Saturday, July 30, 2011

Hand-painted roving

Yesterday I dyed some roving. Roving is fiber processed into a form that's ready to spin. I had 7.8 ounces of superwash Bluefaced Leicester which I divided into two 3.9 ounce sections.

Here I am laying out the roving on my outdoor work surface:


I have a very affectionate helper:


Here are the dyes I used. They are weak acid dyes, set with vinegar:


Placing the dye on the roving:


More placing of dye. It was a hot, humid day, so I was going for cool, melon colors:


Another helper strolling out of the garden:


Another helper, waiting for someone to throw the ball:


After the dye was squirted on, I wrapped the rovings up in plastic wrap and microwaved them for 4 minutes to set the dye.

Here they are after being rinsed and hung to dry:


Here they are dry and waiting to be braided up. I think I'll call this mix of colors 'melon patch':



Now I have to go - I'm off to the farmer's market to spend some money!

2 comments:

Lyn said...

lovely post, the helpers are cute!
xxx

ICQB said...

Hi Lyn!

Thanks!