acid wool dye — Rebecca Mezoff Blog — Rebecca Mezoff

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acid wool dye

All the yarn-y joy... and getting just the right color

All the yarn-y joy... and getting just the right color

On my studio Fridays I have been working toward getting a big tapestry on the loom. Because dyeing takes so long, I’m still working on that part of the puzzle though my fingers are itching to be weaving. I am finding that having some space between the days I’m making color and dye decisions has been helpful. The yarn I pull out of the pot dripping wet and prop in the corner of the living room to dry* might not get assessed until the next Friday. Somehow that lets my brain relax around those decisions and I’ve found myself much more willing to accept what came out of the pot even if the small swatch I was dyeing from feels different in the larger amounts of yarn.** So colors that I didn’t like when I hung them the last Friday actually seem great by the next Friday. I suppose that could be mostly the realization that if I don’t go with those colors or keep fussing with the formulas, I may never actually start weaving… but we’ll go with the first idea that space allows acceptance.

This is what happens when you mix some acid wool dye, some water, and wool!

This week is dye week. I love the colors that come out of those dye pots. The whole process is either fun or a pain in the butt depending on how tired I am. But this week the weather is beautiful in Santa Fe and my skeins are swinging from their PVC pipes in the back yard drying. I feel sense of discovery that comes from putting a little powder and some acid in a pot and regulating the heat for a few hours and then pulling out amazing colors. I feel strong enough to lift pots with 2 to 15 gallons of water in them (okay, I might not be strong enough for 15 gallons... how about 10) and I am remembering to lift with my legs just like they told me in occupational therapy school.
I'm going to have to make a run to the studio for more yarn to dye today. I usually plan these huge dye runs because it kind of disrupts daily life around here to have yarn scouring in the bathtub, skeins spinning in the washer, and the garage full of bubbling pots. So I try to do it all at once and then back off for a few months. But apparently I didn't plan enough to fulfill my appetite because I have run out of the buckets of undyed yarn. Fortunately... you might remember these boxes?
There is plenty more yarn.