thetextilealchemist:

Part two of my White Wolf Fian adventure: dyeing the handspun silk

I finished spinning and plying my tussah silk, coming in at 1420m when I need at least 1100m (and also weighing less than 200g, so I might have misplaced a bobbin of spinning somewhere), just in time to dye it this weekend with Actual Alchemist Friend. It was our first time dyeing with cochineal (a parasitic scale insect native to Central- and South America), so we weren’t sure what to expect.

We ground the bugs to powder, steeped them overnight, then stewed and strained out the liquor for the dyebath about five times till we’d extracted as much colour as we could. The fibres soaked for about an hour in alum and cream of tartar to intensify the colour, then they went into the dyebath for about a half hour, going from pink to purple about halfway through. Then they were thoroughly rinsed in cold water and hung to dry, then balled off (prompting Questions from some neighbours who get to witness my various balcony crafts)

I was technically aiming for more of a red (the Eleanor of Toledo stockings I’m making are usually described as crimson), but this fuchsia is so stunning that I have no complaints whatsoever. One snag was that, though I tied it very loosely, the nylon securing my skeins twisted and tightened, causing some tie-dyeing of the skeins. This may or may not be noticeable once knit, but seeing as the skeins were all the same size it should at least be mostly regular.