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Sunday, February 06, 2011

Leftovers, Step 4

This is what my skeins look like today, partly dry:



The blue isn't nearly as bright as it looks here. My camera seems to like blue...

Oddly, some of the yarns didn't take the blue much at all in those ikat-tied sections that were exposed to blue, but not to brown. I remember once in a class with Michele Wipplinger of Earthues, we painted/printed/stamped a thickened solution of iron sulfate dissolved in water onto cloth, then painted dyes over that. The iron seemed to resist the dye in the same way a clamped, tied or stitched resist would do. I think what has happened here is that I used iron to darken the original wood dye, and the residual iron is resisting the fiber reactive dye. Memo to self: be sure to wash and rinse the woven scarves very thoroughly to prevent the iron from causing damage over time.

Other than rinsing the skeins and hanging them to dry, I'm trying not to do much that requires my right hand - the thumb in particular is still bothering me, so it's on medical leave for a day or two. Good thing there's the Super Bowl to watch, and guacamole to munch left-handed!

1 comment:

neki desu said...

fascinating concept that of iron as resist. will have to try that. so much to learn!!