OMG WHAT DID I DO?!?!

[Belladune]

okay, well, I know what I did.... I tried to make brown.  FAIL.   I need to know if I can fix this?  Can it be re-dyed, or does that risk felting it?

I'll have to admit, its not a total failure,  I do like the violet and blue that came out of it, but the "brown", if you can call it that, is pukerific!




ps... ignore the fact that we are replacing our flooring....... >.>

[Shadeweaver]

You sure can over-dye it, just don't boil it or agitate it.  I have issues with browns, blacks and purples.  Each color from your base will be absorbed at different rates, depending on what dyes you are using. Usually, it will be yellows, reds, then blues.  If you want all the color to be absorbed you need to wait longer.  Make sure you water is nearly totally depleted of color.  My next step with difficult colors is to steam the wool in a plastic wrap to set the color, that way it doesn't wash out during the rinse.

What kind of dye did you use and what was your technique ... that might better help pin point what to do differently next time.

Shade

[Belladune]

I used wiltons food coloring ( about 1/8th tsp), with vinear and water ( I used a 50-50 mix, yes overdoing it... but better safe then sorry right?)  And i did "hand paint" it,  with wiltons brown and Wiltons violet.   Then wraped in saran, and steamed it for a good 40mins+ .    so the violet turned purple and blue, which I like.  So I'll probably just start my process over and maybe just dye the brown... but what might go over that?  red?  and would it make a nice brownish red?  might look awful with the purple....  Bleh!  Maybe now, sugestions as to color that would look great with the purple and blue, that will go over , or turn the brown a nicer color.  pls and tnx

oh I forgot to mention that I soak my wool in hot water (with a tiny bit of soap) for abbout an hr before I dye it.

[Miss Violaceous]

I think it would look nice spun up. I'd give it a whirl as-is and then overdye the yarn afterwards if you still hate it.

[squambo]

I think it's pretty

[crankydinosaur]

I used wiltons food coloring ( about 1/8th tsp), with vinear and water ( I used a 50-50 mix, yes overdoing it... but better safe then sorry right?)  And i did "hand paint" it,  with wiltons brown and Wiltons violet.   Then wraped in saran, and steamed it for a good 40mins+ .    so the violet turned purple and blue, which I like.  So I'll probably just start my process over and maybe just dye the brown... but what might go over that?  red?  and would it make a nice brownish red?  might look awful with the purple....  Bleh!  Maybe now, sugestions as to color that would look great with the purple and blue, that will go over , or turn the brown a nicer color.  pls and tnx

oh I forgot to mention that I soak my wool in hot water (with a tiny bit of soap) for abbout an hr before I dye it.

do you think this method would work on cotton balls? Did you use white vinegar? Does the fabric bleed at all?

[Belladune]

I suppose it might work on cotton.  i've only ever done it to wool.  And so far i have had no bleeding or dye come off on my hands while spinning.  I've yet to make and wash anything from all this yarn I've dyed with wiltons.  It takes a few good rinses to most of the dye out, and even the stuff I gave up on (getting all the dye out) still does not leave any color on my hands.  Oh and yes.  White vinegar.  my ratio of 50/50 vinegar and water is overkill.  you can get away with 25/75 I believe.   i've also used coffee and red wine vinegar, you get a redish coffee stain type brown when you do that!

[Shadeweaver]

I used wiltons food coloring ( about 1/8th tsp), with vinear and water ( I used a 50-50 mix, yes overdoing it... but better safe then sorry right?)  And i did "hand paint" it,  with wiltons brown and Wiltons violet.   Then wraped in saran, and steamed it for a good 40mins+ .    so the violet turned purple and blue, which I like.  So I'll probably just start my process over and maybe just dye the brown... but what might go over that?  red?  and would it make a nice brownish red?  might look awful with the purple....  Bleh!  Maybe now, sugestions as to color that would look great with the purple and blue, that will go over , or turn the brown a nicer color.  pls and tnx

oh I forgot to mention that I soak my wool in hot water (with a tiny bit of soap) for abbout an hr before I dye it.

do you think this method would work on cotton balls? Did you use white vinegar? Does the fabric bleed at all?

You will only get a faint stained color on  cotton ... you will not get deep, bright or strong colors.  Basically it stains it and does not dye it.

[Belladune]

okay. So I overdyed it with black and then just gave up on it ever looking nice.  This is what it turned into






but then I just decided to spin it, because i didn't think it would ever turn into nice roving, and it had already started to felt and I didn't want to risk anymore felting.  and amazingly it turned into this:




So I guess it wasn't a complete bust.  I will likely ply it with something dark , so the millions of colors really pop!

[WMA]

I didn't think it was bad to start off with but it spun up beautifully! And I don't see the orange-y brown you hated so much in the yarn at all. I think it will look great plied with something dark too.
I think dyeing can be very serendipitous. I've done some wool and yarn but I first started dyeing using shibori techniques on silk. I would have the silk all tied, wrapped, clamped etc. and put some colors on and it would look just awful, but then after steaming, etc. I would unwrap a thing of beauty that I wasn't expecting! I'm finding the same to be true of dyeing roving...I usually don't like the roving after it's been dyed but I love it once it's spun!