Done with dye study group!

Nothing was ever so sweet as this:

It took me three dyebaths and something like 24 skeins to get it right, but I have successfully reproduced the color!!

This finishes out my Lanaset dye work for the dye study group, and because the group is finishing up in early October, I don’t think I’m going to start work on the Cibacron F.  To be honest, after dyeing over 180 skeins in 15 batches in just over 2 months, I’m feeling a little burned out on dyeing.  And I can do the exercises with Cibacron F any time (preferably next summer, when dawn comes earlier and I can squeeze in a dyebath before going to work).

Karren asked us to take and post photos of our setup, and I thought some of you might be interested in it as well, so here are a few photos showing my equipment and setup:

(This is just in case some of you think I might be a neat person!)

And here is a shot of all the measuring equipment I needed for the dye study group:

(And that doesn’t even include the weighing boats or wash bottles!)

Here is a photo of my dye sample setup, an electric frying pan filled with 1-pint, wide-mouthed canning jars, with the glass stir rod I use to stir my samples:

It’s plugged into this electric temperature controller:

And here are the Tyvek wristbands I use for holding the skeins:

And last, but not least, a few of the dyed skeins themselves!

I am now done with the dye study group.  I have learned a HUGE amount from the study group, and while I still wouldn’t call myself a master dyer, I now know a lot more about reproducible color, dye chemistry, and color mixing.  Not many people can precisely match a color, so I am quite proud of myself! and very, very grateful to Karren for putting this together.  I don’t know of anywhere else I could have learned this, so I’m truly indebted to her generosity in teaching us.

And now, off to bed!  Tomorrow it’s time to pack up the dye studio, and then launch into…DRAWING!