Blue Morning

My dying sessions lately have embraced the fall colors.  Today I decided I would play with my favorites instead -- blue, turquoise and a touch of purple.  I love how these all turned out.  The colors are so bight and cheery. Plus the blue sky is peaking out as an added bonus.  

Dyed wool batching in the kitchen

When I dye wool, I start with a piece of felt approximately 14" x 40".  This allows me to get several 12"x12" piece after any shrinkage.  I place the pieces in pyrex baking dishes.  I will then either add the dye dissolved in water, sprinkle on powder or drop concentrated dye over parts.  It then goes in the microwave to get nice and hot.  After sitting in the dye bath and then being rinsed out, it goes for a spin in the dryer to get out as much water as possible.  I just need to make sure I don't operate on autopilot and set it for a full wash cycle.  I did that once with a custom dyed piece -- set it to heavy duty and left to pick up the kids from school.  I couldn't figure out why it was just finishing as we got home.  I found a piece of felt about half the size it started as.  Whoops.  Luckily, the thick dense felt was exactly what she needed and it worked out for everyone.

Felt waiting to go for a spin in the dryer

Here is what the pile looks like after coming out.  I managed to dye 11 different pieces today.  I was hoping for the purples to be a little more purple and a little less violet, but I'm not going to complain about the vibrant colors.  That just means I need to make time for another dye session soon.

Slinky checking out what Mom has been up to all morning

 Keep an eye out for these to be popping up in my Etsy shop over the next few days.