January 02, 2006

A Little Experiment

If you can't beat 'em .....




The pool table is still here but I was able to get most of it cleared off during my studio cleanup last week. So here's the start of my little experiement. Ever wonder how long fiber reactive dye solutions last? I have dye stock from last winter's sampling. So I wound what was left on a cone of 3/2 perle cotton into 6 bouts and started painting. Scarlet, magenta, golden yellow, turquoise, and violet. What? No earthtones and muddy greens? Sounds more like Sara colors to me!

The heat goes down 62° at night and during the day (and the basement's always cooler). In the past I would turn on the little heater in the bathroom but this time I thought I'd see how the roaster works. I set if for 100° and put two warps in each of three ziplock bags.




I've checked on it several times and it is only slightly warm with no chance of the bags melting. I'm going to batch for 48 hours and see what I get.

Posted by Charleen at January 2, 2006 09:51 PM
Comments

Funny you should mention old dye. I just dumped a bunch of old fiber reactive red dye, along with some washfast acid dye into my turkey roaster along with some citric acid and about 2 lbs of roving. Viola, complete exhaustion and glorious red -- the two different dyes struck differently, but they both look great.

Posted by: Carolyn at January 3, 2006 07:51 AM

Oh, good call on using the roaster! I hadn't thought of that. My *dye room* (read: laundry room) gets cold in winter too so I have little bundles in the living room. The turkey roaster is a better idea. Thanks!

Posted by: Sara at January 3, 2006 10:20 AM

Don't forget to post your results! I'll be next in line to try it if it works.

Posted by: Ellen at January 4, 2006 07:20 AM

Very pretty...great idea!

Posted by: Valerie at January 5, 2006 08:46 AM