Dyeing for a Copper Patina 2 ways

Although they look very similar, these are 2 skeins dyed with the same color way with 2 different methods in the same pot. 

I am branching out on my own this time in terms of color choices.

I found this very helpful color mixing tool on the Wilton's website.  I decided to use Teal and Orange, mixed from the little bottles of color drop-by-drop with Wilton's Color Right Color Performance  System.

Teal Color Mixing Recipe
6 drops blue
1 drop yellow

Summer Orange Color Mixing Recipe
18 drops orange
12 drops yellow
4 drops red
1 drop brown
[I added an additional 1 drop of red
and 1 drop of crimson, so it wouldn't be so bright.]

Along with 2 T. white vinegar in the dye pot.  I may have added more later ...

My first thought was to dye a loosely wound ball of yarn, partially submerged in the dye pot, with just the tip sticking out still white.  Then I could go back later and dye that remaindered top part orange or copper for a nice variegation.

I wanted to use the same colors on another skein of yarn, stretched long and space-dyed in the crock pot.  The crock pot still had another project processing in it.   I was running out of time this morning with company coming this afternoon. Yikes!

 

So as the partially submerged ball was soaking up a nice teal-ly copper patina green on the stove top, I plopped in the 2nd skein of yarn to soak up some of the remaining dye in the pot.  Less green by then and more turquoise -- and more pastel.  I left the top of the skein hanging out of the pot so I could also dye that orange / copper when I get to processing that color.

The original summer orange that I had mixed seemed to be a little too bright (a little too Kool Aid?), so I added an additional drop of red, and then an additional drop of crimson to darken it up and make it a little more rusty.

The transitional color is a lot ore interesting than I thought it would be.  Now I wish I had dyed more of the fiber with the crossover transitional mixed teal and orange.  

 This is from the skein that was dyed in a hank, rather than the loose ball. 

The loosely-wound skein of yarn was Yarn Bee brand, 50% merino, part acrylic, and part nylon.  It was one of the skeins I'd purchased while trying to identify one I'd use as my standard base for all this dyeing.  I didn't think the acrylic part of the fiber would take the acid dyes, but it took surprisingly well!   Not sure I'll ever use this stuff again, as I prefer the Marly Bird Sheep Chic 100% merino--which is what the 2nd skein is.

 

The loosly-wound ball was so loosely wound that it was coming apart through the dyeing process.  I was a little afraid I'd have a tangled mess to unravel.  Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be too bad to unravel.  At this point it was still somewhat damp.  It's difficult to get the ball to dry completely without unwinding it.    The next step was to wind it into a ball--just to tame it, and then we could use the skein winder to get it into a long skein that could be hung up to dry. 

I was pleased to see that the teal color had indeed penetrated through to the center of the ball.  I must have been running out of patience and time with the orange side.  I had it tied off / bound just to keep the teal end mostly out of the orange dye water-that's why you see ore white on the orange side.

 This is how the colors spread out once the loose ball was skeined.    The white integrates nicely into the whole.

  

Here is one of the reference videos demonstrating a similar technique from Rebecca at ChemKnit's DyePot Weekly video series, though she wound hers into a loose ball, and dyed it more-or-less half-and-half. 

This was another site I consulted before trying this technique, from The Impatient Dyer for Skillet Dyeing Cakes of yarn.   I'll have to explore this technique a little more ...