| I start by preparing the dye. You need 1 gram of dye per 100 grams of wool. Since I don't need that much, I prepare a liter of dye and use only a small amount. I don't add any acid yet to keep the dye mixture stable. Using the dye, I create spots on my pre-soaked roving. Then, I wrap the roving in plastic wrap and place it in a glass bowl that I can clean thoroughly in the dishwasher. |
| The roving goes into the microwave for 3 minutes on high. Then, I let it cool down. Once the roving has cooled a bit, I unfold the plastic wrap, allowing the wool to cool further. |
| When the wool has cooled down sufficiently, I rinse it in clean water and lay it out to dry on a towel. The roving looks beautiful. |
| When I braid the roving, it looks even more delightful. Almost a shame to use it. Here's one braid, but I've made two that are approximately identical. One braid weighs about 125 grams. |
| Before I start spinning the wool, I split the roving into 4 roughly equal parts. It's not crucial that they are perfectly even in thickness. Approximately is good enough. Then I spin them on my Ashford Elisabeth spinning wheel. It looks colorful! |
| You can see all the colors from the braid, along with some blended tones. There's about 60 grams of wool on one bobbin, which is 2 of the 4 parts of a braid. |
I bought Ashford wool dye and some Merino roving. I want to dye the roving in bright colors, spin it, and then use it to make a scarf, for example. It's quite a bit of work altogether.
I start by preparing the dye. You need 1 gram of dye per 100 grams of wool. Since I don't need that much, I prepare a liter of dye and use only a small amount. I don't add any acid yet to keep the dye mixture stable. Using the dye, I create spots on my pre-soaked roving. Then, I wrap the roving in plastic wrap and place it in a glass bowl that I can clean thoroughly in the dishwasher.
The roving goes into the microwave for 3 minutes on high. Then, I let it cool down. Once the roving has cooled a bit, I unfold the plastic wrap, allowing the wool to cool further.
When the wool has cooled down sufficiently, I rinse it in clean water and lay it out to dry on a towel. The roving looks beautiful.
Before I start spinning the wool, I split the roving into 4 roughly equal parts. It's not crucial that they are perfectly even in thickness. Approximately is good enough. Then I spin them on my Ashford Elisabeth spinning wheel. It looks colorful!
You can see all the colors from the braid, along with some blended tones. There's about 60 grams of wool on one bobbin, which is 2 of the 4 parts of a braid.