Saturday, February 4, 2012

Nothing.

Nothing. That's how much rug hooking I accomplished this week ~ nothing. Not that having 4 kids that need to be places has anything to do with it. Or the time spent grocery shopping, since 4 kids eat constantly. But, I did mange to try dyeing some wool today! I started with 1/2 yard of khaki/tan wool and some Jacquard dye that I found at Joann. I normally would have chosen more of a brick/barn red, but the darkest they had was crimson. So, I used the khaki wool to tone down the red a bit.

I didn't stir the pot at all, but just let it simmer. I wanted a heavily mottled look, and that's what I got. Since it's a solid wool, I wanted some variation in the color. I'm planning to use this as the background for the snowman rug.

I also threw in the dye pot some cream twill tape for the binding. It didn't come out red, but pink. Maybe because it's cotton and I didn't add salt? I'm not afraid to show my mistakes, as I like experimenting. Maybe I'll try a little more dye for the twill tape and see what happens.

Last week, my older kids went rock climbing with the Venture Crew at an indoor climbing place. It reminds me of all the climbing they did when they were toddlers (climbing out of their cribs, on top of tables, and one tried to get on top of the refrigerator!). I think I'll let them stick to the indoor places. :)

~*~ Laura ~*~

2 comments:

Gayle said...

Hmmm... You found dyes at JoAnn? I'll have to look for some next time I'm there. Your turned out really pretty.

Anonymous said...

Love the wool color! It's yummy. Cotton and wool need different dyes and different "chemicals" or mordants to fix the dyes. Wool and animal fibers use acid (vinegar) and cotton fabrics use a basic one like soda ash. Some fibers, like silks can go either way with varying results.