Some dyeing log entries

3/19/11
Lavender pink:
Tied 8 oz BFL in knots, did not presoak.
1 tsp red
1 tsp blue
1 tsp yellow
1 tsp citric acid
1/2 hour near-boil.
It came out nice.

While still in the dyewater in the pot. I didn't get a photo of it after drying.

3/22/11
And I probably screwed up the above.

I put a tsp of red in the pot with 1/2 lb of dry BFL tied up, heated it for over half an hour, took that out and let it cool in the sink.

The dye water was not exhausted so I added 1/2 tsp of yellow, ~1/8 tsp blue, and some more squirts of red liquid. It's a nice avocado green, based on the sample I put on the coffee filter. I tied up the lavender-pink-white and put it in the green. I don't know how this will come out. I don't expect a good outcome.

4/1/11
So the avocado over lavender actually did come out quite well.

ETA: I like how there are still plenty of bits that are pink; and it's a really nice pink, almost like a young rose. And the greens are good too, not too kelly or anything. And I like the parts that almost remained undyed. They got a little color in them, but pale enough for my taste. I wasn't sure about this when it first came out, but I'm happy with it now. I wonder how it will spin up? I would like to keep it to spin myself, although I'm listing it on the Etsy shop; but I can't say how I would spin it, or especially how I'd ply it.

The red, meanwhile, was a bit plain. The parts I tied up were hardly white at all, as the dye was so strong that it seeped in and there was very little masking.

Tonight I mixed 1 part red and 2 parts yellow, and separately 1 part red and 1 part blue (of the premixed liquid dyes), and put them on the red after soaking it. Then I microwaved it (3 min on, 3 min off, times 3). I did it in 4-oz lengths so I alternated the two pieces in the microwave. It's in the strainer now, and it looks (in wet form) like it will be quite pretty. Hard to tell when it's wet.