Monday, January 4, 2016

Mixed-Up Monday: Fuchsia

Happy New Year gang!   Mixed Up Mondays are back!  We're kicking things off with fuchsia.  Fuchsia is a vivid purplish red color.   It is named after the flower of the fuchsia plant.



What you'll need:
gloves
wool: fiber or yarn
acid: citric or vinegar
acid dyes: magenta and turquoise.  Black, brown, yellow are optional.  (how to mix dye stock)
dye pot: stainless steel or crock pot
measuring spoons

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

Soak the wool in some room temp tap water.

Add 1/2 tsp citric acid (or 1 TB vinegar) to the dye pot.

Next, add 2 TB Magenta dye stock to the pot.

Then add 1 tsp Turquoise dye stock.

I then add 1 oz of damp wool to the pot making sure it is fully submerged.
Cover and heat on low for about 20 minutes.  Water will be clear when done.
Let cool.
Prepare rinse baths, one with a few drops of textile detergent or Blue Dawn, the other with plain tap water.  Soak a few minutes in each bath.
Hang dry.


A pretty shade of fuchsia.  Not too girly, and a little more subtle than a "hot pink".


Variations:

Here, I added 1/2 tsp of yellow dye stock to the main recipe.  It tones the color down to a cranberry shade.

Adding 1 tsp of Brown dye stock will darken it and warm it up a little.

Adding in extra Turquoise, 1 tsp, will deepen the color toward the purple side.


I added 1/2 tsp of Black dye stock to darken it.  The color is more of a plum shade.




Have fun and keep on dyeing!

xo

Next on Mixed-Up Monday, 1/18:  olive green

9 comments:

  1. Love all things fibre dyeing. Thanks so much for your mixed-up Mondays!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love all things fibre dyeing. Thanks so much for your mixed-up Mondays!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonderful color! How do you decide how much of each color to add together to get what you want? Is it all trial and error? You do it beautifully!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, at the beginning it was a lot of trial and error. :) With practice, you'll be able to see a color and figure out what primaries to add to the dyepot. :)

      Delete
  4. Hi Laurs! I love your blog! Will you be posting more??

    ReplyDelete