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Friday, March 25, 2011

In the studio

I've been playing with black dye.   This is the first time I have ever used a color, straight out of the jar without mixing it with some other color. 

Of course, I had to get two different versions because black looks different on different fibers.   And, sure enough, these two blacks were pretty different. 

For protein fibers [wool, silk], I really like #250 Jet from Dharma Trading Company.   It's a good neutral black.  On silk, it went blue-ish.  On wool it goes brown where you lay it on and then wicks a neutral black and grey - it is a gorgeous smokey black.   BUT it's an H class dye and has to be heated to about 150 degrees.  

For the cellulose fibers [cotton, linen, bamboo], I used #300 New Black [also from Dharma].   It goes blue-ish on cotton and purplish on tencel.   You don't have to heat it which is good because it's going to lose the heat as it batches overnight anyway.   BUT it's not a true neutral.    [And on protein it goes plum.  Really.   Plum.   Really plum.    K2 loves it.  I'm not so big on it.]

What to do, what to do...   

I have no idea.   Maybe try to mix them on the cellulose?   I'll try it later and let you know how it goes.  

In the meantime - here's a pic of the new color 'Storm' on a bit of everything.  Clockwise from 12:00: Stella, raw silk; bamboo; linen; superwash wool bulky; superwash sock;  superwash roving; cotton/rayon; superwash fingering.   I like it best on the superwash.   Can you tell?