Dyepot Confidential: or how I dye for Light Brown Hare

This is more a demo than a tutorial about how I dye yarn for my hand dye business (a tutorial would take 3x as long as this already overlong video). The shop is http://www.lightbrownhare.etsy.com

The yarns in the video are all superwash and not at risk of felting. I'm using Jacquard acid dyes and citric acid. The method is a variation on low water immersion dyeing. I've simply taken the idea of yarn blocking the dye from traveling in a normal low water process to a logical extreme.

Please note, if you do this be gentle with the yarn and don't wring it or tie it into tight knots. The fiber is more fragile when it's wet and it doesn't matter how pretty it is if it gets damaged in the process.

I steam set the yarn for reasons of speed. The crockpots take a while to heat up sufficiently to set the dye. In order to clear the pots for new colorways I steam completed colorways to make sure they have gotten hot enough to set. I use plastic bags because my steaming pot is contaminated with rust which would affect the color of the yarn. The bags are reused until they pop a hole.

If you're using white vinegar instead of citric acid, I find 2c of vinegar sufficient for the same size crockpot.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• immersion_dyeing
• acid_dye
• dye
• wool
• crockpot
• hand_dye
• yarn

[TarotLadyLissa]

I didn't see nebula on your etsy :(

[djinnj]

@TarotLadyLissa I've been focusing on other colorways for a while, but I can always make more of it. Most of my colorways are repeatable and I'm happy to add it to my dye queue if asked.

[camajhandspunyarns]

Is that dye stock in the jars or powder dye?

[djinnj]

@camajhandspunyarns It's dye stock. I only handle the powdered dye in a closed environment while wearing a particulate mask.

[thesassysheep]

Thank you for sharing this. You did an amazing job of explaining kettle dyeing. Please post more dyeing videos in the future!

[gidgetbun]

Thanks, I really enjoyed watching you working, very clear, thanks for sharing.

[KellyVriezenTV]

Very well done! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. As a "newbie" dyer, I really appreciate it!

[fridaystudios]

Thank you! Very entertaining and educational.

[glvedio]

please make more dyeing videos..like to see u more with these rubber gloves..:-)

[bunelladunella]

Loved seeing this! Thank you.