Dye Samples

I wasn't sure exactly where to start, but I knew I was going to use a 1% solution. And, no, I didn't drink from my coffee cup after I was measuring out dye powder. That's only margaritas at Claudia's - but everyone knows that tequila neutralizes any dye that finds its way into your glass!



I used ten dyes from ProChem. Nine were Sabraset, the tenth was Washfast. After the first run through, I decided to drop black. I'll fiddle with adding small percentages of black later.



I used my clock reel to measure two yard lengths of 8/2 natural wool. I used 24 oz. of water and 1 TBSP of citric acid crystals and soaked for an hour.



I started using these measuring cups for each sample, but didn't want to have to wash them out between each batch. I ended up squirting the solution right into the ziplock freezer bags.



It took me four batches to steam all the packages. I need to put two tuna fish cans under the rack that came with the oven. I made do with a little veggie steamer under the rack, but it was a little unstable.



Here's were I wish I were a Virgo. I would have figured out all of this before hand. I wrote on each bag with the percentages, but how do I dry them without losing the info. So I punched a hole around two heavy paper plates, labeled each hole with a Sharpie and after rinsing each strand put it through the hole. Don't laugh at my stupidity, my back was killing me and the entire time I was berating myself enough for all of you. (disregard all evidence of margarita drinking - besides, that was so last year! It's all about Jack and me!)



Luckily that was only the first batch. Then I came up with the idea to use Tyvek envelopes and make tags. I had a bunch of Global Priority envelopes that I ordered by mistake. There is a caution to only use them for international use, so I figured I could spare some.



This was so much easier. The samples washed up easily and I just rolled them up in a towel then draped them over the rack. The sun is shining brightly into my studio and all is right with the world! One more batch to go.



I'm still trying to decide how to organize them. So far the plan is to use index paper and print up a chart with percentages and a two holes for the sample. Virgos, feel free to step in and tell me what to do.