Whilst we where on self directed study I wanted to increase my skills and decided I wanted to learn how to dye yarn, I thought this would be beneficial for my future project’s .
I had a selection of un dyed alpaca yarn tied in hanks, this was a chunky yarn consisting of 2 shearing’s 1st cria (baby) fleece and subsequent shearing. The yarn had been manufactured commercial and had been de haired by the mill.
Alpaca yarn in a hank.
Each hank needed to re tied as I had previously tied them to tight, this would have prevented movement in the dye bath, also would the ties would have prevented the dye reaching the fibres, causing an area of resist .
Due to the weight of the hanks , the dye bath had to be quite large, the temperature had to be monitored very closely to prevent felting.
In the image below the tiny fibres can be seen, the yarn had reached its temperature without felting. (The photo is not very clear due to the steam from the dye bath)
Dyed yarn
The yarn was rinsed several times in warm water to remove the dye residue, in the final rinse a small dash of white vinegar was added to the I rinse.
As I did not have a project in mind for the yarn , it was done purely to increase my skill base. I chose to use a selection of vibrant dyes to test the colour strength and process. Most of the colours worked well, however I am not entirely happy with the red as it quite pale and the blue is also quite pale.
Finished yarns.