I am lucky to count Val, dyer extraordinaire, as one of my friends and, now, business associate. Val has many years of silk dyeing under her belt, so I've asked her to start experimenting with dyeing alpaca fiber. No surprise, she jumped right in and is having a lot of fun playing with her dye pots.
I recently had the pleasure of spending the afternoon in her kitchen to watch the process and ogle over the beautiful colors. The test of the day was natural dyes, including madder root (red/orange), osage (yellow), and blueberries (violet/gray).
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| Madder Root |
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| Osage |
Blueberries
Val also tried a few different mordants, which can affect both the final color in the yarn and the fastness of the dye (i.e. the color resists fading and washing out). It was a terrifically fun day - I can't wait to experiment some more!
Ciao for now,
Lynn
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