Acid dyes and a microwave

We had a dye workshop on Thursday June 4th, Maggie our Fearless Leader (aka Chair of the North Herts Guild) prepared acid dyes for us to try out. We had a choice of red, yellow, blue and black dye and we brought along a selection of animal yarn and fibre to experiment on.

Guild members hard at work:

We added the dye to the pre-soaked yarn whilst it was in a plastic bag and scrunched to work the dye through, or, laid the yarn out and dabbed dye in strategic places to get a different effect. Then a quick wrap in clingfilm, into the microwave for a couple of minutes until it steamed nicely (popty-ping!). Once cool, the yarn was rinsed in water until it ran clear and then left to dry.

A selection of our results:

Elizabeth dyed this commercial merino yarn a very pretty colour using a mix of red and blue:

Some nice bright fibre:

Some yarn and fibre with the same dye selections:

Some of us were very busy and got lots done in just a couple of hours!:

A fun evening, and thank you Maggie for organising!

Next event is the Letchworth Festival on Saturday 13th June where we will be demonstrating spinning.