Dyeing Archives - Nangellini

Posted on February 7, 2021February 7, 2021 by Nancy

Kinesthetic vs. Visual Learning or Keep doing it ’til you See.

A wee bit of the snow dyeing process

I guess I have always considered myself a visual learner, primarily. I know we all learn visually, auditorily AND kinesthetically but lately it has become clear that I learn by DOING. and Doing and doing…

Iterations.

This weekend I dyed. Not just good ol’ dye and water and fabric(+chemicals and stuff), but SNOW and more SNOW and that whole “trickle down” theory we have heard about for years. Well this is what it is really about. The snow (or ice if you are in Miami or Summertime someplace) melts. (Not smelts, as my hands really want to type, which is a fish and I am not sure how good-eating it is, but you can always use it for bait.)

Yes it MELTS and trickles down which creates complex and chaotic and interesting results. To coax the water and dye into some form of order and design, you can arrange the fabric and garments by folding simple or intricate patterns, by scrunching the fabric into folds and mountains and valleys, and by twisting lengths of fabric, scarves and cowls into rope-like pieces that in turn, twist up upon themselves. These and more manipulations create fascinating and symmetrical variations and oft-times repeating patterns.

Here are some examples:

This weekend’s batch was some test swatches, some finished cowls and some pieces of fabric 2-5 yards long.

Some of the swatches are here:

I considered over-dyeing some of the lighter results, but actually like the discernible foreground and background as I perceive it. I know as I continue to design and make* garments and accessories, I will ice/snow dye again and achieve different and more intentional and (somewhat) consistent results.

Ultimately the visual parts of my brain determine what I learn through the process but I must keep doing this again and again to really witness the the effects of the changes… and the knowledge is cumulative…after a certain threshold, something kicks in and sorts all the data on my behalf and interpolates it into usable impulses and ideas. The result is–I learn, I make more and (one hopes) I evolve.

* make = sew or have sewn, in the case of the cowls above, my dear friend Cheryl and I have been collaborating and she has sewn these into being! I am grateful to work with friends on manifesting gorgeous creations!

Below, some of the finished pieces of my weekend foray into ice dyeing. More definitely to come.

Posted on December 18, 2020December 18, 2020 by Nancy

More Turquoise (and Cerulean)

I am taking a weaving class Understanding Overshot with Janet Dawson (https://weavingwithjanetdawson.thinkific.com/) and I need more turquoise for the warp as well as the tabby weft (this project takes 2 wefts, one for tabby/background and one thicker for the pattern. Lots. Well, I had lots of 8/2 rayon and 10/2 cotton dyed already, but not really enough of any color. I had 3,000 yards of turquoise in 3 shades so I figured that was plenty if I did a gradient…until I remembered I like to make long warps. The class only requires 5 yards but I wanted to do 10 of course.

Long story short, I wound and dyed some more turquoise but as I got started I realized I was not certain it was in fact turquoise and not cerulean blue. I did both, as well as some bronze and a shade of brown the name of which I cannot remember. The top of jar had “Great Color” written in Sharpie (??)

I did the yarn in all the blue shades and two pieces of rayon/synthetic blend fabric, one was Devore velvet (acid etched) with rayon velvet on nylon, I believe, potentially to be sewn into infinity scarves later. Additionally I grabbed two big hanks of natural cotton, plied light and dark shades, just for kicks.

Just wanted to shoot the fabric draped. These have not been sewn at all yet, but I was eager to see how the dye took to the fabric and how they would work out. I ironed them a bit to dry the fabric, but hey may be a skosh lighter when fully dry.

In other news, I finally photographed some shawls here and knit a few fun hats! I cannot stop creating, but getting them photographed and listed is the big challenge!

All the Flowers Handspun Yarn

$28.00

Add to cart
Harvest Rusty Violets Handspun Yarn

$38.00

Add to cart
Product on sale

Pinky Delight Handspun Beret

Original price was: $81.00.Current price is: $64.00.

Add to cart
Product on sale

Ruby Jewels Wrap Shawl

Original price was: $255.00.Current price is: $125.00.

Add to cart

More to come soon, in the mean time, do something you love today! Make some colorful fun!

Happy Whatever you Celebrate & Lots of Love to you,

Share some love today!

Posted on October 6, 2020October 6, 2020 by Nancy

Another Dye Day

I got a mess of Rambouillet and lots of Leicester Longwool locks so it was time, and inspiration struck…like a mulit-colored barrel of monkeys.

Here are the results, and I learned some things along the way. For one, I learned I should wash the locks a few more times before dyeing to get a little more lanolin out of them. What I did was to dye them while still in larger clumps with still some lanolin in them, and then I rewashed them with really hot water and Dawn after the fact. I did some in the larger clumps which seem fine but not as de-lanolined as the ones I did tonight where I picked them open and then re-washed them and they are now drying. I will note in the pictures which are which. I will use it all and make fun yarns regardless of how they were done.

These were when I first dyed the Leicester Longwool lock.

These I photographed through the bags, I re-washed the locks in larger clumps and they really show the curls.

These are the locks after I picked them open and separated them, then washed them again, spun them in lingerie bags and picked them open to dry; they are still a little wet in the pics.

Then we have the lovely and yummy Rambouillet top, which is so soft and delicious! (It’s high in fiber and low in calories!) –/-

The hat in the middle is the perfect example of what can become of these braids of fiber!

And in the process, some art happens along the way:

My favorite thing to do with the hand spun bouclé locks and Rambouillet is to create these fun left-over hats with several yarns together. I will make another post sharing images of these recent hats. Stay tuned.

Posted on August 23, 2020August 24, 2020 by Nancy

Recent Pieces

I started a shawl swatch to see how I liked my recent hand dyed yarns. One was a 3 strand novelty cotton combination and the second one here was 100% cellulose paper yarn. After a bit I realized the shawl was not going to work out so well, so I was playing with folding and arranging the piece into an embellishment, flower or something…It totally made me want to try hyperbolic crochet with the paper yarn. See below!

The result of the hyperbolic crochet edging play is shown here, basket is paper yarn carried with 3 strand novelty cotton yarn. I used a J hook for most of the basket. I switched to g for last couple rounds. Edging is just the paper yarn. Both yarns hand dyed by me.

I started edging with 3dc in each stitch around, about 3/4 of the way around the basket, and finished the round with 2sc in each remaining stitch. Then with a bigger hook (a K hook I believe) I did 2sc in each stitch of the ruffle. The last round was one hdc in each stitch around. IT ruffles quite a bit and I like having the open edge of it although I am not sure of the practical application of the opening, I am sure there is one!

I dyed 10/2 mercerized cotton, some cotton t-shirt yarn which was constructed as a knitted tube, a 3-strand combination of novelty cottons skeined together, and some paper yarn (100% cellulose). Oh and some silk, too!

Here are some pictures of the yarns.

Hats are my comfort food. I’ve said so for years. Here are two recent completions. Both were Noro wool/silk blend yarns. Red blend is entrelac, the blue shades one is a lace rib pattern I devised extemporaneously. The afterthought crochet flower makes me very happy!