Thursday, October 01, 2020

Dyeing to Weave +Art Play

After dyeing the warp for my loom and absolutely loving it, I decided to dye a couple of skeins of thread/yarn.  A yarn swift is a device to wind skeins of yarn - and also to put a skein on to wind it into balls.  Setting up my swift,  I wound two skeins of yarn.  One was a white rayon or cotton/rayon blend, I am not sure which.  The other was a gray cotton.  
Both were dyed with the same colors in the same dye bath.  But viva la difference!  

The photos don't show it as well as it looks in person. The gray is much more muted and has no shine. While the white has a beautiful sheen and the colors are far more jewel toned.  Both of them will were allowed to dry after dyeing.  Then, one at a time, they were put back on the swift and rolled into balls using a ball winder.  These are center pull balls which means they are a bit easier to use without rolling around or getting tangled. 
The swift looks like this 

The ball winder looks like this 

I did one fun little art exercise from a book.  I realized later that the author intentionally painted two paintings that worked together for her version.   I took two not so great paintings from my stack of "what do I do with these" paintings.  I cut them into strips, keeping them in order and wove them together. Thus I created a woven painting - combining two of my hobbies into one. 

I put a mat over it to crop it a bit.  I wish I had photos of both pieces prior to the slicing.  I do not think it will win any awards, but it was an interesting exercise. 



Until Next Time,  
Stay Creative 


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7 comments:

A Left-Handed Quilter said...

WOW - what a difference in the two! I'm sure they will both work up nicely - but it's interesting to see the difference. Your "woven" art play is a terrific way to use two older pieces - they look like you planned it that way all along - ;))

Barbara said...

Indeed so different, and both so beautiful! I’ve seen the winder things in shoos, so good to have your own. What fun, a new thing - woven painting! I may try it. 😄

Kathleen said...

I love how different skeins of dyed yarn look! I am sure they will be gorgeous when worked up.

Debbie said...

Great dye experiment. I would say that the brighter ball is the cotton /rayon blend for sure. Rayon will take dye and does give a sheen to the weave. But the muted one is so pretty! Love the softness in the color and subtle variation of values in these.

Vicki W said...

The same thing happens with different fabrics but both are beautiful. I've never tried dyeing yarns or threads but I do have a ball winder from my old machine knitting days!

Quilting Gail said...

Thanks for showing us the difference in the colours ... I'm sure you'll find a use for both of them!

Rhonda said...

Hummmmmmmmm love both....the colors are very subtle.