Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Magic of Colors

Yesterday, I hand-dyed some woolens. I started with a cream base from a recycled skirt. I had RIT dyes at home. My goal was to create bright colored wool for my heart design, Kalon.




I plan on using the hand-dyeds in the circular shapes. I placed the wetted fabric on plastic wrap, and applied the colors. I then rolled the fabric into a  burrito and cooked it in the microwave for 5 minutes. I have no precise records. I just mix the colors as I go.




I created this piece using wines, reds, yellows, peach, and a touch of aqua. The close-up shows the aqua a little better.




I dyed a`second piece with more reds and still the magical aqua.




And then a section with navy blue, and muted purples.




They all look so wonderful together!




 I still have some work to do on the Moshimer rug, so I might just draw the Kalon design on my linen, and precut strips today. It will be hard to resist pulling a few loops!




I hope you will try to dye some woolens too. There is something magical about how the colors come together in a piece of wool.

4 comments:

  1. Caroline, you seem to be a natural at dyeing! I wish we could be in the dye kitchen together! Kathy

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  2. I've never heard of anyone using Rit dyes on wool before, but it looks like it worked out pretty good for you! Beautiful colors!

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  3. Kathy, thank you. It would be a lot of fun to dye together!

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  4. Gayle, thank you for your comment. I have used RIT dyes on wool a lot, mostly yarn, and it works really well. It is a dye that works on both animal and plant fibers. It is readily available. It does not come in many colors, but with a few basic colors, and creative color mixing, you can get amazing results.

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