Dyeing as if the Earth Mattered
STUDENT SUPPLY LIST
- Felt tip marker, bold point
- Large bucket and a small bucket ; measuring cups and a whisk
- Apron and substantial rubber gloves that will protect your hands from hot water.
- I need to know the water quality of your region: soft or hard? If the water is soft we can use tap water…if the water is hard then every person will need to bring 6- 8 gallons of distilled water
- One roll of masking tape...a heavy gauge tape either blue or neutral, both work well. It is best if the role is sturdy, not the paper-thin variety that rips easily when exposed to handling during and after dyeing.
- One pair of scissors which will be useful for a variety of tasks.
- Glue stick as needed or one roll of double-stick tape.
- One set of measuring spoons, a calculator and a kitchen timer
- One roll of paper towels (for spills, etc.), two-three large cloth towels dedicated to drawing moisture out of the dyed skeins to speed-up the drying process.
- Gallon jugs with lids for taking home extra dye; large buckets that are thick-walled work as well. Make sure to bring a lid for the bucket and if using gallon containers of water, reserve the lid.
- Everyone should have access to a large salad spinner....there is so much yarn to wash and extract......at least one for every team of two is essential (8 salad spinners total). We have skeined 420 skeins of wool and 420 skeins of silk boucle. This is a large quantity of yarn to process: we will need to measure, dye and rinse all of these skeins which need to be tagged after dyed & dried.
- Daily schedule: workshop begins @ 9:30 each day and ends @ 5:30. A 30-45 minute lunch break works best….beginning @ 12:30.
- We need 8-9 drying racks that are made of non-reactive material such as stainless. The IKEA metal racks are great. Otherwise if only wooden racks are available they will need to be covered with plastic wrap or thin masking tape so the dye stains do not contaminate the wood.
- Depending on the weather and the layout of the facilities, we can dry outside in the shade or inside if left overnight...a few hair dryers work well to speed-up the process.
- One thermometer per person: the instant type with a metal probe works well, glass thermometers are not recommended because they are prone to breakage.
- One box of gallon zip-lock bags for transporting wet and dry dyed skeins. A mind-set for exploration....I look forward to working with all of you
Earthues Supplies the Following
- Earthues has created a complete and extensive notebook with instructions for scouring and mordanting as well as detailed information on formula development for all of the dye combinations that are listed in the manuscript. Each participant will receive a copy of this notebook.
- Earthues will provide all powdered extracts required for the workshop. In addition, there will be dye extracts available for sale during the workshop. Students will receive a discount on supplies when they are purchased on site.
- Earthues will provide complete instructions on the indigo over-dyeing process, oxidizing techniques and the neutralizing of both silk and wool (due to the high pH that indigo requires). Such information is necessary to maintain the sheen of silk and the strength of wool. Earthues uses special processes to enhance the hand of dyed yarns. All of this information will be included in the manuscript.
- Every student will be given a small sample packet of each of the natural dyes in their raw material state.
- Earthues provides a listing of botanical images, their Latin names and the range of dye colors they make. The characteristics of each dye will be discussed during the workshop, including the color differences between alum and alum with Cream of tartar as mordants. Earthues will have samples to show the color variations given different mordanting processes.
- Continuous facilitation of the dye process, including a discussion of the color theory and chemistry of extract combinations in order to achieve unique colors.
- Complete indigo instructions will be discussed in detail to assure success when over dyeing with indigo on previously dyed skeins.
- As well, discussions on the differences between silk and wool with respect to color absorption and subtle color nuances obtained with the plant dye extracts.
- Earthues provides all of the yarns for the workshop prepared in advance for dyeing, including: skeined and mordanted (potassium aluminum sulfate) hanks of both wool and silk yarns.
