Am I Blue?
Why, yes, I am. At least, in a few places - notably, my fingernails and knuckles have a distinct bluish tint. Not the full-on dark blue I had last time I got out the indigo, but definitely bluish. Last night, it looked like I'd been engaged in a tickle-fight with a gang of Smurfs. Ah, fulfilling my dream of being the third Indigo Girl. . .
So, jokes aside, this weekend I did some indigo dyeing. I now have 2 nice, blue skeins of yarn, and a super-cute tie-dyed bandana. Hey, all work and no play makes Jackie a dull - well, you know! I feel pretty good about the color I got - not as dark as I would have liked, but it is nice and even, and a reasonably mid-dark blue. Considering I was dyeing cotton and using a chemical vat, that's probably as good as it gets. From what I've read, at some point in color saturation, the chemicals start taking dye off the fiber as quickly as it goes on. I've also read that with Ye Olde Fermentation Vat, the dyers of times past would/could leave fibers to soak in the vat overnight, or for days at a time, whereas with a chemical vat, that tends to weaken the fibers. Or was that only true of protein fibers? I've forgotten at the moment, and I don't have a book handy to look it up. Also, my vat seemed not to work once its temperature dropped (or at least it seemed that way), and I couldn't maintain a warm enough temp for more than an hour or 2. It's possible that I was just trying to dye too much at once - I did exhaust the vat twice, or at least I think I did.
Indigo is a tricky mistress, and I have the skill set of a teenager on Prom night. Enthusiasm, yes - experience, not so much. I've read a lot, but that's no substitute for doing (consider the metaphor continued. . .). At any rate, I have blue yarn. It's recognizably dark blue, I think, and the color doesn't look splotchy or weird, so I'm happy with it. What it's for - well, I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you.
So, jokes aside, this weekend I did some indigo dyeing. I now have 2 nice, blue skeins of yarn, and a super-cute tie-dyed bandana. Hey, all work and no play makes Jackie a dull - well, you know! I feel pretty good about the color I got - not as dark as I would have liked, but it is nice and even, and a reasonably mid-dark blue. Considering I was dyeing cotton and using a chemical vat, that's probably as good as it gets. From what I've read, at some point in color saturation, the chemicals start taking dye off the fiber as quickly as it goes on. I've also read that with Ye Olde Fermentation Vat, the dyers of times past would/could leave fibers to soak in the vat overnight, or for days at a time, whereas with a chemical vat, that tends to weaken the fibers. Or was that only true of protein fibers? I've forgotten at the moment, and I don't have a book handy to look it up. Also, my vat seemed not to work once its temperature dropped (or at least it seemed that way), and I couldn't maintain a warm enough temp for more than an hour or 2. It's possible that I was just trying to dye too much at once - I did exhaust the vat twice, or at least I think I did.
Indigo is a tricky mistress, and I have the skill set of a teenager on Prom night. Enthusiasm, yes - experience, not so much. I've read a lot, but that's no substitute for doing (consider the metaphor continued. . .). At any rate, I have blue yarn. It's recognizably dark blue, I think, and the color doesn't look splotchy or weird, so I'm happy with it. What it's for - well, I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you.