"From Carding to Dyeing....."

If you follow the link below, you'll see me "picking, carding, and spinning" some Border Leicester Cross Wool, that eventually will be woven into a scarf. Don took several short videos of the processes, then taught me how to consolidate them into 1 video.

Processing wool video

After spinning 2 fairly full bobbins of singles (1 strand of spun yarn), I then plied them together to make a 2 ply yarn, which would become my warp for the scarf.

From the 2 bobbins of singles, I got approximately 2 3/4 bobbins of 2 ply yarn......

Which I then measured out using my "warping board", that I attach (using spring clamps...how did I ever do without them?) onto the side of my larger floor loom. The scarf is going to be woven on a smaller floor loom, which I borrowed from our friend Barb.

After tying and taking the warp off of the warping board, I then soaked the warp in water, to fully saturate it before putting it into the crock pot where it would go through the dyeing process.

After placing the warp in the crock pot (strategically placing the ends and middle together, of course!), I added a good "glug" of white vinegar to help set the dye. Supposedly I wouldn't need to do this as the dye I use already has a mordant in it, but it doesn't hurt to add it either.

Then on to choosing what 2 dyes I want to use. I finally chose "Alpine" and "Peppercorn".

I added the Alpine first, which looks bluer than I expected.....

And the Peppercorn looked more red than expected.

But as they mixed and mingled, the violet blends that I was hoping for became more apparent. I was a bit worried that I was going to have red, white, and blue yarn!

I covered the crock pot, set it on low, and left it to "do its thing" all day. In the late afternoon, I checked it, and finding the water clear, took out the yarn to see how the colors looked. They weren't as vibrant as I'd hoped, so back in they went with added dye, starting the whole process over again. I turned the crock pot off when we went to bed and let it cool down overnight. In the morning, the water was cold and the colors worked for me. I will post photos of the finished yarn soon.

Don and I would like to wish everyone a Happy, Healthy, Safe, Productive, and Fun New Year!