The fuchsia and orange yarns did not come out quite as I wanted, unfortunately. I wanted to get some value contrast between the blue/purple and fuchsia/orange yarns, so I had increased the % dye to 3% on the blue/purple (looking for deeper shades) and decreased the % dye on the fuchsia to 1% (expecting a lighter shade). However, in the end result, the fuchsia is just as dark as the blue/purple skeins. (The orange is lighter in value, so that’s ok.)
I have a couple theories for what might have happened:
- I used hotter water for the fuchsia yarn, which may have increased dye takeup
- The yarn was soaking for a good couple of days before I got to it, which might have improved dye takeup
- I never did any DOS (% dye) testing on Cibacron F dyes; it’s possible that the difference between 1%, 2%, and 3% DOS is relatively minimal. I should probably have tried 0.5% DOS instead.
At any rate, I’m not quite sure how to proceed now. I think I may dye a fifth color, yellow/gold, which would give me the value contrast I was looking for (but which would clash badly with the purple), and try using the fuchsia as weft (it goes nicely with orange, yellow, blue, and purple). Or I could try a weak bleach solution on the fuchsia to lighten it. Or I might decide to live with it. Haven’t decided yet.
The warping wheel has arrived (yay!) but with a bent central bolt (boo!). Tonight or Saturday I’m going to run down to the local hardware store to get a replacement bolt. There’s no hurry, since the warp that came with the loom is going to take some time to weave off, meaning I won’t need a new warp for at least a week or two.
Bonnie Inouye says
Tien, create some drafts for double weave including patterns created by exchanging layers. That’s where you need some value contrast to see the designs. Make the warp colors on the screen match the hue and value of your fuschia and purple because those are the closest together. Or make part of the screen warp blue and part purple, just by assigning thread color. Use color adjustments to get the values and hues right. Then try different weft combinations and see if you like the results. It might work. Nice to have weaving software that gives a preview!
Bonnie Inouye