Despite my hopes, I did not get to spend the day dyeing fiber. We were out of dog food, needed groceries, had to go to the bank, the hardware. None of those were compatible with anything I wanted to do, yet all needed done. I did get the dyeing prepwork done.
Those are all 1% stock solutions of acid dyes from Dharma Trading. From left to right:
- 602 Bright Yellow
- 601 Sun Yellow
- 617 Cherry Red
- 620 Hot Fuschia
- 623 Brilliant Blue
- 624 Turquoise
- 639 Jet Black
I have black plus two sets of primaries – two blues, two yellows, two reds. In practice, no dye is a completely pure color, so the two primaries mix differently. Turquoise and Bright Yellow make a different green than Brilliant Blue and Sun Yellow. With these seven dyes, I can mix any color I want. Even using black is strictly unnecessary, but quite convenient.
This is pretty much the only time I use the skills I learned in all those semesters of chemistry: scale, graduated cylinder, funnel, spoons, measuring and mixing accurately and precisely. Though I did learn that if you spill Cherry Red stock solution all over the floor, it looks just as if someone had a terrible accident. So maybe not so accurate.
One response to “In pursuit of color”
Pipettes are my personal favorite.