How Betzi Dyes (the quick and dirty version)

I get so many questions about what I do and how I do it by people that I meet that I thought I would spend some time clearing things up. Today I'm going to give you a low-down on what I do. We'll call it...

Dyeing Wool 101,
or
"How Betzi pays for her Wool Habit"

First I should tell you that there are many different ways of dyeing wool, but the method I'll be using is called "space dyeing". I prefer using this method when the weather is nice, so I can stretch out, and I can enjoy the sun and fresh air.

Here is what you need for dyeing:

--wool
--acid dyes
--cheapy roasting pan
--vinegar
--squeezable ketchup containers
--vinyl tablecloth

Some people get freaked out by the term "acid" dyes. They aren't as menacing as they sound, and have almost the same pH as Kool Aid, which can also dye wool and which clocks in with a pH 3.0- 3.5. I prefer to use acid dyes over food dyes hands down. They colors are richer, more vibrant, and you have so much more control over how it looks. I really *do not* want to use natural dyes, given that you often need to use heavy metal and other pure-form chemicals (like Chrome) as a mordant. I prefer a huge $2 jug of vinegar any day.

But I digress. Lets just say that acid dyes are pretty safe.

I am also often asked where I get my wool from. Usually its an online wholesaler, but I actually prefer to buy from the Indie market. Much better customer service and you don't have to buy 50 pounds. Wool can come in many forms, but the most commonly used form for indie dyeing is called top which looks like a very long strip. Dyers often refer to top as roving, even though we know darn well its not right.

Already with all that out of the way, lets get started, shall we?

Before I do anything, I soak the wool. I like to let it soak up the sun as well as water, but of course that is just because my rovings love the sun. Usually 20-30 minutes is sufficient, but I often will forget about it and sometimes leave it for a couple of hours.

Next I choose what colors I want. Sometimes I have an idea of what I want, other times I just grab colors and let it happen organically. I almost always prefer the way the rovings turn out when I *don't* plan the colorways in advanced. I usually have some stock dyes already mixed up, ready to be diluted as needed. I pour the colors I will be using from the stock into the little ketchup squirt bottles and leave room for a glug of vinegar (which is used to fix the dye).

Dye stock, mixed and ready to make some magic:


I then lay a vinyl or plastic table cloth out on the grass. This will collect the excess dye and give me a smoother surface to work on. Don't worry, any dyes that leak onto the grass will not contaminate the ground water.

Next I squeeze most of the water out. It doesn't need to be sopping wet. If it is, your colors will blend as you start to paint. Then I squiggle the wool out on the table cloth in little lines, or I can also do it in a circle or in teenier squiggles or whateve. Each will give a different end effect once I stretch the roving out again.

Now comes the fun part! I get to paint away using the squirt bottles! You can do it Pollock-style and just stand over and "thwap" the color over your lovely blank canvas, or you can do nice solid blocks of color, ala Mondrian. In any case, think modern art and be inspired. This colorway wasn't planned, by the way. It just happened:



Once I'm all done playing I very gently pick up the wet roving and stick it in the roasting pan. In the kitchen I drain out a bunch of the water, being careful to leave just a bit in the bottom. I cover it up tightly with some foil and bake in a 350 oven for about 1/2 hour.

Keep in mind, it might look a little unappetizing. Don't worry, I am quite sure it wil end up just fine!



Take it out and let it cool. If I can, I let it cool overnight. The colors can really "cure" and you won't have a lot of excess dye run-off. Either way I'm very careful to rinse the roving with water that is the same temperatur as the damp roving. This prevents felting. Which is very very very bad. I then rinse until the water runs clear.

Next I either wring out the excess water, or stick the roving in a laundry bag and spin out the excess using the spin cycle of the washing machine. If its nice weather (like today)I hang it out to dry in the sun. My rovings love sun--did I mention that? While the finished rovings are hanging out to dry I cross my fingers and hope that the birds don't make off with bits of it for their nests.



I love how it floofs out after it is completely dry (which sometimes takes a couple of days in this climate!)

Once it is all happy and dry I photograph it, braid it or just smoosh it together and slap a label on it. Viola, now its ready for my Etsy shop!

Well thats about it in a nutshell. That is how Betzi dyes wool. If I forgot to cover something please post a comment and I'll do my best to answer any questions!


Everything Else

What else have I been up to, here in this charming mountaintop bungalow? Getting out of it, of course! Many mornings I wake up, throw on my shoes and head out the door. I love to see the sunrise at Jefferson Rock. Even though you can't see the sun itself, you can see the effect it has on the river, the bridge, the town itself. Here is what I see, which makes it so worth waking up literally before the crack of dawn:



Time permitting I hang out a little longer and wait for the sun to kiss Loudoun Heights, then slowly melt down the mountain. Or I keep on truckin and end up at the church ruins, where I can watch the trains come through the tunnels.


(the lights in the tunnel are the train of course!)

What really baffles me is that no one is there to see this but me. I am literally the only person there. Who on earth *wouldn't* want to see this? Apparently people who are sane enough to stay in bed, thats who! But I can't imagine that it's a scene that I will ever tire of. Every sunrise is different, and they are all spectacular. I have yet to be dissappointed.

What else? I'd like to take this opportunity to reiterate how much I adore this house. I love everything about it. And just when you think it can't get any better, you suddenly have a concert out your front door!

Yup, our friend(and landlord as it happens) told us abut the annual jazz concert taking place right across the street--the Don Redmond Heritage Concert--and of course we were excited. Plans were promptly made to grill, share some brews and great conversation. I think we met just about every single person in the neighborhood and beyond. It was a great evening and I'm thrilled of course to get to know everyone a little better. I took a metric ton of pics, but instead of posting them here I will direct you to my Flickr account, where they reside happily unobtrusive. If you are on Facebook, you might already know most of them. I realize that not a metric ton made the cut. Suffice it to say my camera settings were off and sadly I lost some really great shots.

That's it for now! Let me leave you with a video of one of my favorite songs. I have it in my head every time I leave the house to watch the sunrise, and everytime I hear it, I find new meaning in its deceptively airy lyrics. To those of you who aren't too blue to fly: