Like The Queen
Whatever happens to strike my fancy, but surely some sort of fiber content.

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Saturday, July 12, 2003  

It’s been a beautiful day for playing with toys outside. A bit breezy but dry and cool. Out in the back yard, beneath shady trees, on the picnic table, I set up my dye workshop. I had a goal again - this time, to match some silk I bought while in London - an orangey peach with plum, green and red print on it. There are essentially 4 colors with darker versions of them used to shade the design. It’s actually a bit of a jacquard weave, a design within the weaving as well as printed upon the cloth.

It took a good hour to mix up colors that sort of looked like the colors in the cloth. They are close but not exact. But I did keep a record of the formulas I used so that I can make them again sometime. I dyed 2 lengths with the full strength colors - then diluted them by at least 1/2 for to lengths in paler versions. As I worked with the first of the paler colors I decided the “peach” which is really an orange, was still too dark and in the 4th length I diluted it by half again. I wish I had done them all like this now - but I will learn one day not to use such dark colors. The last one doesn’t have anything of the 60’s tie dyed look to it.

(Photos of them all will have to wait till later in the week)

I still had lots of colors left when I finished up with the 4 oz so I put another 4 oz. in to soak while I had lunch.

I had worked so hard to match colors with the first 4 I decided to have a little more fun and serendipity with the second 4. Also, with these 4 I tried working with dots of colors instead of stripes. There should be lots of white left in them. I think they have a childlike look to them and I may make little hats and booties out of the yarn I spin with them. They are cooking as I write - and will be rinsed, spun dry and hung out in about 30 minutes.

I think (but don’t hold me to it) that will be all the coloring I’ll do this weekend. I have some Xmas socks to work on and some spinning on the wheel that is not happy that I’ve left it for 3 days.

Sigh. Why can’t every day be like today?

posted by Bess | 2:23 PM
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