Haven't dyed anything in a while, but 12th Night is coming up this weekend, and I have some handspun wool that someone loaned me to dye. What a better present than actually giving it back, dyed?
The wool was given to Gypsy a while ago (it was someone's first attempt at sheering a sheep), and it sat in her garage for a while. Two summers ago, she pulled it out and we spent the better part of a day sorting and washing the wool. (Getting rid of the "too icky" or the "too coarse" or the "not useable" stuff, and then we put some fleece in nylon bags, and then put them into some soapy, almost hot water. Minor, very minor agitation. Drain, do again with a little less soap about two more times, until we used just hot water for the final bath/rise. Dried flat.)
Gypsy then proceeded to spin the wool to the weight she desired.
Last hank was then made into a hat. (Black eyed sue yarn) It's very cool to see a hat and know I had a part in it's creation. Not just making it, but the taking of raw material to useable, to a different color than it started. It's very cool to me. :)
She mentioned what type of sheep it was (began was a D I believe).
This hank is a little over 4 oz, but I think I'll stick with the 2T alum and a light 1.5t C.o.T.
I'm going to do that and then figure out the rest. (Like how I'm going to strain the walnut stuff which is outside, where it's really freaking cold.)
--
Wool is mordanting. Time to figure out what I'm going to do.
