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Saturday 4 February 2017

Hand Dyed Wool (Ombre Style)


This was my first attempt dyeing wool, though it probably would have been easier to start with a smaller project, I'm currently dyeing 12 balls of wool for a jumper I'm making.

My wool was an un-dyed, animal fibre mix. For my dye, I used Dylon's 'Burlesque Red', though clearly it's more of a purple colour..,
Dylon (in the extremely likely case you're reading this) you should really show all the shades of your dyes so people know what it looks like diluted! Also that tiny circle of colour on your packaging barely shows the colour off...

Anyway, I attempted to dip dye by dividing the dye into two bowl, one with a strong concentration and the other with a weaker one. It turned out quite well and definitely achieved the ombre affect, however the colour turned out a bit light- perhaps I should have been more precise with my measurements or used a larger dye quantity.
I kept the wool in the dye solutions for just over an hour, but it still didn't come out that strong- I think it's because I dyed outside where it was about 7 degrees. Heat is apparently an important part of the wool dyeing process (according to the small amount of research/googling I did). Though Dylon's only instructions on heat is to soak your solution in warm water, still, I decided to compensate for the cold weather by steaming the dye for a few minutes afterwards by placing it in in a glass bowl on top, heated on the hob, on top a saucepan. In hindsight, I probably should have steamed it from the start and kept the woold/dye warm throughout- oh well! I think I prefer the pastel colours to a bright ones so maybe it'll turn out okay. Watch this space for the jumper...

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