| | The Tidal Yarns Process My yarns are often made from the fleece of animals I have seen and know. I look for strong, clean fiber with beautiful luster from animals raised on environmentally sound and responsible farms.
In the summertime I wash my fleeces outside in soapy water heated by the sun. Since the fleeces are free of debris and pretty clean to begin with, this method works well for me. Some lanolin (grease) left in the fleece acts as a resist in the dyepot and gives color variation in the spun yarn. If I want an evenly dyed yarn, I wash the fiber in hot water to remove the grease.
I use alum and cream of tartar as a mordant. Mordanting the wool can be done in the dyepot or before dyeing. This necessary step affixes the dye colors to the fiber and aids in the colorfastness of the yarn. When dyeing whole fleeces I add the mordant directly to the dyepot to avoid overworking the fleece, which can lead to felting. When dyeing yarn I mordant the skeins first then add them to the dyepot.
I am constantly on the lookout for local dyestuffs. I grow many in my garden. I collect carrot tops at farmer's markets. A furniture maker gives me osage orange shavings from the wood he works with. The fields and roadsides are full of dye sources, and I am always careful never to deplete an area where they grow.
In order to release and reveal the pigment inside the dye material, it must be chopped, soaked and simmered in water. I use about four times as much plant material as the amount of fiber to be dyed.
Finding that treasured fleece and talking with fiber farmers, knitters and spinners is an exciting and neverending adventure for me. The mix of the type of fiber, plant material for dye and the mordant all combine to produce beautifully subtle and vibrant colors from Mother Nature....often with many pleasant surprises!
Keep Happy Knitting! Happy Spinning! |
