Mixed-Up Monday: Emerald

  The color of the day is emerald.  Emerald is a vibrant green with a slight blue cast.  It is most often associated with its gemstone, of course.  When I think of the color emerald, I think Christmas decorations....and the Wizard of Oz.

What you'll need:

Gloves
Wool: yarn or fiber, animal based
Acid: citric or vinegar
Dye solutions: turquoise, yellow, magenta, brown, black
Dyepot: stainless steel or crockpot

I'll be dyeing up 1 oz bundles of mixed breed wool combed top.

Gather your wool and soak in some room temp water until saturated.

Add a few inches of water to the pot, enough to cover the wool or yarn you'll be using.

Add 1/2 tsp citric acid or 3 tsp vinegar.  I'm using more acid than I normally do since I'll be working with turquoise dye which is really stubborn.   I'll be showing it who's boss!

Add 2 TB (30 ml) turquoise dye stock to the pot.

Then add 1 TB yellow dye stock.  (15 ml)

Add wool to the pot making sure it is completely submerged.  

Cover and heat on low for 30 minutes.  Dye water should be almost clear when done. 

If there is still lot of dye in the water you can heat for a bit longer.  Check every 10 minutes.  

You can also add more acid (up to 1/2 tsp citric) if your turquoise is being extra stubborn.  

Let this cool and then prepare your soak baths.  One with room temp water and a few drops of textile detergent or Blue Dawn.   The last bath should be just plain water.  

Let dry and then bundle it up!

This had to be one of the most difficult colors to photograph.  The photo is close but still not an exact match.   Every photo had a weird halo or was too washed out.   It is a really bright saturated green in real life.  You'll just have to test out the recipe to see the true color!  :)

Variations:

Add 1 tsp of magenta dye stock to tone it down.

Add 1 TB brown dye stock to warm it up to forest green.

Adding 1 tsp of black will darken it and cool the color just a little.

You can also play around with the amount of dye you use.  Here I used the same ratio of 2 to1 but only added 1 tsp turq and 1/2 tsp of yellow to get a mint color.

Have fun stirring up colors!

XO

Next on Mixed-Up Monday:  Gray