rit dyebath, both will get dyed.

If, on the other hand, you place just the wool sweater in the bath, it will be dyed, but all of the dye sitting there waiting for plant fibers will remain, only to be washed down the drain. The converse is also true: if you place only the cotton jeans in the bath, they will be dyed, but all of the dye waiting for the animal fibers will remain. Since in this book we’re focusing on animal fibers, we don’t need a union dye, and in fact, we would be wasting the portion of the dye formulated for plant fibers if we used it.

Leftover Color

If you don’t know the fiber content of whatever you’re dyeing and some of the dye rinses out of it, this can be an indication that some (or all!) of the fiber is not a natural protein fiber. The piece may contain plant or synthetic fiber and therefore will not accept dyes designed for protein (animal) fiber.

SOME DYEING WARM-UPS

Sometimes the most challenging part of dyeing fiber is making yourself jump in and apply color to your yarn, so here are some ideas for getting your feet wet with no stress. We’ll start with paper and then move on to yarn on the next page.

MATERIALS

Red, yellow, and blue food colors or a set of watercolors

A watercolor brush or Q-tip

A roll of paper towels

An assortment of different textured papers

Practicing on Paper

Before you even touch fiber, it can be fun to play around with color, using food coloring or watercolors and different kinds of papers. You’ll gain confidence and become familiar with what happens as colors gradate and mix. I especially like using paper towel for exploring the way a material takes dye: it’s similar to watercolor paper, which you might also use for this purpose. Save your samples to remind you of what you like or don’t like. On the side of each paper, use a permanent marker to jot down the colors you mixed. These can be useful records for the future. Be sure to keep them in a safe place. It would be sad to see a family member wiping up a spill using the paper towel with your favorite combination on it!

If you’re using food colors, dilute 4 drops of each color in 1 tablespoon of water in separate containers. Collect whatever papers you find in your recycling bin, including glossy papers, stationery, and newsprint. These various surfaces drink up or repel dyes in ways similar to those of many fibers you may want to work with in the future. This is what color mixing is all about: playing with drops of color and watching what happens.

1 Apply red. Using paper towel for your first try, start with red. Use the brush or Q-tip to apply different intensities of it on the towel. Begin with a very dark red, then gradually add water to create a very pale pink. Watch the way the color fades as it spreads to the outermost area. Notice that the color you apply is lighter after it dries (which is true no matter what fiber you use).

2 Apply yellow. Place a drop of yellow next to one of the reds. Let them mix right on the paper, and observe what happens when the colors drift into each other and form another color.

3 Apply blue. Add a drop of blue near the red and another drop of blue near the yellow.

4 Repeat on different papers. Using the same brush, repeat steps 1–3 on the other papers you collected. Note how the color beads up on some surfaces rather than penetrating the way it did on the paper towel.

Playing with Grocery-Store Dyes

Once you start thinking about the value of the fiber, it’s natural to worry about ruining it, whether you’ve spent the time and money to raise the sheep for fleece or purchased the fiber ready for dyeing. If this is the first time you’ve dyed yarn, choose a skein that you don’t really value, either emotionally or financially. This should take some of the anxiety out of your experiments. You probably have a stash, so that’s a great place to look. If your yarns are wool-synthetic blends, don’t worry. Remember, this is just practice, and you’ll learn something regardless of the fiber.

The dye in this example is food coloring, but you can also use pourable, ready-made, sugar-free drink or freezer pop mix. Check the label to be sure you get a mix that contains food coloring, and note what colors it contains.

MATERIALS

Yarn from your stash

A few drops of dishwashing liquid (such as Dawn; see page 44) in a small bowl of water

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Red, yellow, and blue food coloring

Microwave-safe bowl and lid

Microwave

Set up a work surface by placing a cookie sheet, glass pan, or spread-out plastic grocery bag on your kitchen counter — or simply work right in the kitchen sink. Choose a space that’s large enough for you to pour the food color onto the yarn.

1 Make yarn mini-skeins. Loosely wrap a length of yarn around your hand 10 times. Tie the beginning and end of the yarn together to secure the little skein, and place it on a flat surface. Make two more of these skeins.

2 Tie the mini-skeins. Cut three 6-inch-long pieces of yarn. Tie these pieces loosely around the skeins to keep the yarn from tangling.

3 Wash the skeins. To remove any animal oils that might prevent color from penetrating the yarn, immerse the skeins in the bowl of dishwashing liquid and water. Allow them to soak for a few minutes, then gently rinse out any excess detergent.

4 Soak the skeins. Immerse the skeins in the vinegar-water solution, pushing them gently into the water until they are covered. Let them soak in this solution for 30 minutes, then gently squeeze out any excess water and vinegar.

5 Dye the first skein. Place one of the skeins on the work surface. Pour some of the red coloring onto one half and some of the yellow on the other half. Notice that orange appears where the red and yellow overlap.

6 Dye the second skein. Pour blue coloring on one half of the second skein and red on the other half. Notice that purple appears where the colors overlap.

7 Dye the third skein. Pour yellow coloring on one half of the third skein and blue on the other. Observe that green appears where the yellow and blue overlap. Add a little red to the yellow, to create orange on this skein as well.

8 Place the skeins in a bowl. Wrap each skein separately in plastic wrap, so that the colors don’t run into one another, and place them in a bowl. Cover bowl with a lid. If you prefer to avoid the plastic wrap, place each one in its own small bowl and use saucers as lids. (You need the lids so that the yarn doesn’t dry out and the steam remains in the container.)

9 Apply heat. Place the bowl in a microwave oven on High for 2 minutes. Allow it to sit for about 2 minutes, then heat it on High for another 2 minutes. Note: You can also heat-set the dyes following any of the other steam methods described on pages 23–25.

10 Remove from heat. Once the fiber is cool enough to handle safely, use tongs or a spatula to remove the skeins from the bowl, and place them in the sink. Allow them to cool to room temperature.

11 Rinse the cooled yarns. Use room-temperature water to remove any remaining dye.

While you’re in the grocery store or kitchen cupboard, you might want to experiment with spices that are not only packed with flavor, but also full of rich color, such as turmeric (left) and chili powder (right).

SIMPLE HANDPAINT METHOD: MONOCHROMATIC

If you’re anxious to get started, this project is a simple overview of the dyeing process. You may find it helpful to refer back to as you experiment with other projects in this book and beyond. The materials list for each technique includes the specific dye brand and color shown in the photos, but obviously, you should feel free to substitute your favorite colors!

To handpaint fiber, you simply apply color to selected areas by pouring dye solution from a small container or painting it on with a paintbrush (or foam brush). Although some dyers apply their colors with squirt bottles, I prefer using a cup. Squirt bottles sometimes “burp” out the dye mixture into areas where I don’t want it, whereas cups give me more control over where the color lands.

The handpaint technique is the one many fiber enthusiasts find the most exciting. And it offers more control than some of the other dye methods that we’ll explore in chapter 5, such as immersion dyeing and dip dyeing. For this project, we’ll use several dilutions of just one dye (monochromatic) to achieve gradations of a single color, an effect sometimes referred to as ombré.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

One skein of white or light-colored yarn

Scraps of string or yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Plastic trash bag

Microwave-safe bowl large enough to hold the yarn

One packet of PRO WashFast Acid dye (Turquoise) and measuring tools (see pages 16–17 and step 5 on the facing page)

Three glass juice containers with measurements

Vinyl gloves

Paper towel or cloth rags

Microwave oven

Heatproof gloves or tongs

METHOD

Fiber

1 Tie the yarn. Arrange your yarn into a skein and use scrap yarn to tie it with loose figure eights at several places around the skein. (For an illustration, see page 42.)

2 Soak the yarn. Place skein in the vinegar-water solution and let it soak for at least 30 minutes, or longer if possible, to ensure that all the air spaces disappear and all the fibers are thoroughly wet.

3 Remove excess water. Remove the yarn from the vinegar soak, squeeze out excess water, and hang or spread in a colander over a bowl to drip until just damp (see page 45).

4 Arrange the yarn in a bowl. Tuck a plastic trash bag in a bowl, and pull up the center of the plastic to make a sort of island. The bunched-up plastic keeps the dye from traveling across the bowl. I like to think of this set up as a “castle” (the bunched-up plastic) surrounded by a “moat” (the yarn). Arrange the skein of yarn around the circumference of the bowl.

Dye

5 Prepare the dyestock. Carefully following the safety measures outlined on page 12, place 1 teaspoon of dye powder in a 2-cup container, add a couple of tablespoons of tepid water, and stir to make a paste. Next, add boiling water to dissolve the paste, filling the container to the 1-cup mark. Stir to ensure that all the powder is dissolved. Let the dye cool.

6 Make the dye mixture. Measure the dye-stock in three separate 1-cup containers as follows: ½ teaspoon of dyestock in one, 1 tablespoon of dyestock in another, and 2 tablespoons of dyestock in the other. Add enough water to each container to make 1 cup of dye mixture. Note that you’ve created three different dilutions.

7 Apply the lightest dye mixture. With gloved hands, pour a small amount of the lightest dye mixture on a 3-inch section of the yarn or fiber. I like to start with a light color; you can always add more color, but you can’t take it away. Use the smallest amount of dye possible — just enough to saturate the yarn in that section but not so much that it pools underneath.

8 Work in the dye. Gently massage the dye into the fiber and examine the underside of the spot you dyed. The dye should saturate the yarn all the way through, but don’t allow it to pool under the yarn. If it does, mop it up with a paper towel or clean rag.

9 Apply the middle dilution. Add a small amount of the middle dilution about 2 inches away from the first. Use your fingers to coax the new color to blend with the original color. Let the colors mingle and mix, remembering to check the other side of the fiber to see if you are satisfied with the saturation there.

10 Apply the last dilution. Add the remaining dilution in the same manner.

11 Repeat the applications. Repeat steps 7 through 11 until you’ve worked your way all the way around the skein. Mop up excess dye.

Heat

12 Wrap the yarn in the plastic. Pull the sides of the plastic up over the skein and gather them together so that the skein is wrapped in plastic. Tie securely with a string. Poke several holes in the plastic to allow the excess steam to escape.

13 Apply heat. Place the bundle in a microwave oven, and set on High for 2 minutes. Allow to rest in the oven for 2 minutes. Check to see if the dyebath has turned to clear water. If not, process for another 2 minutes, or until the water clears. Note: You can also heat-set the dyes with any of the other steam methods described on pages 23–25.

14 Remove from heat. Once the fiber is cool enough to handle safely (room temperature), use tongs or a spatula to remove it from the oven.

15 Rinse the cooled yarn. Use room-temperature water to remove any remaining dye solution. (You can add a fabric softener, if you wish.) Ideally, all of the dye should be absorbed by the fiber. If not, either you applied too much dye or you did not heat-process long enough. Often a quick dip in a vinegar soak and additional heat processing helps the yarn accept more of the dye.

16 Spin dry. Remove excess water by hand or by putting it through the spin cycle of your washing machine (don’t allow water to run in while spinning). For small amounts of yarn, you can also use a salad spinner. Allow the fiber to dry at room temperature.

The Clean Machine

If you’ve ensured that all of the dye has been absorbed into your fiber (in other words, any excess water runs clear) and you’ve rinsed your fiber carefully, you probably don’t have to worry about dye residue in your washing machine. If you’re at all in doubt, however, you may want to run a load of dark clothes in your machine as your first load after a dye project.

CHAPTER 4
COLOR POWER

The history of color and dyes is fascinating. Before the advent of man-made dyes in the mid-1800s, few people had access to many dyes. The formulas for dyes often were closely guarded secrets that were passed along within families. Only the very wealthy were able to afford the imported dyes with rich, deep colors that are now readily and safely available to even the neophyte dyer in the form of acid dyes. Once synthetic dyes were discovered, however, the playing field leveled, making dyes more readily available and much less costly, and creating the wonderful spectrum of natural-looking colors now available to the general population.

Color also represents different meanings (in some cultures white is used for mourning, while in others it stands for purity), as well as a describer of feelings: we say we’re “seeing red” when we’re angry, for instance, or “feeling blue” to express sadness, or “green with envy” and so on. Color is a strong tool, with many meanings!

Finding Your Color Comfort Zone

With the world of color almost entirely at our choosing, it’s up to us to develop our own color aesthetic — our own color comfort zone. In the same way that some foods are perfect comfort foods, some colors just feel right. If you ask several dyers what inspires their color sense, you’ll get just as many answers. I like to say that my color theory is blue and green. This is simply because I like these colors!

Many years ago, I found some white mohair yarn that I decided to weave into a blanket. It had great luster, and once it was woven and slightly felted in the washing machine, it could be brushed with a steel brush to create a most beautiful, peltlike blanket. My sons named it “The Sloth,” because every time one of them curled up in it, he became slothlike. I wove many more blankets with that white yarn. Longing for color, however, I realized that I could dye the white mohair yarn that was still left.

Selecting all the blues and greens I liked from the Cushing Dye Company color chart, I dyed skeins of yarn on my stovetop, using the immersion dye technique. (For information on this method, see pages 20–21.) I dyed a dozen or so skeins, each a different shade of blue or green, and then wove another mohair blanket. The combination of blues and greens worked wonderfully, because these colors sit next to each other on the color wheel — they “agree” with each other. For your first dye experiments, recognizing your color comfort zone is a great place to start (see Exploring the Color Grid, page 66).

My first dye project, woven into a blanket that became a family favorite and nicknamed “The Sloth.”

Gaining Awareness of Color

Our sense of color is stimulated and honed by the environment we live in — our apartments or houses and the climate and geography of where we choose to be. For instance, I love living where I do, in what’s known as the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, with hills all around me, but I realize that I’m so used to my environment that I’m sometimes blind to its beauty.

You can learn a lot by just stopping and thinking for a moment about the colors that surround you, especially those that you’ve chosen. Your color sense shows in the clothing you select and the colors you paint your walls.

Observe your surroundings with fresh eyes. Notice what you consider beautiful and think about why you do: Is it color? Shape? Light and brightness, warmth and darkness? Take note of the brilliance and seemingly infinite gradations of green in nature — the lighter, brighter shades of new growth compared to mature plants. You could spend the rest of your life blending colors just to capture the greens of grasses and foliage.

The Flip Side: Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Although I’ve just recommended that you identify and use your color comfort zone, once you’ve had a taste of dyeing, it’s a good idea to push yourself to branch out. For instance, sometimes my friend Kathy reminds me to “back away from the green!” It has required discipline on my part to work with colors that aren’t naturally appealing to me — especially when I’m creating colorways for a number of different yarns, where the color palettes have to run the gamut from reds to blacks. Many are colors I do not personally like, but they are needed to give life to a line of yarns.

So try a challenge that will take you out of your comfort zone — outside your box. Think about what color you don’t like. You may have a strong negative response to a particular “ugly” color, but quite possibly trying to use it will make you more creative. Your senses may be heightened. Observe this color in your world and study it. It may even become your new favorite color!

Black Isn’t Always Black

I was never drawn to grays, beiges, or blacks, until I saw the Fiesta yarn company’s La Boheme dyed in neutrals and blacks. I was hooked! This black is like none other, containing deep greens and purples and so many other surprise colors that peek out under the disguise of black. This is far from your flat-iron black!

WHY ARE THINGS DIFFERENT COLORS?

Rocks and soil and all living things, such as leaves, flowers, and your own hair and skin, contain materials known as pigments. Light contains all of the colors. When light hits pigment, the pigment absorbs certain colors and reflects others. The color that you see is the reflected color. When light hits a sweater that you see as purple, for instance, the sweater’s pigments have absorbed all the colors except purple. It’s as if the sweater had many tiny mirrors on its surface that absorbed everything but purple and reflected back the purple.

Taking this analogy a step further gives some perspective on color mixing. When a dyer mixes together a few pigments — say, red and yellow — she creates a new color, in this case, orange. Imagine that as the tiny mirrors reflect both red and yellow, your eyes combine those colors and you see orange. But the pigments also absorb colors, so as the dyer adds more pigments to the mixture, new colors appear and some are absorbed. When you mix all your pigments together, you see something that is brown to black, which indicates the absence of reflected light.

Learning from Other Dyers’ Yarns

As you begin to explore the world of dyeing, studying a variety of already-dyed yarns is an excellent way to learn about what colors you like and what colors work well together. After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Look at all the fibers you can! If possible, open up a skein and study how the colors blend. As you gain experience, however, try to keep in mind that you are a unique individual and you can make your own creative mark on your work. It will take time to develop your own colors and color combinations, but the rewards are great. In the meantime, use the tools available to you to help you gain confidence.

Searching for a Variant of the Color Wheel

As a child, I was so excited each fall when we were given a new box of crayons. I loved opening the box and looking at the sharp, crisp points of all of the colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and black. I felt as though each year would be “The Year” when I could finally express myself through color. As quickly as the crisp points dulled, however, so did my spirits. The waxy nature of the crayons did not mesh with the fluid thought process of mixing colors. When the art teacher brought out the dreaded color wheel, I wondered why my box of crayons had brown and black, yet the color wheel did not. And what I was taught about colors in other subjects only made it worse, as when we studied the way light is separated into colors by a prism. I felt that all the other students in the class knew something I did not, and never would, understand. The problem was that the available tools just didn’t work for me. It wasn’t until I started using fluid dyes that I felt I could be successful using color.

Every book about color shows a color wheel in some shape or form, and this can be very helpful in making decisions about what colors to put together as a palette for a dye project. I’ve developed another tool that I find very useful, however, and color novices may find this tool a great way to build confidence. If you’re already comfortable using the traditional color wheel and have found it helpful, please bear with me and try to leave behind your color “vocabulary” for just a bit. If you can avoid putting labels on what you see, the exercise on the following pages may help you expand your use of color.

Exploring the Color Grid

Begin your exploration by abandoning all of your biases and memories of working with color. Imagine that you’re a baby looking at the world for the first time. You’re going to explore the grid on the facing page but try not to name the colors that you see. This takes discipline. If your mind says “red,” ignore it! Pretend that “red” is a word from a foreign language that you don’t understand. Scan the grid to discover what parts you like, what attracts your eye. Work your way around the entire grid, even areas you think you don’t like or aren’t comfortable with, and follow these steps. All you need besides the grid are some grains of rice.

A continuous flow of color. If you were to cut out the color grid opposite and roll it into a cylinder, you’d realize that there is no beginning or ending to the blended mix of colors.

1. Select a color box that you like the best. Move your finger to this spot, but remember not to name it. It’s simply the place that attracts your eye, and it will become your jumping off point for choosing colors for a dye project. Place one grain of rice in this box, and from now on, call it your “Main Box.” (Remember, it’s not a color — we’re not using labels!)

2. Place a grain of rice in each of the boxes surrounding your Main Box: a total of nine. The colors of all of these boxes work together because they’re closely related, and so you can confidently use them as the largest proportion in a color combination you’re developing. The down side, however, is that this “safe” combination can appear dull and lifeless. Moderation is safe, but dull, so now you need to move on to step 3.

3. Count up or down (along the same column) to six boxes away from your Main Box, and place a grain of rice where you land. Plan to use the color of this box with the colors of the original nine boxes in a proportion of about 1:9 as a color palette when you’re planning a project. When working with color, it’s good to simplify but don’t dumb it down. Adding this color from outside the “safe” zone will give your project life.

Time to Add Some Labels

Until now, I’ve avoided naming the boxes, but once you’ve selected a palette independent of color names, it can be helpful to use traditional color vocabulary.

• Primaries. In the color pantry, there are three main ingredients — the “Big Three” building blocks — called the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Every other color is some combination of these three main ingredients. Horizontal white grid lines surround these primary colors (below).

• Secondaries. Those halfway between the primaries are the secondary colors: violet, green, and orange. Each is made by mixing the two primaries on each side of it.

• Tertiaries. The colors in between the primaries and secondaries are known as tertiaries and are the result of combining colors on each side of it. These include blue-violet, blue-green, yellow-green, yellow-orange, red-orange, and red-violet.

• Monochromes. All of the colors in any one row are monochromatic: they are shades of the same color.

• Analogous colors. The nine colors surrounding any single color on the chart are analogous colors.

• Complementary colors. The sixth box above or below a color is the complement of it.

THE DYE COMPANIES’ PRIMARIES

When you study the dye companies’ color charts, you’ll notice that some colors have an asterisk or are in boldface type. These signals indicate colors the dye company suggests you use as “primary colors.” Unlike light rays, color pigments aren’t available as true pure primaries. Dye manufacturers therefore select the dyes they feel are appropriate to achieve good color mixing. The names of the primary colors from different manufacturers are as varied as their appearance. Depending on the manufacturer, you’ll find Magenta, Fuchsia, Cherry, Bengal Red, True Red, Cardinal, Red #338, and American Beauty, all under the category of primary red, just to name a few. If you’re uncertain when selecting a primary from a particular dealer, simply ask for a suggestion.

All dye companies use a primary color that they sell under their own company label. For example, the Cushing Dye Company has named their “light” primaries Cherry (red), Canary (yellow), and Peacock (blue). Like other companies, Cushing develops its own secret recipes for its color line. The ingredients are secret because they are what sets each company’s colors apart from those of other companies. The art comes in the proportion of the dyes they combine.

To find out if a dye powder is “pure” (in other words, not comprised of a color mixture), sprinkle a small amount of it on a wet white paper towel or cloth. If you see more than one color, this is a mixed color. The advantage of using pre-mixed dyes is that the creative work has already been done for you; the disadvantage is that the mixtures are not always consistent, and the results can vary from batch to batch. Using pre-mixed dyes also cheats you out of the experience of learning to make your own colors.

COLOR THEORY 101

Imagine taking the color grid, rolling it into a cylinder, and then spreading and flattening it out: you get the traditional color wheel that used to intimidate me! Notice that the colors move from pure red along the color spectrum back to red. For me, this closed circle demonstrates the infinite nature of color.

DYEING YOUR OWN “COLOR WHEEL”

The key to unlocking the mystery of creating your own custom colors is to experiment with different proportions of the primary colors. By decreasing one increment of a primary color and increasing an increment of the other, you can achieve an endless number of gradations around the color wheel. It’s useful — and fun! — to dye your own samples of the three primaries, as well as the secondaries and tertiaries you can make with them: 12 basic colors in all. The examples on the next spread were dyed with McCormick’s food colors, but you may use primaries from other “grocery-store” colors or any of the dye companies. These colors approximate the “pure” colors on the Color Grid. To achieve changes in value, add miniscule drops of the complementary color (the color six blocks away from the color you want to change) to the dye mixture. Note: In this book, I distinguish between dyestocks and dye mixtures. “Dyestock” is the basic dye color, usually mixed with water in preparation for use in a dye mixture. A “dye mixture” is a combination of one or more dyestocks in specific ratios.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

12 skeins of worsted-weight wool yarn, approximately 20 yds/18 m each (For advice on winding skeins, see page 43.)

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Yellow, red, and blue McCormick food colors

3 quart jars to hold the dyestock

12 pint jars for the dye mixtures

Vinyl gloves

Microwave oven

METHOD

1 Prepare the yarn. Tie the skeins loosely with pieces of scrap yarn to keep them from tangling, and place them in a vinegar-water solution. Soaking removes all the air from the yarn and ensures even dyeing; the acid prepares the yarn to accept the dye. Set the soaking yarn aside while you mix the dyestock.

2 Mix the dyestock. Place the following measurements of food coloring in pint jars, adding enough water to each to make 2 cups of dyestock:

Jar 1 1 teaspoon yellow

Jar 2 ½ teaspoon red

Jar 3 ¼ teaspoon blue

3 Make the dye mixtures. Line up the 12 pint jars and mix the following amounts of dye mixtures:

Jar 1 12 teaspoons yellow

Jar 2 3 teaspoons blue and 9 teaspoons yellow

Jar 3 6 teaspoons blue and 6 teaspoons yellow

Jar 4 9 teaspoons blue and 3 teaspoons yellow

Jar 5 12 teaspoons blue

Jar 6 3 teaspoons red and 9 teaspoons blue

Jar 7 6 teaspoons red and 6 teaspoons blue

Jar 8 9 teaspoons red and 3 teaspoons blue

Jar 9 12 teaspoons red

Jar 10 3 teaspoons yellow and 9 teaspoons red

Jar 11 6 teaspoons yellow and 6 teaspoons red

Jar 12 9 teaspoons yellow and 3 teaspoons red

4 Dye the skeins. Drain and squeeze out the excess vinegar and water from each skein. Add one skein of prepared yarn to each container. Stir to evenly disperse the solution. Allow the yarn to sit in the solution for about 30 minutes.

5 Heat-set the dye. Place a pint jar in the microwave and heat on High for 1 minute. (You may be able to heat-set as many as four jars at a time, depending on the strength of your microwave.) If the water is clear, all the dye has been absorbed by the yarn and you can remove the jars from the microwave, taking care not to burn yourself. If the water still shows color, heat for another minute or until the water clears. Note: See also Jar Method for Small Quantities, page 22, for other options for heat-setting these dyes.

Rainbow-Dipped Baby Sweater uses the three primary and three secondary colors (for pattern, see page 139).

Rug hookers can easily dye wool fabric strips in an infinite variety of desired shades, following the same procedures described here for yarns and fleece.

GOING A STEP FURTHER

If you have the time and inclination, you can expand this gradation of colors to a range of 36 by reducing and increasing the amount of dye dilution you add to 36 pint jars, 1 teaspoon at a time, in the established progression. For instance, between Jars 1 and 2, add two more jars, one with 1 teaspoon blue and 11 teaspoons yellow, the other with 2 teaspoons blue and 10 teaspoons yellow. Do you follow the progression? Note that after Jar 12 you need to add two more jars to complete the “wheel”: one with 2 teaspoons red and 10 teaspoons yellow and the other with 1 teaspoon red and 11 teaspoons yellow. This brings you right back to 12 teaspoons yellow.

NOT JUST FOR YARN

This simple dye method works just as easily on fabric as on fleece or yarn. If you’re a rug hooker, you’ll find this a satisfying way to prepare a wide and subtle range of colored fabrics. Tear or cut wool fabric strips, soak them in a vinegar/water solution, and then follow the steps above to dye the whole range of colors you want for all of your projects.

Color Value and Color Saturation

There’s more to color than red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Imagine watching the sky on a clear evening. Slowly, subtly, the stars and planets start to appear. It’s not until the sun disappears that we distinguish the bright stars against the darkness of night. We often describe this phenomenon in terms of contrast. Contrast is another aspect of designing with color, and learning to use it effectively can be a big asset to your color work. It can be achieved in several different ways. You might think simply of the way different colors interact with one another, but you can also achieve contrast through the darkness or lightness of colors (known as value), as well as through color intensity (known as saturation). It can be extreme (like the dramatic contrast in the night sky described above) or subtle, and it can have a great impact on whether your projects are successful.

Saturation. A color is completely saturated, or intense, when it is “pure”— meaning that no other color has been added to it. If you were painting, you could add white to create a less saturated color—less intense, less bright — and this is called a tint. To make a duller, darker color, you could add black; this is a shade (see Color Grid, page 68). When you’re working with dyes and fibers, whether your results are tints or shades is in part determined by the color of the original fiber. If you’re dyeing white fleece, the way to maintain a light color is simply to use less dye. Adding more dye of the same color increases the intensity of the color. It is said to be more intense, but it’s not a shade. To darken the color when you’re working with a white fleece or yarn as the base, adding a touch of black results in a shade of the color. (Unfortunately, black tends to produce a dull color, and I usually avoid this; see page 81.) Another way to achieve dark colors is to dye a naturally dark fiber (a light brown fleece, for instance) or to dye fiber that has already been dyed, a process called overdyeing. On the color grid, the pure colors (in other words, the most intense, most saturated colors) are shown in the center column. The columns to the right of center are tints, and the columns to the left are shades.

Get Your Values Straight

Value is measured by comparing a color to a series of gradations of grays on a tool known as the gray scale. Study the plain blue square at the right. Now, compare it to the gray scale next to it. See if you can find the gray square that most closely blends with the blue — in other words, the one that offers the least amount of contrast to it. In this example, it’s the middle square. Squinting usually helps you identify this relationship. Experiment by placing other colors next to the gray scale and notice the pairs that show the least contrast. One of the components of a successful color combination is to include a range of color values. If the values are too close, the combination will be very quiet; it becomes livelier as you add a greater range of values. Pairing a lighter value with a darker value, even if they are the same color, is a recipe for success.

A Theory of Domination

Color is limitless, fluid, like drops of water in the ocean. With all of the possibilities, selecting the proportions of the colors you use is critical. Whether your fiber is used for handwovens, knitting, or crochet, colors and the proportions in which they are used are the keys to success.

Sometimes a color dominates its surroundings simply because there’s so much more of it than of the other colors in the scheme. In other words, the amount of a color in relationship to the colors that surround it affects how the lesser-used colors are perceived. Sometimes this is an effect you want. But dominance also occurs when the color is higher in value than its partners. For instance, equal amounts of blue and white placed next to one another result in a curious outcome: white dominates. Similarly, yellow against a dark background dominates. White and yellow both have very high values.

Color Temperature

Another important characteristic of color is referred to as its temperature. Before we’re even aware of seasonal changes, many of us unconsciously start using colors that reflect changes in weather temperature. As the weather gets warmer, off come the dark sheets and towels, on come the lighter, brighter colors. When traveling south I immediately think of light, bright colors. Although there’s a certain logic to this (the quality of light is different from season to season and place to place), I think that we all have color rhythms, not unlike circadian rhythms.

Experimenting with Color Proportions

Take two equal-sized pieces of paper, one all dark and one all white. Notice that when you place them next to each other, the white paper dominates, even though its size is the same as the black paper (in other words, their proportions are the same). You can apply this concept to yarns. If you use equal amounts of light and dark colors when dyeing a multicolored skein, the light will dominate. This may or may not be what you want. Even the slightest differences in amounts of light and dark alter the appearance of the colors involved. Notice how the pale flecks in this Donegal tweed yarn jump out.

Colors can evoke feelings of warmth or of cold. Reds, oranges, and yellows are the colors of flames and the sun, and therefore we often think of them as giving off heat. The descriptions “ice blue” or “purple lips” immediately evoke coolness. The color that forms the bridge between the warm and cool colors is red-violet. If the red-violet contains a bit more blue, it’s referred to as a cool color, even though it includes red; if it contains more red than blue, however, it appears to be warmer. On the color grid (page 68), cool colors at the top gradate to warm colors at the bottom.

Tweaking Your Color Combinations

I once took a class on color and weaving with Leslie Voiers in Harrisville, New Hampshire. This class transformed my thinking about the use of color. Leslie suggested always putting “oddball” threads in the warp. It was easy enough to remove a thread when it just didn’t work, but more often than not, the oddball thread was the one that picked up the whole project!

FROM BLAND TO STUNNING

You can make mediocre color combinations stunning by adding a surprise. Here’s an example: The flower arrangement on the left is nice but very “quiet.” It’s composed of warm oranges and yellows, which are very close to each other in the color grid (and the color wheel). But by adding just a few blue-violet blossoms — which are complements of the oranges and yellows — the arrangement comes alive.

You can use this principle to make a color combination for a sweater with a multicolor, stranded-knit yoke more successful. These patterns call for a main color, along with one to four or more contrasting colors. When you have an idea of which colors you want to use, lay out the skeins side by side. In order to get a proper impression of the proportions, use the specific number of skeins required for each color. Often, an obscure part of the pattern, such as a flower bud, uses only a few yards of a color. Hide part of this skein to minimize its visual impact and get it close to the proportion of the whole it will have in the knitted piece. (See photos at right.)

Once you think you have the colors you want, look away for a bit. Now look back, squint your eyes, and study your skein collection again. You’re likely to have an immediate response to the combination either as an “okay” or a “no go.” You may notice that the most obscure color is the one that gives your piece life. When you become a dyer, you’ll be able to custom-dye colors for projects like these and get exactly the colors you want. And the bonus is that you won’t have to purchase more yarn than you actually need for those parts of the design that use only small amounts of a color.

Adapting the Oddball Concept to Handpainting

It’s more difficult to apply Leslie’s concept to dyeing multicolor yarns, because if the color is just not right, it’s not easy to remove, and in fact, it may very well foul up your project so much that you need to start over. Once I handpaint a fiber, I like to turn away from it for a moment, then look at it from a distance with my eyes squinted, so that I can evaluate what I see. I find that turning away from my work for a few seconds gives me fresh eyes for the task. If the fiber looks flat, dull, or lifeless, I reach for my emergency kit of colors. I’m amazed at how often I use flamboyant hot pink (from the red family), lime (from the yellow family), and turquoise (from the blue family) to give a flat color a “kick.” I usually need only a touch, appropriately added to one spot in the skein, but the difference is huge.

PROPORTIONS AND COLOR PALETTES

When shopping for yarns for a sweater with a multicolor yoke, always arrange your potential choices in the same proportions as will appear in the finished sweater. Comparing the photo at the top to the one on the bottom, notice how increasing the number of purple skeins and including only a small ball of the white skein affects the impression this combination of yarns makes.

When planning a handpainted project, get yourself going in the right direction by visualizing the main color you want, say, blue. To obtain the effect of a rich, deep blue, you must use dyes in more than one shade of blue. For example, mix up some pure primary blue dyestock and apply it to a skein of yarn. Place some of the same blue dyestock you started with in a cup, then add drops of red to it. Add as much as you want, just a hint or more — whatever pleases you. Apply this new color next to the original blue on the skein. If desired, combine some of the original blue dyestock with a few drops of yellow and apply this on the other side of the blue. Refer to the Color Grid (page 67) to identify the colors that surround the original blue and stay within that block of nine squares to create your analogous color scheme. Then, to provide the “kick” that will liven up the whole effect, count six blocks away from the center blue and add just a little bit of this color — the “oddball” — to a small section of the skein. Note: Another way to perk up an analogous scheme is to include some of the pure primary in it.

The Old Masters made use of this trick of the oddball. Study their paintings to see if you can find it. It could be a tiny flower or light reflecting from a window. Anything that catches your eye makes it move around and see the total piece in a new way. It wakes up your mind and makes it more active in viewing the colors.

The rosy tones that dominate this skein of yarn are enhanced by the smaller section of “oddball” yellow-green.

MAKING PRACTICAL USE OF THE COLOR GRID

Relax and have fun with your dyeing. Approach it the way you do cooking. For instance, although there’s some science to cooking (temperature variations and ingredients like baking soda and yeast, for example), you can introduce subtle changes that make all the difference. I often use the classic chocolate-chip cookie recipe on the back of each package of Nestle’s chips. Sometimes I use a large ice-cream scoop instead of a tablespoon to drop the dough on the cookie sheet. This subtle change makes the cookies soft in the middle and crunchy on the edges. My sons love them, an example of how a subtle change can make a big difference!

Similarly, slight variables in your dye procedures, such as changing the pH of the water, can affect the outcome (see page 15). The only thing that’s important is whether or not you like the result. Don’t worry about hurting the fiber you’re dyeing: as someone once told me when I was learning to card fleece, “Remember, you can’t hurt it — it’s already dead!”

Here are some tips for choosing color combinations and playing with variables that make dye experiments infinitely interesting.

Tone down brights. If you’ve got a very bright color that you feel needs toning down, find its complementary color (the color opposite on the color wheel or six spaces away from it on the Color Grid). Add a few drops of this color to your dyebath; it will tame the brightness — reduce its intensity — without losing the color’s energy. (Some dyers use black for this purpose, but although this does darken colors, I think it causes the color to lose life and appear flat and unexciting.) Remember to add just a few drops at a time if you’re mixing the colors.

If you’ve already dyed some fiber blue and it looks too bright, try overdyeing it with its complementary color. Place a few drops of orange (blue’s complement) in a bowl full of water large enough to hold your fiber. Aim for a sort of weak tea of the orange. Dunk the wet fiber into this dyebath and see if it tones it down. Heat-set the dye if you’re satisfied with the result. You don’t have to accomplish the entire jump required all at once, and if you add too much of the complementary color, you’ll get a shade of brown. That’s okay if that’s what you want, of course, but if you’re just trying to tame it, not make it totally drab, you’ll be disappointed. Take it a step at a time. Remember, you can always add color, but you can’t subtract it or add white!

The “electric” turquoise yarn on the right was toned down in a weak dyebath of orange to create the more muted yarn on the left.

Plan for contrast. You can achieve color contrast through both color temperature and color saturation: include both warm/cool and light/dark elements in a handpainted skein (A). Refer to the Color Grid on page 67 to locate those colors.

Vary the color values. If all the colors in your project are the same value, especially if they are too high in value, the eye can find no place to rest (B). (For information on color value, see page 76.) No one can say these two yarns lack energy, but some would feel that color combinations with such high values as these are a little too wild.

Avoid muddiness: stay clear. Allowing too many colors to blend (for example, by mixing equal parts of red, yellow, and blue) results in very dark or possibly even black spots. When you mix two true primaries, you will always get crisp, clean colors. This skein (C) is an excellent example of the clear, unmuddy colors you can get when you mix only true primaries: pure yellow at one end and pure blue at the other results in a clean green where the two dyes blend.

Intensify color gradually. Always start with a lighter dye color than you think you want. You can always add more, but you can’t subtract it.

In example D below, I moved toward the more vivid raspberry of the yarn on the right by slowly increasing the amount of dyestock I added to the kettle.

Be brave: move toward greater color intensity. A piece will look lifeless if it contains too little color. If the color looks too flat, give it a kick by adding some of the pure primary of the main color (see Color Saturation and Color Value, page 76). I found the rather flat yellow-green of the skein on the right in example E rather unappealing, and so opted for a crisper look of the skein on the left by adding some primary blue to the dyebath.

Warm up a combination. To add warmth to a too-cool color scheme, include a warm color that is not too intense — for instance, add pale salmon, rather than bright red, to a piece that feels too cold.

Include an oddball. A small amount of the complementary color adds life to many color combinations. Be sure to include an “oddball” in your color projects, whether you’re handpainting roving or yarn or you’re choosing a number of different colors for a Fair Isle or stranded knitting project. (See Adapting the Oddball Concept to Handpainting, page 79.) I again chose an “oddball” green to offset the warm roses and maroons of the spun yarn (F), while my friend Adrian Bizilia sparked her roving with splashes of green added to the piece in the rear (compare to the white spots in front) (G).

CHAPTER 5
NO-FEAR DYEING

When I demonstrate dyeing for first-time dyers, I often begin by asking, “What’s your favorite color — red, blue, or yellow?” Having answered the question, most people immediately ask, “Now, what do I do?” That’s when I remember how I felt when I was a fifth grader and was asked to draw anything I wanted on a blank piece of paper. I knew I wanted something beautiful and unusual, but I had no clue how to go about it. (When it comes to drawing, I still don’t know!) With few exceptions, everyone expresses the same concern about doing it “right.” It’s daunting to be presented with a blank surface in any medium! Once you place some dye on the yarn and work it in with your hand, the barrier breaks, and you begin to understand how much control you have on the color you applied — and how rewarding it can be!

SIMPLE HANDPAINT METHOD: MULTICOLOR

For your first multiple-color attempt, avoid applying too many colors. It is usually most effective to start with no more than two or three closely related colors, because the more you have, the greater the opportunity for the undertones to become muddy, which you probably don’t want. As you become more familiar with the way the colors work, you can branch out to use whatever colors are available to you. I show this method dyeing yarn, but the technique is the same for all fiber preparations, including fleece or fabric.

Before you heat-set your handpainted skein, it’s always a good idea to step away to look at something else, then look back again at your color combination. Often the second look will give you an idea of what’s missing, if anything.

The steps for this project are essentially the same as the Simple Handpaint Method: Monochromatic, on page 54. The difference is that this time you’re using three different colors, which gives you a chance to observe how the dyes interact to create new colors at the places where they run together and blend.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Fiber (skein of yarn, roving, top, or fabric)

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Watermelon, Raspberry, and Orange

Rags or paper towel to soak up excess dye

Microwave-safe bowl and lid

Vinyl gloves and/or tongs

Microwave oven or other heat source (see page 21)

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn (roving, top, or fabric) with figure eights as described on page 42, and soak it in the vinegar-water solution for about 30 minutes.

2 Prepare the dyestock. Mix each of the following amounts of dyestock with 2 cups of water: 2 teaspoons Orange, 1 tablespoon Raspberry, 2 tablespoons Watermelon.

3 Squeeze dry. Gently squeeze the vinegar-water solution from the yarn and lay the skein out in a rough circle or oval on the prepared work surface.

4 Apply the first color. Squirt or pour the Watermelon along a 3-inch section of yarn, then work the color through all the strands of yarn in that section, encouraging the dye to travel along the length of the yarn from where it was first applied. About one-third of the yarn should be covered at this point.

5 Apply the second color. Squirt or pour some of the Raspberry on a section a couple of inches away from the first. Gently squeeze and rub, so that gradually the first and second colors meet and mingle, resulting in color variations in two-thirds of the skein.

6 Apply the third color. Add some Orange a couple of inches from the Raspberry, so that these two colors also mix. Remember to let the colors mix along the length of the yarn. Use a paper towel to soak up any extra dye that may have settled under the skein. Check to see that all of the yarn has received dye and no white spots remain.

7 Apply heat. Arrange the skein in the bowl, and cover with a lid. Place the bowl in a microwave oven, and process on High for 2 minutes. Allow to rest in the microwave for 2 minutes. Note: You can also heat-set the dyes with any of the other “steam methods” described on pages 23-25.

8 Check progress. Using gloves or tongs, turn the fiber over and process for 2 more minutes. Check carefully to see if the bowl is steamy and hot, and the excess water is clear. Ideally, all of the dye should be absorbed by the fiber. If not, either you applied too much dye or you did not heat-process long enough. Often a quick dip in a vinegar soak, followed by an additional application of heat, helps the yarn accept more of the dye.

9 Remove from heat. Using gloves or tongs, remove the fiber from the bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.

10 Rinse the cooled yarn. When the fiber is completely cool, rinse in room-temperature water until the water runs clear. (You can add a fabric softener, if you wish.)

11 Spin dry. Remove excess water by giving it a spin in the washing machine or a salad spinner. Allow the fiber to dry at room temperature.

Infant Cardigan and Ruffled Cap knit with yarn dyed using this multicolor handpaint method (for pattern, see page 143).

DIPPING FOR SHADES

In this technique, sections of fiber are dunked in dye in a series of shallow bowls. It’s a convenient technique for dyeing skeins of yarn, but if you’re a spinner, you’ll enjoy using this technique to dye roving or top, as well. As you later spin the dyed fiber, you can control the progression of color shifts by spinning long (or short) sections that blend into new shades and colors. You can use shades of the same color dyestock, from light to intense saturations, or you can arrange several different colors along the dip-dyeing route.

I like to think of the setup as a kind of railroad train: the many different containers of colors are set in a row, as if they were along a track. Note that as the fiber is dipped into each individual bowl, some dye is removed from the water. As a result, if you are using this arrangement to dye long lengths of fiber, the subsequent colors will be paler than the initial dips. If this is not the effect you want, you can add more dyestock to the containers as needed.

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn (or roving, top, or fabric) with figure eights as described on page 43, and soak it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

2 Prepare the mixtures. Mix each of the following amounts of dyestock with ½ cup of water: 3 tablespoons Chocolate; 2 tablespoons Chocolate and 1 tablespoon Black, and 1 tablespoon Chocolate. Pour the mixtures into three shallow containers and place them on a prepared work surface, spacing them no more than 4 inches away from each other.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Fiber (skein of yarn, roving, top, or fabric)

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Chocolate and Black

3 shallow containers (about 2-cup size) and measuring equipment

Vinyl gloves

Microwave-safe bowl and lid

Microwave oven or other heat source (see page 21)

3 Dip the fiber. Place the prepared fiber on top of the containers with the dye mixtures. With gloved hands, press the fiber into each container of dye.

4 Squeeze out the extra dye. It’s important to avoid saturating the fiber with more dye than it can hold. When this happens, you have a messy pool of dye to contend with.

5 Dip and squeeze again. Pick up the skein and move it along so that the undyed fiber is immersed. Squeeze out extra dye. Repeat the process until all the fiber is dyed. As you remove excess dye, use your fingers to encourage the dyes to blend with the adjacent dyes, so that you avoid white spots in the yarn (unless you want white spots!).

6 Apply heat. Arrange the skein in the bowl, and cover with a lid. Place the bowl in a microwave oven, and process on High for 2 minutes. Allow to rest in the microwave for 2 minutes. Note: You can also heat-set the dyes with any of the other “steam methods” described on pages 23–25.

7 Check progress. Using gloves or tongs, turn the fiber over and process for 2 more minutes. Check carefully to see if the bowl is steamy and hot, and the excess water is clear. Ideally, all of the dye should be absorbed by the fiber. If not, either you applied too much dye or you did not heat-process long enough. Often a quick dip in a vinegar soak, followed by an additional application of heat, helps the yarn accept more of the dye. (See Troubleshooting Immersion Dyeing, page 108 for further advice.) If not, process for another minute.

Guy’s Ribbed Hat knit with yarn dyed by the Dipping for Shades method (for pattern, see page 154).

8 Remove from heat. Using gloves or tongs, remove the fiber from the bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.

9 Rinse the cooled yarn. When the fiber is completely cool, rinse in room-temperature water until the water runs clear. (You can add a fabric softener, if you wish.)

10 Spin dry. Remove excess water by giving it a spin in the washing machine or a salad spinner. Allow the fiber to dry at room temperature.

DIP-AND-DYE: MULTICOLORED

If you like the way different colors blend into new ones, try this technique. It’s the same as Dipping for Shades, except that this time you use four colors. Note that the yarn dyed in this example was originally a dusty rose that I chose to overdye.

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn (or roving, top, or fabric) with figure eights as described on page 43 and soak it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Fiber (skein of yarn, roving, top, or fabric)

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Avocado, Evergreen, Gold, Charcoal

3 shallow containers (about 2-cup size) and measuring equipment

Vinyl gloves

Microwave-safe bowl and lid

Microwave oven or other heat source (see page 21)

2 Prepare the dye dilutions. Mix 1 teaspoon of each dyestock with 1 cup water. Pour the mixtures into four shallow containers and place them on a prepared work surface.

3 Dip the fiber. Place the prepared fiber on top of the containers with the dye mixtures. With gloved hands, press the fiber into each container of dye.

4 Squeeze out the extra dye. As you remove the excess dye, use your fingers to encourage the dyes to blend with the adjacent dyes. It’s important to avoid saturating the fiber with more dye than it can hold. When this happens, you have a messy pool of dye to contend with. If all of the fiber is dyed at this point, move on to Step 5. If necessary, you can move the skein along and dip undyed sections of yarn as in Step 3.

5 Apply heat. Arrange the skein in the bowl, and cover with a lid. Place the bowl in a microwave oven, and process on High for 2 minutes. Allow to rest in the microwave for 2 minutes. Note: You can also heat-set the dyes with any of the other “steam methods” described on pages 23–25.

6 Check progress. Using gloves or tongs, turn the skein over and process for 2 more minutes. Check carefully to see if the bowl is steamy and hot and excess water is clear. Ideally, all of the dye should be absorbed by the fiber. If not, either you applied too much dye or you did not heat-process long enough. Often a quick dip in a vinegar soak, followed by an additional application of heat, helps the yarn accept more of the dye. (See Troubleshooting Immersion Dyeing, page 108, for further advice.)

Handpainted yarn is a fine choice for handwoven projects. Here, yarn dyed using the Multicolor Dip-and-Dye method results in subtle plaids when woven on a Weavette loom.

7 Remove from heat. Using gloves or tongs, remove the skein from the bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.

8 Rinse the cooled yarn. When the fiber is completely cool, rinse in room-temperature water until the water runs clear. (You can add a fabric softener, if you wish.)

9 Spin dry. Remove excess water by giving it a spin in the washing machine or a salad spinner. Allow the fiber to dry at room temperature.

HANDPAINTING A SILK CAP

If you’re interested in working with raw silk, you may enjoy purchasing a silk cap (also known as a “mawata” or a “hankie”), which is several layers of silk cocoon that have been boiled and stretched over a mold to form a tissue-like piece that is a delight to hand-paint. You may find these sold in quantities of about 25, each weighing about ½ ounce. Be sure to soak the silk cap thoroughly in plain, clear water before attempting to dye it. (Refer to pages 30 and 35 for the special care needed for preparing silk for dyeing.)

You can spin the dyed fiber into yarn in a number of different ways. Begin by gently drawing the sides out until the middle breaks open (like a doughnut). Continue to stretch the edges until you can draw the fiber out and roll it against your thigh to form a loose yarn or spin on a drop spindle or wheel.

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Soak the silk cap overnight in water to which a few drops of Dawn detergent has been added. Just before dyeing, submerge it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 10 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

2 Spread out your materials. Pour the dye mixtures into shallow containers, and place them and the silk cap on the prepared work surface.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Silk cap

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Deep Purple, Lime Green, and Island Blue

Paintbrush

Vinyl gloves

Microwave-safe bowl and lid

Microwave oven or other heat source (see page 21)

Instant-read thermometer

3 Apply the first color. Paint a small amount of one of the colors on a section of the silk.

4 Apply the second color. Paint some of the second color on a section a couple of inches away from the first. Gently move the dye with the brush to encourage the first and second colors to meet and mingle. Notice the interesting color variations.

5 Apply the third color. Brush on the last color near the others, allowing all the colors to blend.

6 Repeat the applications. Continue to work your way around in sections until the entire piece has received dye. Encourage the colors to blend from section to section. Use a paper towel to soak up any extra dye that may have settled under the silk.

7 Apply heat. Arrange the silk in the bowl, and cover with a lid. Place the bowl in a microwave oven, and process on High for 2 minutes. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of the silk. It should not rise any higher than 185°F (85°C). Allow to rest in the microwave for 2 minutes. Note: You can also heat-set the dyes with any of the other steam methods described on pages 23–25. If you use an oven or do it on the stovetop, place the silk cap in a plastic bag. Poke several holes in the plastic to allow the excess steam to escape.

8 Check progress. Using gloves or tongs, turn the silk over and process for 1 minute. Again check the temperature with your thermometer. If it has not reached 185°F (85°C), process for another minute. Ideally, all of the dye should be absorbed by the fiber. If not, either you applied too much dye or you did not heat-process long enough. Often a quick dip in a vinegar soak, followed by an additional application of heat, helps the yarn accept more of the dye.

9 Remove from heat. Using gloves or tongs, remove the silk from the bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.

10 Rinse the cooled silk. When the fiber is completely cool, rinse in room-temperature water until the water runs clear.

11 Spin dry. Remove excess water by giving it a spin in the washing machine or a salad spinner. Allow the silk to dry at room temperature.

HANDPAINTING A WOOL ROVING

The technique for handpainting a wool roving is very similar to the steps you take for handpainting a skein of yarn or a silk cap. Spinners will find endless possibilities for creating unique and exciting yarns from their own handpainted rovings. Among the many advantages of spinning these rovings is that you can achieve longer sections of any one color and also control the blend from one color to the next in your spun yarn. If you plan to ply your yarn, divide the roving carefully and evenly lengthwise before drafting, and keep track of the beginning of each section, so that the like colors match up when you ply them together. You’ll find that the match is usually not perfect, but the blend is always interesting!

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Wool roving

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Pumpkin, Gold, Mahogany, Sky Blue

Paintbrush

Vinyl gloves

Microwave-safe bowl and lid

Microwave oven or other heat source (see page 21)

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Arrange the roving in zigzag fashion and tie as described on page 43. Soak it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

2 Mix the dyestock. Prepare the dye solutions (see page 9).

3 Spread out your materials. Pour the dye mixtures into shallow containers, and place them and the roving on the prepared work surface.

4 Apply the first color. Paint a small amount of one of the colors on a section of the roving.

5 Apply the second color. Paint some of the second color on a section a couple of inches away from the first. Gently move the dye with the brush to encourage the first and second colors to meet and mingle. Notice the interesting color variations.

6 Apply the third and fourth colors. Brush these on near the others, allowing all the colors to blend.

7 Repeat the applications. Continue to work your way along the roving in sections until the entire piece has received dye. Encourage the colors to blend from section to section. Use a paper towel to soak up any extra dye that may have settled under the roving.

8 Apply heat. Arrange the roving in the bowl, and cover with a lid. Place the bowl in a microwave oven, and process on High for 2 minutes. Allow to rest in the microwave for 2 minutes. Note: You can also heat-set the dyes with any of the other steam methods described on pages 23–25. If you use an oven or the stovetop, place the roving in a plastic bag. Poke several holes in the plastic to allow the excess steam to escape.

9 Check progress. Using gloves or tongs, turn the roving over and process for 1 minute. Ideally, all of the dye should be absorbed by the fiber. If not, either you applied too much dye or you did not heat-process long enough. Often a quick dip in a vinegar soak, followed by an additional application of heat, helps the yarn accept more of the dye.

From top left, clockwise: Roving dried after handpainting, roving drafted prior to spinning, yarn spun and plied, knit swatch.

10 Remove from heat. When the water runs clear, use gloves or tongs to remove the roving from the bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.

11 Rinse the cooled fiber. When the fiber is completely cool, rinse in room-temperature water until the water runs clear.

12 Spin dry. Remove excess water by giving it a spin in the washing machine or a salad spinner. Allow the roving to dry at room temperature.

AN INJECTION OF COLOR

Mohair and mohair blends are often sold in pre-wound balls. You could, of course, wind your yarn off onto skeins, but some fun alternatives include dunking (see page 104) and injecting these preparations. As with other dye methods, be sure to thoroughly soak the fibers before you begin. You may want to try this same technique on coned yarn. To ensure that the dye reaches the inside of the cone, it’s particularly important to soak the cone thoroughly before dyeing it.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Ball of yarn, approximately ½ pound

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Gold, Pear, and Lime

Vinyl gloves

Syringe or turkey baster

Microwave-safe bowl (large enough to hold the ball of yarn) and a lid

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Soak the ball of yarn in the vinegar-and-water solution until it is completely saturated (about 30 minutes). Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

2 Spread out your materials. Pour the dye mixtures into cups or shallow containers, and place them and the ball of yarn on the prepared work surface.

3 Apply the first color. Draw dye into your syringe and then plunge it into the ball, allowing a small amount of dye to penetrate the fiber. Draw up more of this color and inject it randomly around the ball.

4 Apply the second and third colors. Repeat step 3 using the other dye colors.

5 Encourage blending. Squeeze the ball to encourage the colors to saturate the fiber and blend. You may cover the entire surface or leave areas undyed.

6 Apply heat. Place the ball in the bowl, cover, and place the bowl in a microwave oven. Process on High for 2 minutes. Allow the ball to rest in the microwave for 2 minutes. Note: You can heat-set the dye using any of the other steam methods described on pages 23–25.

7 Check progress. Using gloves or tongs, turn the ball over and process for another 2 minutes, or until any excess water runs clear. Ideally, all of the dye should be absorbed by the fiber. If not, either you applied too much dye or you did not heat-process long enough. Often a quick dip in a vinegar soak, followed by an additional application of heat, helps the yarn accept more of the dye.

8 Remove from heat. Using gloves or tongs, remove the ball from the bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.

Neck Ruffle, with crocheted binding. For pattern, see page 148.

9 Skein and rinse the cooled yarn. When the fiber is completely cool, use your niddy noddy to wind it into a skein, then rinse it in room-temperature water until the water runs clear. If the yarn is at all damp, protect the wood of your niddy noddy by wrapping it in plastic. (You can add a fabric softener, if you wish.)

10 Dry. Allow the fiber to dry at room temperature.

Alternative: If you left areas of the ball undyed, you may wish to immerse it in a dyebath (see pages 106–108).

SECOND CHANCE

Sometimes your dye projects don’t turn out the way you wish they would. I injected dyes into this cone (A), wound off the yarn into a skein (B), and then knit up a swatch (C). It wasn’t at all what I wanted! I treated the remaining yarn to a dip in another dye and came up with a richly layered, dark blue yarn that I love (D). The lesson: Don’t give up when you’re disappointed — and always swatch!

DUNKIN’ CONES

The injection technique shown on pages 101–103 can be used on cones as well as on balls. Another way of dyeing cones of yarn is to immerse them into a dyebath, either completely or in stages. You can also achieve interesting effects by combining these two methods. Be sure to thoroughly soak the cone before you begin.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Cone of yarn, approximately ½ pound

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Meadow Green, Periwinkle, Raspberry Sorbet

Small pot, just large enough to accommodate the cone on its side

Vinyl gloves

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. To keep the cone intact during the soaking stages, pass a shoelace or heavy string through the center of the cone around the outside and tie it securely. This shoelace also makes a good handle for moving the cone around during the process. Soak the cone of yarn in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

2 Mix the dyestock. Prepare the dye solutions (see page 9).

3 Immerse part of the cone in the first dye solution. Pour about 1 cup of dye into the pot, and lay the cone on its side in the dye. Allow it to soak for at least 1 hour.

4 Immerse the cone in the second dye solution. Remove the cone, rinse out the pot, add about 1 cup of the second dye solution to it, and replace the cone, upright this time, if you wish. Allow it to soak for at least 1 hour.

5 Immerse the cone in the third dye solution. To overdye only part of the bottom of the cone, use a smaller container for this soak, using the third dye solution. Allow to soak for at least 1 hour.

6 Complete the dye process. Place the cone in different positions in the various dye solutions until the entire cone is saturated with dye. Allow ample time for each soak and squeeze the cone periodically to ensure that the colors saturate all the way into the center of the cone until you’ve achieved the desired color.

7 Apply heat. Place the cone in a clean bowl, cover, and place the bowl in a microwave oven. Process on High for 2 minutes. Allow the ball to rest for 2 minutes. Note: You can heat-set the dye using any of the other steam methods described on pages 23–25.

8 Check progress. Using gloves or tongs, turn the cone over and process for another 2 minutes, or until any excess water runs clear. Ideally, all of the dye should be absorbed by the fiber. If not, either you applied too much dye or you did not heat-process long enough. Often a quick dip in a vinegar soak, followed by an additional application of heat, helps the yarn accept more of the dye. (See Troubleshooting Immersion Dyeing, page 108 for further advice.)

9 Remove from heat. Using gloves or tongs, remove the cone from the bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.

10 Skein and rinse the cooled yarn. When the fiber is completely cool, wind it into a skein, then rinse in room-temperature water until the water runs clear. (If the yarn is at all damp, protect the wood of your niddy noddy by wrapping it in plastic.)

11 Dry. Allow the fiber to dry at room temperature.

As a way of enhancing the texture of this swatch, each length of blue yarn is purled, rather than knitted in stockinette.

BASIC IMMERSION DYEING

Immersion dyeing is exactly what it sounds like, and it’s the most basic form of dyeing. You place the fibers in a container with enough dye solution to cover them and then heat the water to simmer. Once the dye is absorbed by the fiber, the water in the container is clear and the fiber has color. The immersion dye technique is often carried out in a dyepot on a stovetop, but as you gain confidence, you may want to use the basic immersion technique with other heat sources, such as a microwave, slow cooker, or oven (see pages 20-21). If you think the process sounds like a recipe for cooking vegetables, you’re right!

How Much Water, How Much Yarn?

In order to standardize instructions, the materials lists for the immersion techniques call for ¼ pound of fiber. A skein of worsted yarn on average weighs 4 oz/113 grams; a bundle of fleece about the size of a grapefruit generally weighs about the same. The band on the yarn always notes the weight. If you have a 50-gram skein, you need a container that easily holds 6 cups of water; a 100-gram skein requires double that, about 12 cups.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Approximately ¼ pound of fiber

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dye (see page 9): Deep Purple

Large pot with lid and a stirring tool (see page 17)

Vinyl gloves

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn with figure eights as described on page 43 and soak it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

2 Heat the water. Fill a pot half full with water, and add 1 cup of white vinegar. Place the pot on the stovetop and bring the water up to simmer.

3 Add the dyestock. Stir the dyestock into the simmering water until it is well mixed. Be conservative in the amount of dye you start off with: you can always add more color, but you cannot take it out.

4 Immerse the fiber. Immerse the yarn in the pot and gently poke it under the dyebath. When the water is again barely at a simmer, set a timer for about 20 minutes; keep the water just below simmering. Make certain the fiber does not rest on the bottom of the pot, which could result in dark spots or even burns. The trick is to move the fiber enough to allow all of the dye to come in contact with the fiber but not to agitate it so much that it begins to felt. Occasionally poke the fiber to gently move it around in the pot. Do not stir, or you will end up with a large felted ball!

5 Test for dye absorption. Check to see if the dye has been absorbed by the fiber by carefully scooping up some of the dyebath in a clear glass container. Once the water is clear, turn off the burner and let the bath cool to room temperature.

6 Finish up. Remove the yarn and rinse it with tepid water. I like to spin the fiber through the spin cycle of my washing machine or in a small salad spinner to remove the excess water. Hang to dry.

Yarn dyed by immersion used for swatch knit in Estonian Shell Stitch (see page 160)

TROUBLESHOOTING IMMERSION DYEING

As you slowly raise the water temperature of the dyebath, the dye penetrates and bonds with the fiber. When the process is complete, the water should be clear, because all of the dye has been absorbed into the fiber. You’ll have the best chance of success with immersion dyeing if you take the following precautions:

• Avoid felting. Do not stir the fiber during the process. Use a stick or tongs to gently lift and place the fiber in the container. Remember that wool and many types of hair felt easily, and the conditions that create felt are heat and agitation. Uncarded fleece, prepared batts, and roving are particularly likely to felt and need very gentle handling.

• Avoid inconsistent color. Do not let the fiber rest on the bottom of the container. Not only might this cause the fiber to burn, it can also result in dark spots of the color. If your goal is to achieve a consistent color throughout the fiber, be sure to remove the fiber from the bath before you add more dye. (On the other hand, you can get great tonal colors by pouring the dye over the fiber in the bath.)

• Improve intensity. Keep your eyes on the color of the dyebath. If it is clear and you don’t feel the color is intense enough, you can add more dye of the same or another color by slowly pouring more of the dyestock into the bath until you are satisfied with the color.

• Improve dye take-up. If the water is not clear after 30 minutes of a low simmer, try adding some additional white vinegar and simmering a bit longer. Different dyes strike at different temperatures, so make certain that you allow the bath to remain hot enough, for long enough. Have patience! Always allow the water to cool to room temperature before removing the fiber. There are two reasons for this: First, it’s all too easy to burn yourself at this point, and second, the agitation caused by removing the hot fiber from the water can begin the felting process.

• Rinse right. When rinsing, do not allow the stream of water to hit directly on the fiber. Even the energy from the flowing water can felt the fiber.

HALF-AND-HALF IMMERSION DYEING

This variation on immersion dyeing allows you to get a subtle color variation by introducing a skein of yarn that is half dry and half damp into the dyebath. The wet fiber absorbs the dye immediately, while the dry portion takes longer to absorb color. The color of the damp half will therefore be slightly more intense.

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn with figure eights as described on page 43 and soak it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

2 Mix the dyestock. Prepare the dye solution (see page 9).

3 Heat the water. Fill a pot half full with water, and add 1 cup of white vinegar. Place the pot on the stovetop and bring the water up to simmer. Stir the desired amount of dyestock into the simmering water until it is well mixed. Be conservative in the amount of dye you use at first: You can always add more color, but you cannot take it out.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Approximately ¼ pound of fiber

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Olive Drab

Large pot with lid, and a stirring tool (see page 17)

Vinyl gloves

Effects of Dye on Wet and Dry Surfaces

Dip one half of a cloth or piece of paper towel into water, squeeze out the excess, and spread the cloth or paper out on a flat, protected surface. Using watercolors or dye-stock, place a drop of color on the dry side and another drop on the wet side. Observe how much larger the drop of dye on the wet side becomes compared to the dry. Notice, too, how the color dissipates and becomes more dilute at the outermost portion of the drop.

4 Dampen half the skein. Immerse half of the dry skein back in the vinegar soak. Remove it and squeeze the wet section to remove excess water. Half of the skein will be damp, and the other half dry.

5 Immerse the entire skein in the dye-bath. Let the skein settle into the dyebath. When the water is barely at a simmer, set a timer for about 30 minutes, and keep the water just below simmering. Move the fiber enough to allow all of the dye to come in contact with the fiber, but not enough agitation to cause it to begin to felt. Continue to occasionally poke the fiber to gently move it around in the pot.

6 Test for dye absorption. Check to see if the dye has been absorbed by the fiber by carefully scooping up some of the dyebath in a clear glass container. Once the water is clear, turn off the burner and let the bath cool to room temperature.

7 Finish up. With gloved hands, remove the yarn and rinse it with tepid water. Squeeze out or spin to remove excess water, and hang to dry.

Scarves knit from yarn dyed by the Half-and-Half Immersion method, one in laceweight and one in worsted-weight yarn (For pattern, see page 152.)

DRIP-PAINT–IMMERSION COMBO

This project gives you a chance to experiment with both handpainting and immersion dyeing. You may get some very unexpected results! Remember that not only will you see the effect of adjacent colors blending on the skein as you handpaint or drip color onto it, but these colors will also be overdyed when you place the entire skein in the dyebath. To avoid getting “muddy” colors, take care not to use too many different dyes when you first try this.

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn with figure eights as described on page 43 and soak it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

2 Mix the dyestock. Prepare the handpaint and immersion dye solutions (see page 9).

3 Drip-paint the skein. Lay out the skein on a prepared work surface. Randomly drip handpaint color over the skein, and let it set for about 10 minutes.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Approximately ¼ pound of fiber

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock: PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Lemon Drop for hand-paint and Twilight for dyebath; Gaywool Tomato/Wattlebark for sprinkle

Slow cooker (see page 21)

Vinyl gloves

4 Prepare the slow cooker. Fill the slow cooker about half full of water, and add 1 cup of the immersion dye solution to it. Submerge the fiber under the dyebath.

5 Add the dye crystals. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of dye crystals over the yarn.

6 Heat set. Cover the slow cooker, turn it on, and heat until the water runs clear. Turn off the slow cooker and let the bath cool to room temperature.

7 Finish up. With gloved hands, remove the yarn and rinse it with tepid water. Squeeze out or spin to remove excess water, and hang to dry.

Swatches crocheted with yarn dyed by the Drip-Paint-Immersion method (for patterns, see pages 162-63).

BASIC TIE-DYEING

Immersion dyeing is used primarily to apply a more or less solid color to fiber. But there are ways to make this process much more fun and the results more exciting. Once you’ve mastered the immersion technique, you can experiment with fiber to achieve many different effects. For instance, altering the state of the fiber before introducing it into the dye-bath can create very interesting outcomes. Binding, clamping, folding, and knotting are just some of the techniques you can use.

The following creative approaches to dyeing are meant to excite your curiosity. You may dream up many others. Start thinking, “What if?” For instance, “What if I tie resists (see page 114, step 4) on the fiber and dip only one end into a blue dyestock and then dip the other into a red dyestock?” “What if after I heat-set the fiber, I remove the resists and dip into a diluted color?” Use your imagination. The very worst thing that can happen is that you decide you need to overdye the fiber.

As you’ll see, I presoak the yarn before applying the resist ties. Water expands fiber, and when the ties are snug, they do a better job of preventing the dye from penetrating the bound-off areas. (In contrast, dry fiber wicks dye into the bound-off areas.) Note that for each of the techniques that follow, I refer to the article that’s being dyed as a skein, but you can use these methods on roving, batts, and fabric as well.

As you plan your tie-dye project, keep in mind that whatever you use for your second dyebath will not only color the undyed (white) sections from the first dyebath, but it will also overdye the fiber that received color in the first dyebath. For example, if the initial dyebath is red and you use blue for the second dyebath, the areas that were tied off for the red dyebath will be dyed blue but the area that received red dye will now become purple. Instead of using two different colors, you may wish to simply make the second dyebath a paler shade than the first one. As with so many dye processes, the possibilities are endless!

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Approximately ¼ pound of fiber

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Dark Pink (base), Lemon Drop (second color), Chile Pepper (sprinkle)

Vinyl gloves

Large microwave-safe bowl with lid and microwave (see page 21)

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn with figure eights as described on page 43 and soak it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry until damp.

2 Mix the dyestock. Prepare two different-colored dye solutions (see page 9). (The “sprinkle” is the unmixed dye powder.)

3 Prepare the dyebath. Fill the bowl about two-thirds full of water, and add 1 cup of white vinegar. Stir in the desired amount of the base dyestock until it is well mixed.

4 Tie resists around the skein. Wrap a length of scrap yarn or shoelace around the damp skein and secure it tightly. Tie additional pieces of scrap yarn at several intervals around the skein in the same way. These ties, known as “resists,” prevent the dye from entering the bound-off areas.

5 Heat set. Place the prepared fiber in the dyebath, cover the bowl, and place it in the microwave. Set the heat on High for 1 minute, then check to see if the dye is being absorbed. Continue to heat and check until the water runs clear.

6 Untie the fiber. Pour off the water. With gloved hands, spread the skein out on a prepared work surface and remove the ties.

7 Drip-paint. Drip or pour the second color over the areas that received no color in the dye bath because they were tied off. You’ll see that this dye blends and transitions nicely into the dyed areas, taking on a third color. Place the skein back in the bowl.

8 Sprinkle dye powder (optional). For an extra touch of color, sprinkle dye powder directly on the yarn before the final heat set, if desired.

9 Heat set. Repeat step 5 above. Allow to cool to room temperature.

10 Finish up. Remove the yarn and rinse with tepid water. Squeeze out or spin to remove excess water, and hang to dry.

The purple yarn was dyed using the Basic Immersion technique; the coral was dyed using the Basic Tie-Dyeing method. (For directions for the swatches, see page 161.)

TIE-DYE BY OTHER NAMES

For centuries, cultures in many parts of the world have developed methods of masking portions of cloth or yarn so that these areas can be exposed to dye at different times in order to achieve greater control over the results. Shibori, plangi, bandhani, and batik are just some of the versions of this art. Often referred to as “resist dyeing,” common techniques for preventing dye from reaching selected areas of fiber include wax applications and tightly binding off or knotting the fiber or yarn in some way. The cloth shown here was woven after the yarn was dyed using the resist process known as ikat.

TIE-DYE/DRIP-DYE COMBO

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Approximately ¼ pound of fiber

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Turkey Red and Spice Pumpkin

Vinyl gloves

Large pot with lid, and a stirring tool (see page 17)

Microwave-safe bowl and lid

This project combines two of the techniques we’ve explored earlier, and it results in a multilayered, potentially sophisticated color scheme. You first prepare the fiber for tie-dyeing and dye it using the immersion method. You then untie the resists, drip new dye colors over the skein, and then heat-set it in a microwave. Some of the drip-dye will overdye the areas dyed by immersion, and some will saturate the undyed, white areas, with the result that you have at least three different shades of color. Have fun!

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn with figure eights as described on page 43, and soak it in the vinegar-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the soak and squeeze it to remove excess water.

2 Tie the fiber. Wrap a length of scrap yarn around the damp skein and secure it tightly. Tie additional pieces of scrap yarn at several intervals around the skein in the same way.

3 Heat the water. Fill a pot half full with water, and add 1 cup of white vinegar. Place the pot on the stovetop and bring the water up to simmer. Stir the desired amount of the Turkey Red dyestock into the simmering water until it is well mixed. Remember, you can always add more color if necessary, but you can’t take it out, so begin with a smaller amount than you think you need.

4 Immerse the entire skein. Gently poke the fiber under the dyebath. When the water is barely at a simmer, set a timer for about 30 minutes, and keep the water just below simmering. Move the fiber enough to allow all of the dye to come in contact with the fiber but don’t agitate it so much that it begins to felt. Continue to occasionally poke the fiber to gently move it around in the pot.

5 Test for dye absorption. Check to see if the dye has been absorbed by the fiber by carefully scooping up some of the dyebath in a clear glass container. Once the water is clear, turn off the burner and let the bath cool to room temperature.

6 Untie the fiber. Remove the skein from the dyebath, and with gloved hands, spread it out on a prepared work surface and remove the ties.

7 Drip-Dye. Drip the Spice Pumpkin dyestock randomly over the skein, paying particular attention to the undyed areas. Allow the dye to set for about 15 minutes before proceeding to the next step.

8 Heat set. Place the prepared fiber in a bowl, and place the bowl in the microwave. Set the heat on High for 1 minute, then check to see if the dye is being absorbed. Continue to heat and check until the water runs clear. Allow to come to room temperature. Note: You can heat-set the dye using any of the other steam methods described on pages 23–25.

9 Finish up. Remove the yarn and rinse with tepid water. Squeeze out or spin to remove excess water, and hang to dry.

Kangaroo Mittens knit with coral yarn dyed using the Tie-Dye/Drip-Dye method and black dyed by Basic Immersion. For pattern, see page 132.

2-STEP IMMERSION: MONOCHROME

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Approximately ¼ pound of fiber

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dye (see page 9): Chili Pepper

Vinyl gloves

Large pot with lid and a stirring tool (see page 17)

Sturdy stick long enough to extend over dye pot without slipping

When you’re looking for a yarn or fleece with subtly varied colors, but not multiple colors, try this easy, effective dye technique. By introducing the fiber into the same dye-bath gradually, you’ll see lighter and darker areas of the same color. Compare the effects to those achieved by Half-and-Half Immersion Dyeing (page 109).

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn with figure eights as described on page 43 and soak it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

2 Heat the water. Fill a pot half full with water, and add 1 cup of white vinegar. Place the pot on the stovetop and bring the water up to simmer. Stir the desired amount of dyestock into the simmering water until it is well mixed. (Start with a small amount of dyestock and add more until you achieve the color you desire.)

Yarn for swatch dyed using the 2-Step Immersion method. For Vine Lace pattern stitch, see page 160.

3 Dye the first half. Rest a stick across the rim of your pot. Drape the prepared skein of yarn over the stick so that only a section of it is submerged in the dyebath.

4 Dye the second half. After a few minutes remove the stick and let the rest of the fiber enter the dyebath. Gently poke the fiber under the dyebath. When the water is barely at a simmer, set a timer for about 30 minutes, and keep the water just below simmering. Occasionally poke the fiber to gently move it around in the pot.

5 Test for dye absorption. Check to see if the dye has been absorbed by the fiber by carefully scooping up some of the dyebath in a clear glass container. Once the water is clear, turn off the burner and let the bath cool to room temperature.

6 Finish up. With gloved hands, remove the yarn and rinse with tepid water. Squeeze out or spin to remove excess water, and hang to dry.

3-STEP IMMERSION: MULTICOLORED

Here, we let the skein into the dyebath in three stages. When you plan your color progression, remember that the first third you dunk into the dyebath will be overdyed first by the second dyebath and a second time in the final dyebath. Here, the first third was dyed yellow; the second third, red; and the last, blue.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Approximately ¼ pound of fiber

Scrap yarn for ties

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Lemon Drop, Mixing Red, Island Blue

Plastic gloves

Large pot with lid and a stirring tool (see page 17)

Sturdy stick long enough to extend over dye pot without slipping

METHOD

1 Prepare the fiber. Tie the skein of yarn with figure eights (see page 43) and soak it in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove and allow to drip dry.

2 Heat the water. Fill a pot half full with water, and add 1 cup of white vinegar. Place pot on stovetop and bring water up to simmer. Stir ¼ cup Lemon Drop dyestock into simmering water until well mixed.

3 Dye first third. Rest a stick across the rim of your pot. Drape the prepared skein of yarn over the stick so that about one-third of the yarn is submerged in the dyebath. Simmer, and monitor to see if the dye has been absorbed by the fiber by carefully scooping up some of the dyebath in a clear glass container. When the water is clear, go on to step 4.

4 Dye second third. Stir into the simmering water ¹/₈; cup of Mixing Red dyestock, and allow two-thirds of the fiber to reach the dyebath. Monitor the dyebath until the water clears, then move to step 5.

5 Dye final third. Stir into the simmering water ¹/₈ cup of Island Blue dyestock, remove the stick, and allow the entire skein to enter the dyebath. Gently poke the fiber under the dyebath. When the water is barely at a simmer, set a timer for about 30 minutes, and keep the water just below simmering. Occasionally poke the fiber to gently move it around in the pot. Once the water is clear, turn off the burner and let the bath cool to room temperature.

6 Finish up. With gloved hands, remove the yarn and rinse with tepid water. Squeeze out or spin to remove excess water, and hang to dry.

Color Tips

When you’re dyeing in several steps, the initial color is affected by subsequent additions of dye. For example, if you submerge one-third of a skein into a yellow dyebath, add red dye and allow another third of the skein into the pot, the first third of the skein will turn orange while the newly dyed area is red. When the red dye is exhausted and you add blue to the pot and allow the rest of the skein into the pot, the first third will turn brown, the middle will turn violet, and the final section will be blue.

In order to keep control over your color shifts, add dyes slowly, and carefully watch how the color is absorbed during each addition. You can always add more color if the shade is too light, but you can’t subtract color. I find this a particularly interesting dye challenge. How would this look if you changed the order of the dyebaths to yellow, blue, red? Or blue, yellow, red?

One woven and one knitted swatch made from yarn dyed by the 3-Step Immersion method.

PARKING METER YARN

One of my goals in writing this book is to prove that no matter where you live you can find creative ways to color your fibers. Some of the most popular commercially dyed yarns have long lengths dyed one color before gradually blending into another color. One way of achieving this result involves the use of a tool called a warping board, which weavers use to wind long skeins of yarn in an organized way and control the dye over relatively long sections.

Unless you’re a weaver, however, you probably don’t have such a tool. But I believe that even if you live in an urban setting, with limited space and no special tools, you can find ways to wind a very large skein. Thus the idea of Parking Meter Yarn: winding long skeins around two parking meters (not necessarily two that are next to each other!). Probably the best time to try out this technique is very early in the morning or very late at night, because you will certainly get lots of strange looks!

If you can’t make use of parking meters, look for other objects at a desired distance apart to wrap your yarn around. I’ve used fence posts and even cars in the same manner! All you need are objects strong enough to handle some tension from the yarn. They must have an open end that you can reach so you can remove the skein after wrapping. (For instance, it won’t work to wrap a skein around your house or apartment building, because it would be impossible to remove it!)

For your first experiment with parking meter yarn, dye it in just two colors.

MATERIALS

Yarn

Scrap yarn or string for ties and counting strings

Parking meters (or other well-spaced, sturdy posts)

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Teal and Plum

2 shallow containers (about 2-cup size) and measuring equipment

Vinyl gloves

Plastic wrap

Microwave oven or other heat source (see page 21)

Yarn dyed using the Parking Meter method (bottom); mohair-silk yarn dyed by Basic Immersion (top).

METHOD

1 Decide how long you want your skein to be. You’ll be doubling back to the first meter as you wind the yarn, so when you decide how many parking spaces you need to use, remember that the length of the skein will be double the distance between the first and most-distant (end) meters.

2 Secure the yarn. Tie one end of the yarn to an end parking meter. Make certain it is really tight around the head of the meter.

3 Wind the yarn. Holding the yarn, pass as many meters as necessary to give you the length you want, then take the yarn around the last meter and go back to the first. Continue along the path you’ve established, wrapping the yarn around the first and last meters as many times as you wish.

4 Finish the skein. End the wrapping at the first meter. Tie the beginning and ending ends together. (If you run out of yarn, you’ll have to end the skein after the last full pass.)

5 Make ties at intervals. In order to keep this very long, cumbersome skein manageable, tie string securely around the skein every few yards before you remove the yarn from the meters — the more ties the better! Remove the skein.

Organize Your Skein

It’s helpful to use counting strings to keep your yarn organized and less likely to tangle when you’re dyeing it. Cut 1-foot lengths of string and tape one to each meter. Each time you pass by a meter, weave the counting string under or over the yarn.

6 Prepare the yarn for the dyebath. Tie the skein of yarn with figure eights as described on page 43. Remove the ties made in step 5 as you do this. Soak the yarn in the vinegar-and-water solution for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the solution and allow it to drip dry.

7 Set out the dyestock. Pour each of the dyestocks into a bowl, and place the bowls a few inches apart.

8 Dye the yarn. With gloved hands, submerge one half of the skein in one bowl and the other half in the second bowl. To avoid having white spots between the two colors, use your fingers to move the dyes along the yarn and encourage the different colors to run together.

9 Heat-set the dye. Cover the bowls with plastic wrap, and place them in the microwave. Follow the directions for heat-setting in a microwave on page 21. When any excess water runs clear, allow the yarn to come to room temperature.

10 Rinse the yarn. When the yarn is cool, rinse it carefully so that it doesn’t tangle.

11 Finish up. To avoid tangles when you wind the yarn into a ball, you might want to wrap the skein around the parking meters again. Have a ball!

More Fun with Parking Meter Yarn

• Stovetop, Oven, or Solar Steam Method. If you’d prefer to heat-set the dye by a steam method other than in the microwave, after step 8, remove excess dye by gently squeezing the yarn, one section at a time. Wrap each section separately in plastic wrap to keep the dyes from running into one another. Heat-set following desired method shown on pages 20–25.

• Multiple Colors. If you’d like to dye your long skein many different colors, you can arrange the skein in a daisy-like pattern, with a section in the center, and the other colors looping out from it like petals. Dye each section separately, then wrap and heat-set as usual.

• Assigning Color. Dye sections of yarn (identified by your counting threads) different colors, each one representing something or someone special: family members, pets, knitting group friends, seasons of the year. Assigning different colors in this way makes the yarn more fun to knit with, as you think about what or whom you named each section for as you come to it.

Slouchy Ballerina Leg Warmers knit with yarn dyed using the Parking Meter technique. For pattern, see page 150.

MOZZARELLA-STYLE DYEING

You can use this whimsical technique with unspun fiber that you want to dye before spinning, as well as with skeined or balled yarn. You’ll find that the outcome is unpredictable, simply because you don’t know what’s going on inside the cluster of fiber — how the colors are mixing or whether they’re mixing at all. Limiting the colors and/or using colors that work well together minimizes muddy results. If you don’t like the results, however, keep in mind that dyeing isn’t complete until you’re satisfied — you don’t ever have to give up on anything you’ve dyed! Some of my most favorite (and, unfortunately, seldom repeatable) projects are the result of several applications of dye, whether I added just one more color to a specific place, as in handpainting, or totally immersed the fiber in a new dyebath.

MATERIALS

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Approximately ¼ pound of fiber (fleece or yarn)

Strong string or scrap yarn

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Dyestock using McCormick Food Coloring (see pages 71-72): as many combinations of yellow and blue as desired

Vinyl gloves

Turkey baster or syringe

Microwave-safe bowl and lid

Microwave oven or other heat source (see page 21)

METHOD

1 Wrap the fiber. Using strong string or yarn, wrap all around the fiber as you would tie a ribbon around a package. It should look like a ball of fresh mozzarella cheese before it’s cut into slices!

2 Soak the yarn. Place the wrapped fiber in the vinegar-water solution and let it soak for at least 30 minutes or longer. Squeeze out excess water.

3 Apply the dye. Use a turkey baster or syringe to inject several different dye colors into the bundle of fiber until it is completely saturated with dye.

4 Apply heat. Heat-set the dye, using any of the steam methods described on pages 23–25. Allow the fiber to cool.

5 Finish up. Remove the bundle and untie it, rinse the fiber, and allow it to dry.

Mozzarella Options

Instead of dripping dye onto the tied-up fiber, you may want to try one of these other methods:

• Dipping. Dip part of the bundle into one dye color, then rotate it and dip into another. You can use as many dips as you’d like.

• Immersion. Drop the bundle into a dyebath. Squeeze the bundle to encourage dye to saturate the center, if desired. On the other hand, you may not want color all of the way through. You decide!

Whatever method you use to apply the dye, you can heat set the dye using any of the steam methods described on pages 23–25.

Teased fleece and spun and plied yarn made from fiber dyed using the Mozzarella-Style method.

KNIT, DYE, UNKNIT, KNIT

My friend Julia, born in 1890, liked to tell a story about her father, a man of few words. She and her sisters made quilts from scraps of clothing and from broadcloth bought “up town.” After watching them working on their quilts, their father made this comment: “I cannot figure out why you take a piece of cloth, cut it up, and sew it back together.”

In this project, you’ll be doing something not far from this. You’re going to take a knitted piece, handpaint it with dye, and then unravel it in order to knit it up again into something entirely new and different! Search thrift stores, flea markets, or garage sales (or your own closet!) for a knitted or crocheted item made with a protein fiber. You can also purchase commercially knit “blanks” or you may even want to knit your own blank if you have a knitting machine. Although I describe doing this with knitting, you can follow the same procedure with crochet — or a combination of both!

MATERIALS

A knitted or crocheted piece of fabric, white or light-colored

Vinegar-water solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water

Work surface prepared for dyeing (see page 12)

Dyestock using PRO WashFast Acid dyes (see page 9): Hot Pink, Lime Green, Turquoise

Small paint brush

Paper towel

Microwave-safe bowl and lid

Microwave oven or other heat source (see page 21)

METHOD

1 Soak the knitted fabric. Place the fabric in the vinegar-water solution and let it soak for at least 30 minutes or longer. Squeeze out excess water or drip dry until barely moist.

2 Devise a plan. Decide which side of the piece you want to work on. On knitted pieces, the dye often penetrates the fiber more easily when you work on the purl side. It’s also easier to form letters and symbols on the purl side. It’s more difficult to get dye to penetrate selvages, because they tend to curl inward and resist the dye. Experiment with a clean brush before you commit. Place the fabric on a prepared work surface.

3 Paint on the dyes. Using a brush, paint the piece with prepared dye. Apply just enough solution to saturate the piece without soaking it. If you want the colors to mix, allow them to wick toward each other. If you want crisp letters or symbols, on the other hand, take care not to use too much dye. Wipe up any dye that pools under the piece with a paper towel.

4 Apply heat. Heat-set the dyes, using any of the steam methods described on pages 23–25. This piece went into a microwave. Allow the fabric to cool. Rinse and set aside to dry.

5 Finish up. Unravel the knitting, wind it into a skein or a ball, and use the yarn for any project of your choice — knitting, crochet, or weaving.

TRY THIS!

Personalize your project by incorporating a hidden code into it: use the dyes to write names of friends, family, or significant organizations or items in different colors.

For socks knit using the Knit, Dye, Unknit, Knit method, see page 156.

CHAPTER 6
SHOW-OFF PATTERNS

Out of the pot, onto your needles! The rules that apply to color mixing don’t end with putting the dyes together in a pleasing manner on the fiber, unless you’re satisfied with simply putting the beautiful result in a basket and admiring its beauty. In the pages that follow, you’ll find eight patterns for knitting up your hand-dyed yarns and fibers, using the dye techniques described in chapter 5. You can follow these patterns exactly or choose your own colors and procedures — the possibilities are limitless!

KANGAROO MITTENS

Designed by Barbara Giguere

My friend Barbara riffed on my business name, “Kangaroo Dyer,” when she designed these colorful mittens. The middle kangaroo is inspired by my logo, and the other two are based on kangaroo crossing signs in Australia. The motifs on the palm (see page 135) resemble kangaroo tracks, with the tail dragging between the feet as they jump; the Vs on the cuffs are reminiscent of boomerangs. I love the conjunction of Australian marsupials and classic Scandinavian styling, with the small, repetitive designs on the palms; the embellished cuffs; and the characteristic shape of the mitten tips. The warm rusty red yarn was dyed using the tie-dye/drip-dye combination shown on pages 116–17; the black yarn was dyed by immersion.

Knitting the Right Mitten

• Set Up Using CC, cast on 70 stitches, distributing them among three needles as follows:

Needle 1: 35 stitches

Needle 2: 17 stitches

Needle 3: 18 stitches

Join in the round, taking care not to twist stitches.

• Round 1 Purl to end of round.

• Round 2 Knit to end of round.

• Round 3 Purl to end of round.

• Next Rounds Join MC, and begin following the Kangaroo Right Mitten Chart (page 135) at Round 4, working the chart from right to left and knitting every round. Work the chart until you have completed Round 27.

• Round 28 Using CC, K33, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1. You now have 68 stitches, distributed as follows:

Needle 1: 34 stitches

Needle 2: 17 stitches

Needle 3: 17 stitches

• Round 29 Purl to end of round.

• Rounds 30–51 Continue to follow chart, knitting every round.

Right Thumb Placement Round

• Set Up Cut a piece of waste yarn in a contrasting color, about 12” (30 cm) long.

• Round 52 K3 with MC, K12 with waste yarn. Slip the 12 waste yarn stitches back on the left needle and continue knitting as charted (see photos on facing page).

Knitting the Hand and Shaping the Tip

• Next Rounds Continue to work chart until you have completed Round 84.

• Round 85 Continuing to work chart, decrease as follows:

Needle 1: Ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

Needle 2: Ssk, knit to end of needle.

Needle 3: Knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

• Next Rounds Continue to work chart and at the same time decrease 4 stitches in every round as in Round 85 until 16 stitches remain.

Finishing the Tip

• Using MC, work Kitchener Stitch to close top of mitten.

COLOR DOMINANCE

When doing stranded kntting, it’s important to keep the same color as the top yarn at all times and the other one underneath. There are two ways to do this:

• Holding one color in each hand. The right hand holds the top yarn and the left hand holds the bottom (dominant) yarn.

• Holding both yarns in your left hand. Wrap one over your index finger and the other underneath; the underneath yarn is the dominant.

• For bolder effect. In the mitten cuffs, the designer deliberately switched the dominant color for a bolder effect. In the first 4 rows of colorwork, the black is on top so that the red is dominant; in the next 4 rows the red is on top so the black is dominant. The yarns are switched every 4 rows throughout the cuff. For the body of the mitten, the black is dominant (underneath) throughout.

KANGAROO RIGHT MITTEN CHART

Knitting the Right Thumb

12 stitches in green waste yarn

Thumb stitches after waste yarn has been removed; photo shows several thumb rows knit and stitches placed on holder yarn.

• Set Up Carefully remove the waste yarn as you pick up 12 stitches on the bottom of the opening and 12 stitches on the top. Pick up 2 stitches at each side of the opening. You now have 28 stitches. Distribute the stitches among three needles as follows:

Needle 1: 14 stitches

Needle 2: 7 stitches

Needle 3: 7 stitches

• Rounds 1-19 Work chart for Kangaroo Right Thumb (at right) from right to left. (Note: Take care that the checkerboard pattern on the thumb continues evenly from the round below the thumb opening.)

• Round 20 Continuing to work chart, shape thumb by decreasing as follows:

Needle 1: Knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

Needle 2: Knit to end of needle.

Needle 3: Knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

• Round 21

Needle 1: Ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

Needle 2: Ssk, knit to end of needle.

Needle 3: Knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

• Next Rounds Continue to work chart and at the same time decrease 4 stitches in every round as in Round 21 until 6 stitches remain.

Finishing Right Thumb

• Cut yarn, leaving a 10” (25 cm) tail. Thread tail through tapestry needle and run it through the 6 remaining stitches; pull tight to close and weave in tail on wrong side.

KANGAROO RIGHT THUMB CHART

Knitting the Left Mitten

• Repeat instructions for Right Mitten, using chart for Kangaroo Left Mitten (page 138) through Round 51.

Left Thumb Placement Round

• Set Up Cut a piece of waste yarn in a contrasting color, about 12” (30 cm) long.

• Round 52 K19 following chart, K12 with waste yarn. Slip the 12 waste yarn stitches back on the left needle, and knit to end of round following chart.

Knitting the Hand, and Shaping and Finishing the Tip

• Continue to follow chart for Kangaroo Left Mitten, repeating instructions for Right Mitten, including decreases and bind off for mitten tip.

Knitting the Left Thumb

• Set Up Carefully remove the waste yarn as you pick up 12 stitches on the bottom of the opening and 12 stitches on the top. Pick up 2 stitches at each side of the opening. You now have 28 stitches. Distribute the stitches among three needles as follows:

Needle 1: 14 stitches

Needle 2: 7 stitches

Needle 3: 7 stitches

• Rounds 1–19 Work chart for Kangaroo Left Thumb (above) from right to left. (Note: Take care that the checkerboard pattern on the thumb continues evenly from the round below the thumb opening.)

KANGAROO LEFT THUMB CHART

• Round 20 Continuing to work chart, shape thumb by decreasing as follows:

Needle 1: Knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

Needle 2: Knit to end of needle.

Needle 3: Knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

• Round 21

Needle 1: Ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

Needle 2: Ssk, knit to end of needle.

Needle 3: Knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.

• Next Rounds Continue to work chart and at the same time decrease 4 stitches in every round as in Round 21 until 6 stitches remain.

Finishing Left Thumb

• Cut yarn, leaving a 10” (25 cm) tail. Thread tail through tapestry needle and run it through the 6 remaining stitches; pull tight to close and weave in tail on wrong side.

KANGAROO LEFT MITTEN CHART

RAINBOW-DIPPED BABY

Designed by Linda Burt

One of the very great advantages of dyeing your own yarn is that you can custom-dye small amounts for Fair Isle and intarsia projects, allowing you to have as many colors as you dream of, all at very little cost. For instance, instead of having to buy 13 or 14 skeins of yarn to knit this colorful baby’s sweater, you need just 2 skeins, because you can cut short lengths from one of the skeins and dye them just the colors you want. You can also dye the main color, if you wish, but we chose to use the white yarn as the background.

Knitting the Sweater Body

• Set Up Wind each length of dyed yarn onto a bobbin. Choose four different colors of the dyed yarn for the bottom band. Using one of the four colors and the smaller-size needles, cast on 93 stitches.

• Rows 1 and 2 Continuing with the caston color, knit to end of each row. Cut yarn at the end of Row 2, leaving enough tail to weave in on wrong side.

• Rows 3 and 4 Using a second color, knit to end of each row. Cut yarn at the end of Row 4, leaving enough tail to weave in on wrong side.

• Rows 5–8 Using the third and fourth colors, knit 2 rows of each color, cutting yarn at the end of each stripe.

• Next Rows Change to larger-size needles and MC, and work in stockinette stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row) until piece measures 6” (15 cm), ending after having just completed a right-side row.

• Next Row Purl 21 stitches, bind off next 4 stitches, purl 43 stitches, bind off next 4 stitches, purl 21 stitches to end. You now have 85 stitches. Place remaining stitches on stitch holders and set aside.

Knitting the Sleeves

(make 2)

• Set Up Choose two different colors of the dyed yarn for the sleeve cuff. Using one of the two colors and the smaller-size needles, cast on 29 stitches.

• Rows 1 and 2 Continuing with the caston color, knit to end of each row. Cut yarn at the end of Row 2, leaving enough tail to weave in on wrong side.

• Rows 3 and 4 Using a second color, knit to end of each row. Cut yarn at the end of Row 4, leaving enough tail to weave in on wrong side.

• Row 5 Change to larger-size needles and MC, and knit to end of row.

• Row 6 Purl to end of row.

• Rows 7–11 Repeat Rows 5 and 6 (stockinette stitch).

• Row 12 P1, M1, purl to 2 stitches before end, M1, P1.

• Rows 13–18 Repeat Rows 7–12. You now have 33 stitches.

• Next Rows Continue in stockinette stitch until sleeve measures 5½” (13.75 cm).

• Next 2 Rows Bind off 2 stitches at the beginning of each row. You now have 29 stitches. Place stitches on stitch holders.

Knitting the Yoke

• Set Up Move the yolk stitches from the stitch holders to larger needles as follows: 21 stitches for right front, 29 stitches for one sleeve, 43 stitches for back, 29 stitches for remaining sleeve, and 21 stitches for left front. You now have 143 stitches.

• Arrange the 12 colors in the order you want them around the yoke and name them A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L. (The Rainbow-Dipped Baby Sweater Chart refers to each of the color “petals” as CC.) Cut eleven lengths of MC approximately 48” (120 cm) each.

• Row 1 With right side facing you, attach MC and knit to end of row.

• Row 2 Purl to end of row.

RAINBOW-DIPPED BABY SWEATER CHART

• Row 3 Follow the Rainbow-Dipped Baby Sweater Chart, beginning at the bottom right on Row 3 and working back and forth in rows. Note that you repeat the “petal” twelve times, and in the first color row, you begin and end with 2 MC. Attach each new color as you come to it (see Knitting with Multiple Colors below).

• Row 4 and all even-numbered rows Purl to end of row, using the same color for each stitch as you used in the knit row below.

• Rows 5–30 Continue to follow chart, making decreases as shown in Rows 9, 13, 17, 21, 23, 25, 27, and 29. You now have 47 stitches.

• Row 31 Cut all colored (CC) yarns, leaving enough tails to weave in on the back. Change to smaller needles, and with MC, knit to end of row.

• Rows 32–36 Knit to the end of each row (garter stitch).

• Bind off.

Knitting the Front Left Band

• Set Up With smaller needles, RS facing, and main color, pick up 62 stitches along the left front edge.

• Rows 1–6 Knit to end of each row (garter stitch).

• Bind off.

Knitting the Front Right Band (Buttonhole Band)

• Set Up Pick up as for Front Left Band.

• Rows 1 and 2 Knit to end of each row.

• Row 3 Knit each row until you reach the bottom of the first petal (about 5”/12.5 cm from neck edge). Yarn over, K2tog, knit to end of row.

• Rows 4–6 Knit to end of each row.

• Bind off.

Finishing

• Sew sleeve and underarm seams. Weave in all loose ends. Block sweater. Sew on button.

KNITTING WITH MULTIPLE COLORS

The Rainbow-Dipped Sweater requires a knitting technique known as intarsia. Unlike stranded knitting (in which you work your repeating pattern with two or more colors all the way across the row, loosely carrying the yarn[s] you’re not working with across the back of the fabric), with intarsia, you leave the yarn behind when you begin each new color section. Here’s how to avoid holes where two colors come together:

• Drop the yarn you’re using to the left of the last stitch completed, laying it over the yarn that’s next to be used. (Always do this on the wrong side of the fabric, whether you’re knitting or purling.)

• Bring the new yarn up from under the old, so that it catches the old and locks it in as you make the first stitch with the new yarn. You can give a gentle tug to the old yarn to be sure that it settles into place.

INFANT CARDIGAN AND RUFFLED CAP

Designed by Dori Betjeman

This sweater requires minimal finishing because the body and borders are knit in one piece. The sleeve stitches are added at the beginning of the yoke. Finishing requires only grafting the 10 underarm stitches and sewing up the sleeve seams. Because of the number of stitches required to fit the whole sweater on one needle, I used a circular needle, but I knit back and forth on it, rather than circularly.

I like to leave the underarm sleeve and body stitches on waste yarn and then use Kitchener Stitch to graft them together when the sweater is complete. This makes a neat, smooth seam. Note: If you prefer, you can bind these stitches off when you come to them and then sew the underarm seam instead of grafting it.

If you don’t want to make the buttonholes, sew snaps to the borders and then sew on “dummy” buttons over them.

Knitting the Sweater Body

• Set Up Cast on 38 stitches, PM, cast on 64 stitches, PM, cast on 38 stitches. You now have 140 stitches.

• Rows 1–17 Knit to end of each row (garter stitch.

• Row 18 (right side) Knit 6 stitches, PM, knit until 6 stitches remain, PM, knit 6 stitches. (This is the setup for the garter stitch borders. From here to the yoke, knit the first and last 6 stitches on both right and wrong sides, while you are working the rest of the sweater up to the yoke in stockinette stitch.)

• Row 19 (wrong side) K6, purl until 6 stitches remain, K6.

• Row 20 Knit to end of row.

• Rows 21–26 Repeat Rows 19 and 20.

• Row 27 Repeat Row 19.

• Row 28 (right side; decrease row) Knit to 2 stitches before second marker, ssk, SM, K1, K2tog, knit to 3 stitches before third marker, ssk, K1, SM, K2tog, knit to end of row.

• Rows 29–35 Continue to work patterns, as established.

• Row 36 Repeat Row 28 (decrease row).

• Rows 37–43 Continue to work patterns, as established.

• Row 44 Repeat Row 28 (decrease row).

• Rows 45–51 Continue to work patterns, as established.

• Row 52 Repeat Row 28 (decrease row). You now have 124 stitches.

• Row 53 K6, P23, P10 and place these 10 stitches on a stitch holder or waste yarn, P46, P10 and place these 10 stitches on a stitch holder or waste yarn, P23, K6.

• Put body stitches aside while you knit the sleeves.

Knitting the Sleeves

(make 2)

• Set Up Cast on 32 stitches.

• Rows 1–14 Knit to end of each row.

• Row 15 (wrong side) Purl to end of row (beginning of stockinette stitch).

• Row 16 (right side) K2, M1L, knit until 2 stitches remain, M1R, K2.

• Rows 17–19 Continue in stockinette stitch as established.

• Row 20 Repeat Row 16.

• Rows 21–44 Continue in this manner to work in stockinette stitch, increasing at each end every 4th row 6 more times (Rows 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, and 44). You now have 48 stitches.

• Row 45 P5 and place these 5 stitches on a stitch holder or waste yarn, P38, P5 and place these 5 stitches on a stitch holder or waste yarn.

Knitting the Yoke

• Note To knit the yoke, you knit all of the body and sleeve stitches onto one needle. You then knit every row (garter stitch) until the yoke is completed.

• Set Up (Row 1) K29 stitches of right front, K38 stitches of one sleeve, K46 stitches of back, K38 stitches of other sleeve, K29 stitches of left front. You now have 180 stitches.

• Rows 2–12 Knit to end of each row.

• Row 13 (buttonhole row) K2, yo, K2tog, knit to end of row.

• Rows 14–20 Knit to end of each row.

• Row 21 (right side; decrease row) K6, *K2, K2tog; repeat from * until 6 stitches remain, K6. You now have 138 stitches.

• Rows 22–30 Knit to end of each row.

• Row 31 (right side; decrease row) K6, *K1, K2tog; repeat from * until 6 stitches remain, K6. You now have 96 stitches.

• Row 32 K6, purl until 6 stitches remain, K6.

• Row 33 (buttonhole row) Repeat Row 13.

• Rows 34–36 Knit to end of each row.

• Row 37 (right side; decrease row) Repeat Row 31. You now have 68 stitches.

• Row 38 Knit to end of row.

• Row 39 Loosely bind off knitwise. (For the working needle, I use one that is two sizes larger than the needle I’ve been knitting with to ensure a loose bind off. You don’t want to make the baby uncomfortable with a too-tight neckline!)

Finishing

• Move 10 stitches of the underarm and 10 stitches of one sleeve off the waste yarn onto two needles. Use Kitchener Stitch to graft these stitches together. (See note on page 143 regarding binding off instead.)

• Sew sleeve seams. Weave in all loose ends.

• Buttons and buttonholes You may wish to whipstitch around the buttonholes (the eyelet formed by the yo and then the K2tog in the following row) in order to neaten and stabilize them. Sew on buttons.

• Block.

Knitting the Ruffle

• Set Up Using the smaller circular needle, cast on 305 stitches. (Tip: Place a marker after each 50 stitches cast on, to help if you have to recount.)

• Row 1 (first decrease, right side) K1, *K2, pass second stitch over first stitch; repeat from * to end of row. You now have 153 stitches.

• Row 2 (second decrease, wrong side) P1, *P2tog; repeat from * to end of row. You now have 77 stitches.

• Row 3 Knit to end.

Knitting the Cap

• Join to knit in the round, taking care not to twist stitches. Place a marker to identify the beginning of the round.

• Round 1 Purl to end of round.

• Round 2 Knit to end of round.

• Rounds 3–12 Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 five more times. (You have six garter stitch ridges.)

• Round 13 Change to larger circular needle. *K10, K1fb; repeat from * to end of round. You now have 84 stitches.

• Next Rounds Knit to end of every round until the piece measures 2½” (6.25 cm) above the garter stitch section.

Decreasing for Crown

• Note Change to double-point needles when stitches no longer fit on the circular needle.

• Round 1 *K2, K2tog; repeat from * to end of round. You now have 63 stitches.

• Rounds 2–4 Knit to end of round.

• Round 5 *K1, K2tog; repeat from * to end of round. You now have 42 stitches.

• Rounds 6–8 Knit to end of round.

• Round 9 *K2tog; repeat from * to end of round. You now have 21 stitches.

• Rounds 10–12 Knit to end of round.

• Round 13 *K2tog; repeat from * until 1 stitch remains, K1. You now have 11 stitches.

Finishing

• Cut yarn, leaving an 8” (20 cm) tail. Thread tail through tapestry needle, and run the yarn through the stitches on the needle. Gather stitches tightly to close top, take yarn tail to underside, and weave it in.

• Use cast-on tail to close ruffle seam. Block.

Knitting the Flower and Attaching the Button

• Make a slip knot and place it on a US 3 needle. * Using the knitted cast-on, cast on 6 stitches. Knitting through the back loops, bind off 6 stitches; repeat from * 8 more times.

• Cut a tail 10” (25 cm) long, thread it onto a tapestry needle, and run yarn through top edge of stitches at base of petals to shape a flower.

• Attach flower above ruffle to hat front (see photo). Sew button to flower center.

NECK RUFFLE

Designed by Louisa Loring

Knitting the Ruffle

• Set Up Using the kid mohair/silk yarn, cast on 120 stitches.

• Rows 1–3 Knit to end of row.

• Row 4 K1, Kfb to last stitch, K1. You now have 238 stitches.

• Rows 5–12 Repeat Rows 1–4 twice more. You now have 946 stitches.

• Rows 13–15 Knit to end of row.

• Bind off loosely.

Crocheting the Binding

• Row 1 Using the angora yarn, pick up and single crochet in each cast-on stitch.

• Row 2 Single crochet to end of row. Fasten off and weave in tail.

SLOUCHY BALLERINA LEG WARMERS

Designed by Cara Sharpes

Knit in a simple K1, P1 ribbing with one strand of the worsted-weight held together with a strand of laceweight kid mohair/silk blend, these silky warmers are irrestible — you’ll never want to take them off! By winding the extremely long skein using the “Parking Meter” technique, wide stripes form automatically and you have no tails to weave in!

Knitting the Leggings (make 2)

• Note When casting on for the second leg warmer, make certain to start with the same color so that the pair matches.

• Set Up Holding the worsted-weight wool and mohair/silk yarns together, loosely cast on 48 stitches, and divide evenly among needles. Join in a round to knit circularly, taking care not to twist stitches.

• Next Rounds K1, P1 to end of round.

• Continue to work in K1, P1 ribbing until piece measures 18½” (37 cm), or desired length.

• Bind off loosely, and weave in loose ends.

LACE SCARF

Designed by Kirsten Hipsky

This versatile and modular wrap, dyed using the half-and-half immersion technique (page 109), gives you the maximum lacy effect and display of hand-dyed colors for those with a minimum of experience with lace stitches. The wrap can easily be modified to be wider or narrower, longer or shorter, even a shawl. You knit the two ends first, then knit the body until your yarn is nearly all used up, a plus if you’re not sure how far your yardage will go. It’s great fun to mix and match different edgings and ground stitches from knitting stitch collections for a truly unique item.

Working the Lace Edgings

• Set Up Cast on 5 stitches, and knit 1 row.

• Row 1 Yo, K2tog, K1, yo twice, K2. You now have 7 stitches.

• Row 2 K2, work (K1, P1) into the double yarn over, K3.

• Row 3 Yo, K2tog, K5.

• Row 4 Knit to end of row.

• Row 5 Yo, K2tog, K5.

• Row 6 Bind off 2 stitches, knit to end of row. You now have 5 stitches.

• Next Rows Repeat Rows 1–6 five more times or for the desired width of your shawl or scarf. End with a Row 6.

• Bind off all stitches.

• Follow the directions above to make edging for the other end the same length.

Working the Main Shawl or Scarf

• Set Up Examine one of your edge pieces. One edge will have large, wavy scallops created by the double yarn over in Row 1. The other edge will be more or less straight. Pick up 1 stitch from each bind-off and cast-on row and each of the yarn overs along this straight edge. Your total stitch count should be a multiple of 3 plus 2. Both scarves shown here have 23 stitches (3×7 plus 2).

• Row 1 K1, *K1, yo, K2tog; repeat from * to last stitch, K1.

• Row 2 Knit to end of row.

• Row 3 K1, *K2tog, yo, K1; repeat from * to last stitch, K1.

• Row 4 Knit to end of row.

• Next Rows Repeat Rows 1–4 until scarf or shawl is desired length or until about 5 yards of yarn remain. End having just completed a wrong-side row. Turn.

Finishing

• Take the second edge piece and hold the straight edge flush against the knitting on your left-hand needle, with right sides facing. Adjust the edging so that it matches the width of the knitting.

• Knit the first stitch of edging together with the first stitch on the needle. Knit the second stitches in the same manner, then draw the first stitch you made on the right-hand needle over the second stitch to bind off. Take care to bind off loosely, so that the seam doesn’t draw in. Continue in this manner across the row until all stitches are bound off. Fasten off yarn and weave in any loose ends.

Blocking

• For lace-weight yarn Soak in lukewarm water and a wool-friendly detergent such as Eucalan. Remove excess water by wrapping in a towel and squeezing (do not wring). Thread strong thread or twine through the scalloped points on the ends and along the straight edges of the piece. Pin out to desired dimensions on a blocking board or carpet, stretching the twine taut to create a straight edge. Unpin when it’s completely dry.

• For worsted-weight yarn You may block as described above, or you may prefer an unblocked, more textured look.

GUY’S RIBBED HAT

Designed by Hannah Fettig (www.knitbot.com), for One-Skein Wonders (Storey Publishing, 2006)

This hat is quick and easy to knit in worsted-weight yarn, hand-dyed in shades of the colors you love best.

Getting Started

• Set Up Cast on 96 stitches. Join into a round to knit circularly, taking care not to twist stitches.

• Round 1 *K2, P2; repeat from * to end of round.

• Next Rounds Repeat Round 1 until piece measures 6½” (16.25 cm).

Decreasing for the Crown

• Round 1 (decrease round) *K2tog, P2tog; repeat from * to end of round. You now have 48 stitches.

• Rounds 2–4 *K2, P2; repeat from * to end of round.

• Round 5 (decrease round) *K2tog; repeat from *. You now have 24 stitches.

• Round 6 (decrease round) Repeat Round 5. You now have 12 stitches.

Finishing

• Cut yarn, leaving an 8” (20 cm) tail. Thread tail through tapestry needle, and run the yarn through the stitches on the needle. Gather stitches tightly to close top, take yarn tail to underside, and weave it in.

HIDDEN-MESSAGE SOCKS

The one-of-a-kind yarn used to knit these socks “hides” the names of my husband and three sons, along with a variety of doodles and designs (see photos and instructions, pages 128–29). If you prefer something more conservative, you could dye the “blank” in blocks of color to create your own self-striping yarn — it’s your choice!

Knitting the Leg

• Set Up Cast on 64 stitches, and join in a round to knit circularly, taking care not to twist stitches. Divide stitches evenly among four needles (16 stitches on each needle).

• Round 1 *K2, P2; repeat from * to end of round for ribbing.

• Next Rounds Repeat Round 1 until piece measures 2” (5 cm).

• Next Rounds Knit to end of each round (stockinette stitch) until piece measures 7” (17.5 cm) from cast-on edge.

Knitting the Heel Flap

• Set Up Place the first 32 stitches on one needle. (You will not be working on the other 32 stitches until you finish turning the heel.)

• Row 1 (right side) *Slip 1, K1; repeat from * to end of row.

• Row 2 (wrong side) *Slip 1, purl to end of row.

• Rows 3–32 Repeat these two rows. The heel should be square. End having just completed a wrong-side row.

Turning the Heel

• Row 1 (right side) Slip 1, K17, ssk, K1, turn.

• Row 2 (wrong side) Slip 1, P5, P2tog, P1, turn.

• Row 3 Slip 1, K6, ssk, K1, turn.

• Row 4 Slip 1, P7, P2tog, P1, turn.

• Next Rows Continue in this fashion, slipping the first stitch, working to one stitch before the “gap,” working 2 stitches together over the gap, then K1 (or P1) until you finish all the heel stitches. Note: On last two rows, omit the ending K1 (or P1). You now have 18 stitches.

Knitting the Foot

• Set Up
Needle 1: Knit the 18 heel stitches, then pick up 16 stitches along the side of the heel.
Needles 2 and 3: K32 (16 from each needle) for top of foot.
Needle 4: Pick up 16 stitches along the other side of the heel. Knit 9 heel stitches onto this needle.

  You now have 82 stitches, distributed as follows:
Needle 1: 25 stitches
Needle 2: 16 stitches
Needle 3: 16 stitches
Needle 4: 25 stitches

• Round 1
Needle 1: Knit to 3 stitches before the end of needle, K2tog, K1.
Needle 2: Knit to end of needle.
Needle 3: Knit to end of needle.
Needle 4: K1, ssk, knit to end of needle.

• Round 2 Knit to end of round.

• Next Rounds Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until you have 64 stitches (16 stitches on each needle).

• Next Rounds Discontinue decreasing and knit to the end of each round until the sock measures 5” (12.5 cm) from the picked-up stitches.

Shaping the Toe

• Round 1
Needle 1: Knit to 3 stitches before the end of needle, K2tog, K1.
Needle 2: K1, ssk, knit to end of needle.
Needle 3: Knit to 3 stitches before the end of needle, K2tog, K1.
Needle 4: K1, ssk, knit to end of needle.

• Round 2 Knit to end of round.

• Next Rounds Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until 16 stitches remain (4 stitches on each needle).

Finishing

• Place all of the stitches on Needles 1 and 4 on one needle, and all of the stitches from Needles 2 and 3 on another needle. Hold the needles parallel to one another and graft the stitches together using Kitchener Stitch.

• Knit the second sock, weave in any tails, and block.

SWATCHING YOUR DYED YARNS

Swatching may seem like a tedious chore when you’re trying the gauge for a commercial yarn. But when you’ve just dyed your first skein of handpainted yarn, you’ll be more than eager to see what it looks like worked up into a pattern. You may even find yourself becoming addicted to swatching, as you begin to see the endless possibilities and the many doors that are now open to you as you design your own yarns. To get you started, here are some patterns I sampled on yarns I dyed to illustrate various techniques in this book.

• The swatches shown on pages 59, 100, and 103 are simple stockinette-knit squares bordered by garter stitch in the 6 rows at top and bottom and 6 stitches at the sides to keep the swatches from curling.

• The swatch on page 105 may look like a simple stockinette-stitch example at first glance, but the tapestry-like effect is achieved by a trick I first discovered in Margaret Radcliffe’s book on color techniques (see below): whenever I came to a blue section in the yarn, I purled the stitches on the right side, increasing the textural interest and bringing out the blue in the color palette.

• The swatches on pages 94 and 121 were woven on a Weavette loom (distributed by Buxton Brook Looms).

• For the more elaborate swatches, I’m grateful to Edie Eckman (Beyond-the-Square Crochet Motifs) and Margaret Radcliffe (The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques) for allowing me to include patterns they developed for their books.

Vine Lace

Vine lace is a classic favorite and a good pattern for beginning lace knitters. I like this monochrome version because it’s not so busy that it hides the lace pattern. (From Margaret Radcliffe’s The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques; for dye method and photo, see pages 118–19.)

• Setup Loosely cast on 31 stitches (for a multiple of 9, plus 4).

• Row 1 (wrong side) Purl to end of row.

• Row 2 K2, *K1, yo, K2, ssk, K2tog, K2, yo; repeat from *, end K2.

• Row 3 Purl to end of row.

• Row 4 K2, *yo, K2, ssk, K2tog, K2, yo, K1; repeat from *, end K2.

Estonian Shell Stitch

As Margaret notes, this stitch “shows off variegated yarns in ways unlike any other pattern stitch.” This subtly shaded yarn knits up into a lovely and elegant fabric. (From Margaret Radcliffe’s The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques; for dye method and photo, see pages 106–107.)

• Setup Cast on 29 stitches.

• Row 1 (right side) P1, *K3 wrapping the yarn 4 times in each stitch, P1; repeat from *.

• Row 2 *K1, Sl3 wyif, dropping all the extra wraps, K1; repeat from *, end K1.

• Row 3 P1, *Sl3 wyib, P1; repeat from *.

• Row 4 *K1, Sl3 wyif; repeat from *, end K1.

• Row 5 P1, *K3tog tbl, leaving the stitches on the needle, yo, K3tog tbl again in the same stitches and slide off needle, P1; repeat from *.

• Row 6 Purl.

Two-Tone Lattice

These two yarns create different effects, depending on which is used to form the “lattice” and which the background. Note that in one swatch CA = coral and in the other CA = purple. (From Margaret Radcliffe’s The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques; for dye method and photo, see pages 114–15.)

• Setup CA, cast on 32 stitches (for a multiple of 6, plus 2).

• Setup Row 1 (wrong side) In CA, knit to end of row.

• Row 1 (right side) In CB, K1, slip 1 wyib, *K4, slip 2 wyib; repeat from *, end K4, slip 1, K1.

• Row 2 In CB, P1, slip 1 wyif, P4, *slip 2 wyif, P4; repeat from *, end slip 1, P1.

• Row 3 In CA, repeat Row 1.

• Row 4 In CA, K1, slip 1 wyif, K4, *slip 2 wyif, K4; repeat from *, end slip 1, K1.

• Row 5 In CB, K3, *slip 2 wyib, K4; repeat from *, end slip 2, K3.

• Row 6 In CB, P3, *slip 2 wyif, P4; repeat from *, end slip 2, P3.

• Row 7 In CA, repeat Row 5.

• Row 8 In CA, K3, *slip 2 wyif, K4; repeat from *, end slip 2, K3.

Crochet Motifs

I chose a trio of crochet motifs to explore the possibilities with my Drip-Paint–Immersion Combo yarn. These are all taken from Edie Eckman’s Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs; for dye method and photo, see pages 111–12).

The Circle (Motif #5)

Begin with sliding loop.

• Rnd 1 Ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc in ring, ch 1, *3 dc in ring, ch 1; repeat from * two more times, join with slip st to top of ch-3, slip st to next dc. (4 ch-spaces)

• Rnd 2 Ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc in same stitch, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 space, *ch 1, skip 1 dc, 3 dc in next dc, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 space; repeat from * two more times, join with sc to top of ch-3.

• Rnd 3 Ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc in same space, *ch 3, 3 dc in next ch-1 space; repeat from * six more times, join with dc to top of ch-3.

• Rnd 4 Ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc in same space, ch 3, skip 1 dc, sc in next dc, ch 3, *3 dc in next ch-3 space, ch 3, skip 1 dc, sc in next dc, ch 3; repeat from * around, join with slip st to top of ch-3.

• Rnd 5 Ch 1, sc in same stitch, sc in next 2 dc, 3 sc in next 2 ch-3 spaces, *sc in next 3 dc, 3 sc in next 2 ch-3 spaces; repeat from * around, join to first sc. Fasten off.

The Hexagon (Motif #30)

• Begin with sliding loop.

• Rnd 1 Ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc in ring, *ch 3, 3 dc in ring; repeat from * four more times, join with dc to top of ch-3. (6 chain spaces)

• Rnd 2 Ch 3 (counts as dc), (2 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in space made by dc, *(3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch-3 space; repeat from * around, join with slip st to top of ch-3.

• Rnd 3 Ch 3 (counts as dc), dc in next 2 dc, *(dc, ch 2, dc) in ch-1 space, dc in next 6 dc; repeat from * five more times, ending last repeat dc in next 3 dc, join with slip st to top of ch-3.

• Rnd 4 Ch 1, sc in same stitch, *sc in each dc to corner, (sc, ch 2, sc) in corner ch-2 space; repeat from * around, ending sc in each dc to end of round, join to first sc. Fasten off.

The Triangle (Motif #65)

Begin with sliding loop.

• Rnd 1 Ch 3, dc2tog in ring, ch 3, *dc3tog in ring, ch 5, dc3tog in ring, ch 3; repeat from * once more, dc3tog in ring, ch 2, join with dc to first cluster. (6 clusters)

• Rnd 2 Ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc in space made by joining dc, *hdc in next cluster, (hdc, sc, hdc) in next ch-3 space, hdc in next cluster**, (3 dc, tr, 3 dc) in ch-5 space; repeat from * two more times, ending last repeat at **, (3 dc, tr) in last space, join with slip st to top of ch-3.

• Rnd 3 Ch 3 (counts as dc), *dc in each stitch to corner, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in corner tr; repeat from * two times, join with slip st to top of ch-3.

• Rnd 4 Ch 1, sc in same stitch, *(ch 3, skip 1 dc, sc in next dc) six times, (ch 3, sc in next stitch) two times, ch 3, skip 1 dc, sc in next dc; repeat from * around, omitting last sc, join to first sc. Fasten off.

Resources

Yarns and Fibers

Foxfire & Designs

www.foxfirefiber.com

Harrisville Designs

www.harrisville.com

Hello Yarn (Adrian Bizilia)

www.helloyarn.com

Metaphor Yarns

www.metaphoryarns.com

WEBS

www.yarn.com

Wool & Dye Works

www.woolanddyeworks.com

Dyes

Cushing Dye Company

Kennebunkport, Maine
800.626.7847

www.wcushing.com

Dharma Trading Company

www.dharmatrading.com

Louet North America

Prescott, Ontario, Canada
613.925.4502 or 800.897.6444

www.louet.com

PRO Chemical & Dye

Somerset, Massachusetts
800.228.9393 (orders);
508.676.3838 (technical assistance)

www.prochemical.com

Suggested Reading

Finlay, Victoria, Color: A Natural History of the Palette (Random House, 2004).

Lincoln, Maryanne, Maryanne Lincoln’s Comprehensive Dyeing Guide: 10 Years of Recipes from the Dye Kitchen (Rug Hooking, 2005).

Menz, Deb, Color Works: The Crafter’s Guide to Color (Interweave Press, 2004).

Parkes, Clara, The Knitter’s Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn (Potter Craft, 2007).

Rex, Susan, Dyeing Wool and Other Protein Fibers: An Introduction to Acid Dyes (Susan Rex, 2004).

Vogel, Lynn, The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook: Dyeing, Painting, Spinning, Designing, Knitting (Interweave Press, 2002).

Index

Page numbers in italics indicate photographs or illustrations.

A

acid dye powder, 9

acid dyes, 48

acidity of dye bath, 14–15, 49

acrylic fibers, 27, 32

alpaca, 30–32, 38

alpaca/silk blends, 32–34

analogous colors, 68

angora, 30–32

animal fibers. See protein fibers

B

baking soda, 14

ball of yarn, 41

dyeing, 101–3

bamboo, 27, 32

Basic Immersion Dyeing, 106–7

Basic Tie-Dyeing, 113–15

batt, 28

dyeing, 36

Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs, 159, 162–63

black, 63, 76–77

C

cleaning fiber, 44–45

color, 61–83

combinations, 78–80, 83

contrast, 82

domination, theory of, 77

finding your comfort zone, 62–63

gaining awareness of, 63

history of colors and dyes, 61

intensity, 83

meanings of color, 61

muddy colors, avoiding, 82, 86

“oddball” concept, 79–80, 83

palettes, 79

pigments explained, 64

proportions, 77, 79

saturation, 76

temperature, 77–78

theory 101, 70

toning down brights, 81

value, 76, 82

vocabulary, 68

color grid, 66–68

making practical use of, 81–83

color wheel, 65

dyeing your own, 71–74

complementary colors, 68, 78

cones of yarn, 41

dyeing, 104–5

containers for dyeing, 16

cotton, 32, 40, 48

Cushing Dye Company, 12, 48, 62

D

Dip-and-Dye: Multicolored, 92–94

Dipping for Shades, 89–91

dishwashing liquid for cleaning fiber, 44

Drip-Paint–Immersion Combo, 111–12

Dunkin’ Cones, 104–5

dye

reasons to, 7–8

types of, 48–49

dye applicators, 17

dye bath

pH, 14–15

preparing fibers, 41

preparing fleece, 42

dye companies’ primary colors, 69

dye mixtures

defined, 71

making, 72–73

Dyeing Warm-Ups, 50–59

grocery-store dyes, 52–53

practicing on paper with food coloring, 50–51

Simple Handpaint Method, 54–59

Dyeing Your Own “Color Wheel,” 71–74

expanding the range to 36 colors, 73

dyestock

defined, 71

mixing, 9

E

Eckman, Edie, 159, 162

economical strategies, 8

electric appliances for dyeing, 19

electric frypan, 8, 19

Immersion Method, 21

elements that affect dye color, 33–40

fiber condition/cleanliness, 34

natural fiber color, 34

processing, 36

texture, 33–34

equipment for dyeing, 16–19

Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques, The, 159, 160–61

Estonian Shell Stitch swatch, 107, 160–61

F

fabric, 8

Dip-and-Dye: Multicolored, 92–94

Dipping for Shades, 89

dyed for rug hooking, 75

dyeing woven, knitted, or crocheted items, 40

made from dyed yarn, 40

Simple Handpaint Method: Multicolor, 86–88

face masks, 9, 11, 13

Fair Isle, 139

felting

fiber’s tendency to felt, 29

preventing unintentional, 45

fiber condition/cleanliness, 34

fibers, 7–8

plant-based, 27, 32, 48

protein, 7, 27–31

synthetic, 7, 27, 32

fleece, 8

dyeing, 36

Mozzarella-Style Dyeing, 42

preparing for dyeing, 42

raw, 41

food coloring dyes, 8, 19, 48

Dyeing Warm-Ups, Some, 50–51

Dyeing Your Own “Color Wheel,” 71–74

McCormick food colors, 71

G

grocery-store drink mix as dye, 8, 48, 52–53

Guy’s Ribbed Hat, 91, 154–55

H

Half-and-Half Immersion Dyeing, 109–10

Handpaint Method, Simple

Monochromatic, 54–59

Multicolor, 86–88

Handpainting a Silk Cap, 95–97

Handpainting a Wool Roving, 98–100

hanks, 41

harvestable hair, 30–31

heat sources for dyeing, 8, 12, 14

Hidden-Message Socks, 129, 156–58

I

Immersion Dyeing

2-Step: Monochrome, 118–19

3-Step, 120–21

Basic, 106–7

Drip-Paint–Immersion Combo, 111–12

Half-and-Half, 109–10

troubleshooting, 108

Immersion Methods, 20–21

electric frypan, slow cooker, turkey cooker, 21

microwave, 21

stovetop, 20

Infant Cardigan and Ruffled Cap, 88, 143–47

Injection of Color, An, 101–3

intarsia, 139

J

Jar Method for Small Quantities, 22

K

Kangaroo Mittens, 117, 132–38

Knit, Dye, Unknit, Knit, 128–29

knitting with multiple colors, 142

knot system of documentation, 18

L

Lace Scarf, 110, 152–53

lanolin, 31, 44

leftover color, 49

linen, 48

llamas, 30

M

Making Practical Use of the Color Grid, 81

marled yarn, 39

McCormick food colors, 71

measuring devices, 16–17

metric scales, 11

microwave, 8, 19

Immersion Method, 21

Jar Method for Small Quantities, 22

precautions, 25

Steam Method, 24–25

Mixing Dyestock, 9

mohair, 62

blended with wool, 31–33

dyeing prewound balls, 101–3

fleece, 30

monochromatic color, 68

2-Step Immersion: Monochrome, 118–19

Simple Handpaint Method: Monochromatic, 54–59

mordants, 49

Mozzarella-Style Dyeing, 126–27

N

natural dyes, 49

natural fiber color, 34

Neck Ruffle, 103, 148–49

niddy noddy, 43

nylon fibers, 32

O

oddball color concept, 79–80, 83

oven, 8

Jar Method for Small Quantities, 22

Steam Method, 23

P

paper, practicing dyes on, 50–51

Parking Meter Yarn, 122–25

pH, 14–15, 81

of dishwashing liquid, 44

testing, 15

pigments explained, 64

plant-based fibers, 27, 32, 48

plied yarn, 38–39

polyester fibers, 32

preparing fiber for the dye-bath, 41–42

presoaking fibers, 35

vinegar soak, 45

primary colors, 68

dye companies’, 69

PRO-Chem dyes, 12

protein fibers, 7, 27–31, 48

absorbency and insulation, 28

durability and resiliency, 28

dyeability, 29

harvestable hair, 30–31

nonflammability, 29

sheep breeds, 28

silk, 30–35

tendency to felt, 29

wool versus hair, 31

R

Radcliffe, Margaret, 159, 160

Rainbow-Dipped Baby Sweater, 74, 139–42

reasons to dye, 7–8

record-keeping, 18

recycling and reusing

containers and materials, 14

dyes, 14

yarns, 8

Rit dyes, 49

roving, 28

Dip-and-Dye: Multicolored, 92–94

Dipping for Shades, 89

dyeing, 36

Handpainting a Wool Roving, 98–100

Simple Handpaint Method: Multicolor, 86–88

rubber apron, 13

rug hooking with dyed wool fabric, 74–75

S

secondary colors, 68

sheep breeds, 28

silk, 30–35

alpaca blends, 32–34

cleaning prior to dyeing, 44

Handpainting a Silk Cap, 95–97

origin of, 30

presoaking overnight, 35

Simple Handpaint Method

Monochromatic, 54–59

Multicolor, 86–88

single ply yarn, 38–39

skein winder, 43

skeins

preparing for dyeing, 42

tools for winding and unwinding, 43

“Sloth,” the, 62

Slouchy Ballerina Leg Warmers, 125, 150–51

slow cooker, 8, 14

Immersion Method, 21

Jar Method for Small Quantities, 22

solar dyeing, 8, 14

Steam Method, 24

spices as dyes, 53

spinning fiber, 7

spun yarn, dyeing, 38

Steam Methods, 23–25

microwave, 24–25

solar, 24

stovetop and oven, 23

stovetop dyeing, 8, 14

Immersion Method, 20

Jar Method for Small Quantities, 22

Steam Method, 23

studio for dyeing, 11–19

safety, 12–13

setting up, 12

supplies, 13, 16–17

supplies for dyeing, 16–17

swatching your dyed yarn

Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs, 159, 162–63

crochet motifs, 159, 162–63

Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques, The, 159, 160–61

Estonian Shell Stitch, 107, 160–61

Two-Tone Lattice, 115, 161

Vine Lace, 118, 160

swift (skein winder), 43

synthetic fibers, 7, 27, 32

T

2-ply yarn, 38–39

2-Step Immersion: Monochrome, 118–19

3-Step Immersion, 120–21

Tencel fibers, 32

tertiary colors, 68

Testing the pH, 15

Tie-Dye/Drip-Dye Combo, 116–17

Tie-Dyeing, Basic, 113–15

tie-dye by other names, 115

ties, multipurpose, 42

tongs, 13

top, 22

Dip-and-Dye: Multicolored, 92–94

Dipping for Shades, 89

dyeing, 36

Immersion Method, 21

Simple Handpaint Method: Multicolor, 86–88

Two-Tone Lattice swatch, 115, 161

Troubleshooting Immersion Dyeing, 108

turkey cookers, 19

Tyvek tags, 18

U

union dyes, 49

unspun fiber, 8

dyeing, 36–37

V

Vine Lace swatch, 118, 160

vinegar soak, 45

vinyl gloves, 9, 13

W

washing fiber

after dyeing, 59

before dyeing, 34

winding skeins, 43

wool, 28–29

absorbency and insulation, 28

blends, 32

durability and resiliency, 28

dyeability, 29

nonflammability, 29

superwash wool/nylon sock yarn blend, 33

tendency to felt, 29

versus hair, 31

Y

yarn, 8, 28

balls, 41

blends, 32

cones, 41

dyeing cones, 104–5

dyeing mohair balls, 101–3

dyeing spun yarn, 38

hanks, 41

marled, 39

plied, 38–39

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is a daunting task to thank everyone who made this book possible. The circuitous path has taken the efforts of many. My family was witness to the quilting phase, the felting phase (including playground balls covered with wool and panty hose), the weaving phase, and now dyeing. One day my son stood in my dyeing studio looked around at piles of yarn and said “Mom, I know something important is going on here, but I just don’t know what it is.” He was right, this craft has settled in my psyche, thanks to my understanding family.

Thank you to the designers of the unique patterns and the knitters, spinners, weavers, and crocheters who made them a reality: Dori Betjemann, Adrian Bizilia, Linda Burt, Barbara Giguere, Marion Halpern, Kirsten Hipsky, Bonnie Lemoine, Louisa Loring, Karen Minott, Cara Sharpes, and Gwen Steege.

Thanks to my colleagues and friends at Webs who supported and encouraged my creativity; to Barbara Elkins, who asked me to demonstrate dyeing before I knew how; to Kathy and Steve Elkins, who gave me the opportunity and encouragement to dye just about anything in the Webs retail store, subsequently developing Valley Yarns by the Kangaroo Dyer; to my friends who knit, crochet, weave, and spin with enthusiasm and encouragement just about any fiber I dye; and especially to Dori Betjemann, Linda Burt, Kirsten Hipsky, and Karen Minott, who tirelessly champion my work.

Thanks to Cat Bordhi and Clara Parkes, who took time from their busy schedules and personal writing to read and comment on the book; to Sage Lacroix for her scientific enlightenment; to Lynda Bogel and Erin Holmgrin for help in clarifying the text; to Nancy Rodrigues and Vicki Jensen of Prochemical Company for their technical support; to Jesse Dupre of Cushing Dye Company; and to Pat Colony of Harrisville Designs for generously supplying dyes and yarn.

Thanks to my serendipitous friend and Storey editor, Gwen Steege, who came one day to dye and made this book possible; to the talented staff at Storey, including Pam Art, Deborah Balmuth, Amy Greeman, and Kathryn Remillard; to the extraordinary team of Storey art director and detail diva Mary Velgos, amazingly creative stylist Lisa Newmann, and the talented and patient photographer John Polak, who conferred for days at a time working toward the common goal of producing this beautiful book; to Gloria Pacosa, whose cheerful aprons appear in so many of the photos; to Melanie Jolicoeur for her gracious willingness to model; to Ben Brown and his late dog Susie, who patiently awaited an opportunity to model.

Thanks to my friends and family: My father, Douglas Rogers, whose complicated engineering mind taught me problem-solving. My mother Florence whose artistry was sewing, especially felt skirts; to my sister Nan Hardigan, who taught me a curiosity and love of nature; to my sister Joanne Beique, who taught me creative visualization and expression; to my brother, Bill, the graphic artist and “father” to my Kangaroo; to my late sister Carlie Irwin and brother Doug, who never had a chance to fully know their own creative abilities; to dear friends Linda Capasso, Anne Wheelock, and Phee Burns, who showed belief in my creative abilities.

Last of all, thanks to the men in my life: my husband and greatest support, Bill Callahan, and to my three sons, Ross, Casey, and Tim Burns. I love you all!