dyed roving

After lunch yesterday I pulled out the dye supplies and three of my ten (10!!!!) bumps of roving, and started playing. I got these bumps recently, mailed back from Still River Mill, where I sent the fiber I was gifted LAST summer to be processed. It came back in fabulous form, 14 lbs of fiber, and is sitting on the porch now, waiting to be explored.

I dyed three “colorways,” one in each bump. The first one was reminiscent of the first yarn I dyed and sold called “Sea Turtles.”

It was green and turquoise and yellow, and came together beautifully. I soaked the bump first, whole, in a pot of water and vinegar. Then I put it back onto the plastic bag it was wrapped in, and poured the dye over it, in thirds. The dye stuck in the bump for the most part, but also soaked through and out the bottom. The plastic bag caught that.

Then I pushed the air out of the bag and tied it closed, and rolled it around the patio, getting the dye all over the bump. Then I microwaved it in the bag for ten minutes, rinsed it out, and unwound it very carefully so I could hang it up to dry.

Once they were dry, I wound them up into 4 oz balls (or as near as possible). They’re so fun and squishy and colorful!

I experimented with different ways to dye and cook, and I’m still working on the best way to do it.

This one, “Seahorses,” ended up with a lot of white left in the middle, so I had to redye it, and now i have two similar-but-not-the-same colorways.

“Octopus” on the other hand dyed all the way through, for the most part, and was pretty consistent across the whole bump.

I like the little flashes of teal in among the pink/purple.

All of the big, 4oz ones, will be for sale. I’m going to do some sample spinning with the few 1oz pieces, but keep an eye out! I’ll photograph all the new bumps soon (it’s raining now) and either put them up on the SpaceCat etsy store, or through Ravelry, or maybe even at my LYS. I’ll let you know!