Today's blog post:
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On the right combination of blue and magenta, a dye mistake.
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I’m doing some lots of dyeing right now. My way of dyeing may be somewhat unconventional because I don’t make dye solutions. I did when I first started, but it’s just so time-consuming, and since I’m doing this in a building without heavy duty electrical outlets, I use a tea kettle to heat water. I bought 1/2 gallon containers to make the solutions, but I just don’t. For me it’s just easier to go directly to the dye, weigh it out and add it to the dyepot. Yes, there are a few colors that require more care, but those I just wet up and add to the dyepot.
This method does have its own issues, though. If your are doing small samples or using a formula that requires a minute bit of one color, well, that’s just a problem. My triple beam scales are good, but…
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This is where the new favorite toy comes in. I don’t remember where I read about these scales, but they’re available on Amazon and, at $20, they are not hugely expensive, especially when compared with the triple beam. I used them for the first time this morning. My dye formula needed 98% orange/2% magenta. 2% is hard to weight when you’re not dyeing pounds of yarn. That means that I needed 0.06 grams of magenta for the amount of yarn I’m dyeing. The proof is in the pudding, as they say, but at least this amount was easy to weigh. Will let you know how it turns out.
Oh, yes. The picture at the top? This is what happens when you plan to dye a combination of mustard and blue, but pick up magenta instead of mustard. A nice color, but it doesn’t fit in anywhere in the current weaving plan.
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