Dyeing For Colour. . .

Last month, I attended a really fun workshop at Ovis Yarns in Liverpool.  In celebration of Wool Week, we got to test out acid dyeing on mini-skeins of different breeds of British wool, finishing up with the chance to dye a larger quantity on our favourite base.

There are lots of different techniques to hand-dyeing;  we dipped, painted, splashed, speckled, and smooshed the dye - both in powder and liquid form -   onto our wool.  Below is a mini-skein of Wensleydale that I dyed.  Once you are happy with the result, you wrap it up in clingfilm like a sausage and put it in the microwave to set.




And this was the finished result. The setting softens the colours and brings out more depth.  I was very happy with my efforts.



We dyed a mini-skein of Jacob - the natural brown of the wool  goes really well with the greens.

And this was a mini-skein of superwash Bluefaced Leicester.  I'll admit to going a little bonkers with all the colours, but it'll make a nice contrast toe or cuff on a pair of socks. 

I wasn't at all happy with my initial attempts on this mix of Bluefaced Leicester and Masham - I was going for teals and mustards and it ended up becoming a really insipid limey-yellow.  So I overdyed the lot with a mossy green and it turned out fabulous!

Practice skeins completed, we were then let loose on some full 100g skeins of 4ply. I had ordered a few extra skeins of the BFL/Masham blend (my favourite) in advance to get a garment quantity. I really wanted to try speckling and though it looked okay initially . . . 

. . . a little of the powder goes a long way.  It got too squished in the rolling stage and when it was set, it came out more variegated than speckled.  I still like the colours though and I think these are destined for a striped garment of some sort.  I have several undyed skeins of BFL/Masham in my stash. 

Then I tried to replicate my mossy green practice skein, but dyeing is a precise recipe and this was as close as I could get. I am still pleased with them however - I did get the deeper greens in places, and I quite like the hints of turquoise and yellow that pop out every so often.  I think I will turn these into a summer top and alternate the skeins while knitting. It will be fascinating to see how they knit up.

There were five of us in the workshop and part of the fun (apart from getting to know some very friendly and inspiring knitters), was seeing all the different colour combinations that we came up with. We all had very different palettes and were drawn also to different styles of dyeing.  These group shots do show however, the similarities in tone and undertone that the different sheep breeds offered.

Jacob:

Wensleydale: 

BFL superwash: 

BFL/Masham: 

But my absolute favourites were these gorgeous skeins dyed by Jane. They look so professional and she nailed the soft autumnal colours that she was going for.  I can't wait to see these knitted up.

If you are in Liverpool, do check out Becky's workshop schedule here.  She's also starting to offer drop in dye sessions where you can bring your own skeins or purchase some from her.  I will conquer those speckles yet!