Tuesday, May 27, 2008

STATIC ELECTRICITY

In the process of dyeing the yellows I discovered that this silk carries a tremendous amount of static electricity.  When I went to put the dry skeins into the soaking solution those yarns danced the merriest of dances in their attempts both to avoid the water and to avoid each other.   Perhaps this static electricity plays into the problems I have been having with skeins in general and with the little bumps and loops in the fabric?

Related Posts:

Trouble in Paradise
That Badly Snarled Skein of Yarn

© 2008

4 comments:

Taueret said...

hmm, I thought I commented on your yellows yesterday, but Blogger has always hated me! That is kind of cool that you are going to be weaving with wild, whippy, slithery electric silk.

Susan said...

Hi Peg...I use a lot of silk and that has happened to me as well. The twisting up on itself can be a hassle. Little coils of twisted weft that get hidden as you weave along. I have used a super fine mist of water on a snarly warp. It stops most of the static. I have also wound bobbins through a damp towel and that helped as well. It's also a time when a precisely tensioned EDS will also help as only the right amount of yarn comes off as you throw. But it's not just silks that do this, but linen as well! The tricks above have helped there too.

Do you presoak / prewash your silks in Orvus paste? I let the silk soak for a number of hours to eure complete saturation as you can still get those annoying white spots.

Susan
Duncan, BC

Peg in South Carolina said...

Yes, Susan, the more I read your comment the more I started to think about linen! With linen I used to soak the (plastic) pirns overnight. As for dyeing, yes, I soak overnight, though these tiny 50-yd skeins I have been soaking for only 2-3 hours. The only time I have trouble with white spots is when I have a figure-of-eight tied just a bit too tight.
Taueret. your description "wild, whippy, slithery........" has left me with a great big smile!

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