23 February 2007

More dyeing and TAST

And here is the next experiment on dyeing with silk paint. The left one is silk yarn like in the first experiment. The one in the middle is various wool yarns dyed with silver and purple. And the one on the right is wool, too, which is much better in reality than on the photo.
The silk dyeing with blue/black/green was a bit more time consuming because the rinsing took forever. Not sure why, but the blue didn´t wash out like the reds and yellows from the first skein.
The wool was interesting to work with. When I put it in the microwave little explosions occured and if I hadn´t put the lid on the box the microwave would now have a great colourful design on the inside.
Some of you had questions about the dyeing process. So here are a few answers, hope they will help.
Vicki asked how it worked and if I used cotton yarn.
I used silk yarn, as I think silk paint will only work on silk and wool, or any fiber from an animal. The dyeing in the microwave works like this:
Put the yarn in a container that is made for using in a microwave. Colour the yarn and make sure it is wet all over. Than put on a lit on the container, but make sure it isn´t closing completely, so the steam can get out of the container.
Turn the microwave to 600W and start with 30 seconds. Take a look if the yarn is still wet all over, maybe spritz with water and then give it another 30 seconds at 600W. Depending on the thickness of the yarn repeat this 3 or 4 times, so the minimum time is 2 minutes. I am not sure if a very thick yarn will take longer. Need to experiment on this.
Then rinse it til no colour comes out of the yarn and let dry or iron dry.
Amy asked where I found the yarn ready for dyeing. I ordered them from Texere in the UK. They have a great variety on threads and yarns to dye. Great service, too.

And here is my piece for TAST - Fly stitch. It is done with the burned pieces from the very first dyeing experiment.

11 comments:

Grangry said...

What a good idea! Nice colour combinations.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the mini-lesson! Your yarns are just beautiful!

Dianne said...

More beautiful yarn!! Thanks for the instructions on how to dye..

Emmy said...

OO look you are dyeing silk so was I when I put the silk in the microwave I wrap it in folie it stays wet when you do it like that take a look at my blog you can see the colors
http://www.emmyschoonbeek.blogspot.com

Digitalgran said...

Thanks for the instructions. I got my DiL's old microwave to do just this sort of thing ages ago and haven't tried anything yet. You have inspired me to have a go. Thanks.

BöskeZ said...

Fantastic! Thank you for the tutorial. I also had my silk painting period and stgill have some bottles somewhere...

Margaret S said...

I agree that silk paints are great for dyeing in the microwave but a health and safety warning. Many silk painters won't use a microwave that it also for heating food for human consumption. But some suggest that if you cook a potato after dyeing any dye molecules floating about will be absorbed into the potato which can then be thrown away. You can also dye in a plastic bag with small holes. Alternatively you could use heat set silk dyes that you dry with a hair dryer, the colours aren't as vibrant as steam fix dyes but can give effective subtle colour results! Hope you don't mind my comments.
Love the colours in your TAST samples

jackie said...

Your dyeing looks great. Dyeing in plastic bags is an easy way to experiment with Procion. I have a leaflet written by Helen Deighan. I think she has now written a book. In case you want to carry on experimenting.

Barbara said...

wunderschöne Farben! es ist eine Augenweide auf deiner Seite zu sein! Grüße Barbara

mzjohansen said...

Hi Kristin_ THanks for your note on my blog. It's a new thing for me. I did not see your email addy- so reference the Silk Garden - it DOES felt - somewhat. Not as well, of course, as Kureyon. I really LOVE Noro yarns! Have you dyeing silk yarn to be easy? I have been thinking of trying that ...Thanks for "surfing the ring "!
Marie Johansen/zquilts

CraftyGirl said...

This is such a cool project! Thank you for sharing.
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