Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Nocturne, and a giveaway!

It's September already and I'm dyeing up a storm. But I'm taking a break from the dye pots to plug LylianMae Fiber Artistry and offer up some of Emily's lovely hand dyed roving for this month's giveaway.


These are three 25g samples in Falkland/Corriedale cross colorway Quarantine; superwash merino colorway Brown-eyed Girl and Rambouillet colorway Morgaine: Lady of the Lake. With these braids comes a sample of Eucalan grapefruit wool wash, two sushi erasers, and an assortment of teas.

Emily is a spinner and a dyer, and her shop is full of lovely handspun and fiber, as well as these really great lap aprons for spinners who prefer their fiber in their yarn rather than all over their clothes. So please stop by LylianMae Fiber Artistry and find something you like and come back here and tell us all about it any time through Tuesday, Sept 7th. I'll pick someone at random on Sept 8th.

Don't forget to leave a way to reach you, or come back on the 8th to see if you've won. And if you love her handspun, I'm giving away a sampler at my Ravelry group, too.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, there are certain things one doesn't wish to see at 3am.


Pink not being the same pink when halfway through trying to make matching dye lots is definitely one of those things.


On the right is what's left of my Jacquard Pink 608 purchased about 2 years ago. On the left is the 1 pound jar I purchased recently of, yes, Jacquard Pink 608. It doesn't just look different in the jar, either. It's very visibly different in solution, deeper and more purple in tone. Even the label is a different shade of pink. I know dye lots change but this was much more than I had anticipated. *sigh*

The 3am surprise was my own fault for not investigating the new dye when I received it. It's clearly visible through the side of the jar that it's different. I had my fingers crossed that it would look more similar once mixed, but that didn't happen. At least they have the same texture, and hopefully they've improved that whole sedimentation/speckling problem.

I have no idea what impact this will have on my colorway recipes as of yet because I had just enough of the original pink left over to finish my matching skeins this morning. I'm going to have to test it out when the weather cools down enough to dye during daylight.

My new jar of Scarlet is different too, but not even remotely this vastly. The pink is different enough that I wonder if my original jar was a mis-labeled fuchsia. But it's much more likely that it's a reformulation and will hopefully dye up much closer in color than it looks. Dye in solution never looks the same as it will on the fiber. One thing I suspect, however, is that it's much stronger. I'll need to use a light hand until I adjust to it.

I managed to get 33sk dyed last night, and I'm hoping to get another 33-42 tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be another scorcher, so it looks like no daytime dyeing for me until the weekend. I am very happily taking half a day off on Friday to go to the Great Allentown Fair which is just across the border from us. And then it's back to nose to the grindstone to get things done for the weekend after and the Garden State Sheep Breeders festival. I can't wait!

15 comments:

OneOfTheHive (Heidi) said...

What a great giveaway! I have a friend who has a baby on the way, and Sanctuary is an exact match for the colors in the nursery. I'd like to make a blanket or layette set for her bundle of love on the way.

Anonymous said...

oh my oh my oh my - who knew jellyfish (the roving) could be so beautiful in the air and not just under water!

jovician on ravelry

Anonymous said...

p.s. looking forward to seeing you and your lovely yarns - and Lylian's at the NJ Fiber Fest

jovician on ravelry

InJuneau said...

What a lovely giveaway. Such an interesting difference in the dyes!

(InJuneau on Rav)

Angie S. said...

I LOVE her Larue colorway. Gorgeous!
cantrix at gmail dot com

cthulhulovesme said...

I've been experimenting with dyeing again after a kettle-dyeing workshop with my spinning guild. For some reason, I just can't get hand-painting to work, heh. I'll just admire other people's work for now, like Heart of the Lion in Emily's shop.

<-- has tried twice in a row now to get blue and yellow on the same top without getting mostly green and failed

Dale said...

@jovician Looking forward to seeing you at the festival! Sadly, Emily of LMFA won't be with me and I'm going this show alone. But it should be a fun weekend nonetheless!

@cthulhulovesme Sometimes I envy the hand painters their speed, but I get over it. XD Do you wet out your fiber with acid ahead of time? And do you put your acid in your dye, too? That'll speed up strike. Also, since the fiber wicks, leaving some white space between colors might help the transition. I know some people put the fiber on a rack so overflow can drip out without muddying the color. Although I have a theory about measuring how much liquid the fiber will hold without puddling and then mixing up the dye stock to match, but since I don't hand paint I haven't really tested it out.

Emily said...

cthluhulovesme,
Try larger spaces of ecru between your colorings. The water makes all the color blend. If you're kettle dyeing there will be room for a lot of blending.

Best of luck with your dyeing. ;)
Thanks, too.

o_O said...

I love Join The Crowd - lurveley! Just found your blog after placing an order for some of your widget stitch markers! Had no idea you were on Ravelry too, will be joining the group now. Have not been brave enough to dye fibre up myself yet, leaving it to the experts :-D
Heidi J. (Jellybean - Ravelry)

Anonymous said...

holy carp! i'm definately adding your etsy page to my faves! lovelovelove both refuge and abandonment. yum!
~Kim
(ksknitchic on ravelry)
:)

Deirdre said...

Mmm, thanks for linking to her shop. It was a tough choice between Boudica & Jellyfishing, but in honor of Labor Day weekend, I have to go with Jellyfishing. Lubly. :-)

Deirdre (needlerest on rav)

cthulhulovesme said...

@Dale and lylian.mae
I think you're right-- I'm not leaving enough space between colors, especially since I'm not using superwash fiber. (I had the opposite problem using superwash at a kettle-dyeing workshop this weekend, go figure.) I am acid-treating the fiber before I pour/paint, though.

I'm experimenting with sun dyeing, since I don't have a proper dye set-up here at home. It takes 2 days for a braid of fiber, which is probably better for my fiber budget, if not my patience.

Emily said...

@cthululovesme
There is a great group on Ravelry called Love to Dye.
http://www.ravelry.com/groups/love-to-dye

I'm thinking you'll get a lot out of it. :)

Anonymous said...

those were such pretty colors of roving

Anonymous said...

I love the not enough pink yarn I think it would be cute in a little girls hat

moe
big_moe_1@hotmail.com

thanks