Natural Dye Workshop 7
7/11/2008 10:08am by Eugene Wyatt
Indigo Blue, Part 3: Overdyeing Secondary Colors
Ember
Sunset
To get the Ember we wanted for Laura and Jen we began with Sunset. According to the latest color theory, there are three primary colors: red, yellow and blue; combining these primaries, each with each, produces secondary colors: green, orange and violet. With this or any color theory there are as many caveats and exceptions as there are colors, but for our purposes, working in color reality, we can depend on the absolute fact that two colors combine to produce a third color. Using indigo blue to overdye (combine with) red produces violet, and using it to overdye yellow produces green. But combining all three primaries, red, yellow and blue, together at once produces a gray, and this is what we must do to get the Ember that Laura and Jen want.
Sunset is an orange hue that comes from combining the red of madder and the yellow of fustic. When we overdye Sunset with the blue of indigo, we get the gray called Ember. But we must be cautious when overdyeing because Ember consists of visible variations of orange, blue and gray. If we keep Sunset in the indigo bath for too long, or if the bath is too strong, the result will be a flat, monochromatic gray or dull blue and we will lose the varied colors that we're looking for.
Sunset is an orange hue that comes from combining the red of madder and the yellow of fustic. When we overdye Sunset with the blue of indigo, we get the gray called Ember. But we must be cautious when overdyeing because Ember consists of visible variations of orange, blue and gray. If we keep Sunset in the indigo bath for too long, or if the bath is too strong, the result will be a flat, monochromatic gray or dull blue and we will lose the varied colors that we're looking for.
We approach Ember with a series of light dips in the indigo bath, layering one upon another and getting darker shades with each successive layer. After each dip (waiting for the indigo to darken as it oxidises) we evaluate how far away we are from our target color and determine how long the next dip will be. Time in the bath is measured in minutes, sometimes in seconds and usually in breaths. This is where experience, skill, guessing, luck and acceptance combine as art.
Wet skeins of Sunset are lowered into the indigo bath. The initial dip will be from one to two minutes.
Yarn in the bath is kept in constant motion. The temperature of the bath is 130 degrees Fahrenheit, or very warm to the touch.
A first dip of Ember is pulled from the bath to oxidise in the air. Several more dips will follow.
Next: Overdyeing primary colors with indigo
I'm awaiting a reply from the knitter for a reference to the pattern. I'll post it for you when I know.
Thanks,
Eugene
What a generous website! I have found your dye workshops very helpful.
Great photos.
I work @ the Green Mtn Sinnery and have tied many a dye tie for you. It's rewarding to see the lovely results.
Thanks!
So you're the one up there in Vermont doing those nice dye ties for me, thank you.
I'm happy you like the photos and the dye workshops are of use to you, if you have any questions...my 'advice' is even more generous than my website ;-)
We're just about to venture into acid dyes and I plan to chronicle that color adventure in as a workshop too.
Take care...