First Dye Samples: Take Two

Amount woven Friday: 6.5"
Amount woven to date: 2 yards + 31"

I have finished dyeing the second set of samples of the colors I am going to use for mixing. In the photograph, you can see that in the second set of colors (those at the top of the photo) the colors are more intense than the colors in the first set (those at the bottom of the photo). The yellow-green is the exception. There is a slight intensification of the yellow-green in the second dye group noticeable to the eye, but on the whole it is pretty similar. With the other colors, however, the differences are quite noticeable. In real life these differences are even more obvious.

In the second set I also dyed an additional color: yellow. I decided to do this because I wanted to see what kinds of neutrals would result from combining this with violet. I want to compare them to the neutrals I get when I combine violet with yellow-green. Plans are still quite fluid!

There is a logic for my choice of colors. The logic is based on color choices derived from a square tetrad harmony of blue (the main color), yellow green, orange, and red violet. In my sampling, the blue is a bit on the greenish side and the orange is a bit on the red side. I have also added green and yellow, which are analogous to yellow green (they lie on either side of the yellow green on the color wheel).

Now I am not sure that the colors other than blue will appear in the weaving in their pure form. Their use is to create the neutrals that I will use for the blue to rise up against. Because these other colors are related to the blue in a specific way, the neutrals that result from the various complements should also relate in a pleasing way. We shall see!

The photo incidentally shows part of one of my record-keeping techniques for dyeing. I do have a big ring binder of colors on cards cut to fit in the ring-binder. Each of the large cards holds variations of one particular color.

But when I am dyeing samples for a specific project I use a different record-keeping technique. I make windings on a double layer of inexpensive poster board. I use two layers to give a more rigid piece to wind the yarn around. I glue the two layers together. On the back, I put a piece of double-faced sticky tape so that the yarn that I wind on has something to cling to. None of this is acid free, by the way, with the exception of the tape. I have no intention of keeping these samples forever. I do, however, keep them in a box in a closed cabinet so that light does not get to them to weaken the colors. Also, I punch a hole in the top of each card and connect them with a metal circle grip. Or, if I don't have one of those handy, I use a piece of yarn to join them.