Between working with hand-dyed yarns and now ink samples, they way I see color has evolved over the years. So I’m especially tickled when the ink samples I’m working with (yellows and golds) match my new project!
Yarn: Miss Babs Yowza in Old Gold
Inks: Robert Oster Honey Bee and Franklin-Christoph Honeycomb
Laura,
Have you ever tried to dye yarn with ink? : )
Ruth
No. I haven’t tried to dye yarn with ink. I have had some inky accidents though because I’m clumsy. Luckily, most fountain pen ink is water soluble so if caught and rinsed quickly it won’t stain.
I have dyed yarn with Kool-Aid! That’s super easy and really fun.
I have done this, it works super well! The process is similar to dyeing with food colouring. If the ink is composed of different dyes they can separate when you dip-dye, leading to super cool effects. You can screen inks for this potential by looking up chromatography pictures of them, or doing a quick test on a paper towel yourself.
EK,
How do you get the ink to stay put?
Ruth
Same as when dyeing with food colouring, the combination of heat and vinegar makes the dye (ink) bond to the yarn. It does not wash out. This only works with wool and nylon, for other fibres you need a different technique.
Ah. I have been trying to get ink to stay in cotton.
No. The closest I came was I did try to dye yarn with tea!
P.S. How has the way you see colour changed? I think that writing with all these different inks has sharpened my perception somewhat. Someone should do a study of how working with colour affects the brain.
Stunning!!!
So what are you knitting? Probably not a beehive, although that would go with the theme 🙂
It’s going to be a baby blanket, knit from the center outwards. I will eventually share it on my Instagram, but the mom and dad-to-be follow me, so not until after I’ve given it to them. 🙂
I love this, Laura and Ana!
I frequently see and look for ink/yarn similarities. Recently finished a sweater (after starting it years ago!), knit with absolutely gorgeous, soft indigo blue alpaca. I ended up with a swatch card full of inks, as I searched for the closest match. I think the color falls somewhere between Iroshizuku Ajisai, Birmingham Celestial Blue, and likely Diamine Cornflower (though I still haven’t tracked down a sample of that one). Amazing how different inks can appear to be the closest matches to the yarn, depending on lighting, fibers, texture and other factors.
I look for matches for things in nature, too, as the seasons change: leaves, flowers, berries, mushrooms, sky, snow, etc. A sample swap with a pen friend recently yielded a perfect match for something, which is both fun and satisfying.
As Ruth said above, I think that working with the nuance of all these colors has helped sharpen my perception of them.
There’s a new book about color that I am looking forward to reading: “Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern,” by Adam Rogers. May be interesting to others here, too.
JennyG,
Oooh: I'll have to find a copy of that book!
Ruth