For my article on color, I wanted some low-chroma (“dull”) colors in monochrome. I remembered seeing some lovely colorgrown cotton for quite reasonable prices at Chamomile Connection, so I ordered some in olive, sage, and white. It arrived yesterday, and to my absolute horror, it looked like this:
This would NOT do for the article; not only was it the wrong color, there wasn’t enough contrast to illustrate the point I wanted to make. And I was slated to start weaving it next weekend!
I leaped for my computer and ordered some more yarn from Webs. If they sent it out first thing tomorrow morning, it would arrive in time. Then I remembered that colorgrown yarns change somewhat after washing. But surely not THAT much?
Then I got up this morning and read Sharon Alderman’s latest post on her blog, which was timely and important! It showed what happens when you boil colorgrown cotton with a little soap and washing soda to take out the wax. And lo and behold, a dramatic color change from dull beige yarns to dark and light greens!
So I got up and did the experiment myself. Voila!
Magic! This would do perfectly.
So I called up Webs immediately to see if I could cancel my order – and, thankfully, I could.
But it just goes to show the dangers of assumptions, doesn’t it?
Meanwhile, the Infinite Warp is now fully threaded and sleyed. I have not tied it on yet because I need to make some adjustments to the Fireside rolling temple before I can put it on the loom, for which I am missing a critical tool. I’ve ordered it from Amazon and it should arrive today, so I’m hoping to start weaving tonight!
Tomorrow morning, meanwhile, it’s off to class for me. I have had a vague interest in metal clay work for awhile, and while looking for classes locally, I found a very interesting-looking class in Richmond (which is about an hour’s drive away). It’s a one-day class on using porcelain colors on silver clay, to produce color on silver without enameling. This would let me produce some very interesting (albeit expensive!) metal buttons for my handwoven garments, should I choose to do so. So I signed up for the day-long class. It should be interesting to see what comes out of it!
I found a similar colour change with the browns. Truly magic in the water (and an akaline environment)! 😀
cheers,
Laura
I have been trying to interest local growers in planting some of the “antique” cottons. Apparently, there are laws about what kind of cotton can be planted, distance between the varieties (five miles) etc etc. I had taken some of it with me to a “back to nature-type” conference and done my little spiel, including the comment about how expensive the yarn is….at which point a total stranger came up and asked if I would GIVE her one of my cones….DON’T THINK SO – were you LISTENING, HONEY?? THE “EXPENSIVE” PART??! Anyway, it’s lovely yarn. I am knitting up a simple vest for the Fall out of some of the sage. I planted a few seeds year before last, just to show some of my kiddie friends the cotton growing in COLOUR! It really is amazing to see the bolls come up. I was familiar with the Acadian varieties, a beautiful, glowing gold-brown, BTW, so the other shades were a wonderful surprise. Have fun!!!
Hurray! As soon as I saw that top picture, I thought “but, did she wash it yet?” and kept scrolling with much anticipation. The post washing yarn is lovely!