Happy 4th of July!
Happy 4th of July to everyone in the US (and outside -- as others have pointed out, there's no reason this can't be a good day for everyone!); thought I'd share a summer yarn project, my red, white and blue yarn!
The wool is commercial Blue-Faced Leicster roving. The blue is indigo-dyed using the chemical process from the Dharma Trading site, the "red" (more of a salmon, but it was a first attempt) is madder-dyed (alum mordant, ammonia added to the dyebath during simmering). I do a lot of textile demos for a historical reenactment group I'm a part of, and I thought this would be a fun and "patriotic" way to show off both triple-ply handspun (I have a few double-ply examples in other colors for contrast) and natural dyes. (The "patriotic" is in quotes because red, white and blue apply to a lot of countries besides the US, but it's a nice summer shorthand all the same . . .) ;)
Held in my hand, for scale . . .
. . . and a closeup. The "texture" of the finished yarn is really interesting, I think. I have no idea what project I'll use it in (or if I'll just keep the skein as a demo piece), but it was fun.
Happy (and safe) fun to you all today! :D
The wool is commercial Blue-Faced Leicster roving. The blue is indigo-dyed using the chemical process from the Dharma Trading site, the "red" (more of a salmon, but it was a first attempt) is madder-dyed (alum mordant, ammonia added to the dyebath during simmering). I do a lot of textile demos for a historical reenactment group I'm a part of, and I thought this would be a fun and "patriotic" way to show off both triple-ply handspun (I have a few double-ply examples in other colors for contrast) and natural dyes. (The "patriotic" is in quotes because red, white and blue apply to a lot of countries besides the US, but it's a nice summer shorthand all the same . . .) ;)
Held in my hand, for scale . . .
. . . and a closeup. The "texture" of the finished yarn is really interesting, I think. I have no idea what project I'll use it in (or if I'll just keep the skein as a demo piece), but it was fun.
Happy (and safe) fun to you all today! :D