Lilac Love Letters

With holiday deals zipping around my inbox in the last week, I decided to get some ready-to-dye yarn and try my hand (at long last) with Jacquard's Acid Dyes and share the experience with you.  So here we go!

First thing's first- Jaquard Dyes' website is LOVELY, and I'm not being sarcastic or paid by Jaquard Dyes.  They did a proper good job.

On the website for the dyes, there is a clear and direct PDF that directly states exactly how to best use their dyes.  I love when you can tell that someone actually put thought into what they create, because far too often instructions seem like the product of being at the wrong end of a bottle of vodka.

Since I was dyeing only a couple of ounces of fiber I used 0.25 ounces of the lilac dye and a dash of silver grey (yes I should have measured but I just wanted to play with dye today- don't judge).

From the very beginning this fiber was immersed in my magical cauldron of swirling purple I started feeling a strong preference for acid dyes over natural dyes.  The natural dyes are fun to use, but I couldn't get over the vague disappointment that the colour was never as brilliant as it looked in the dye pot.  With acid dye, the colour is there and it's there to stay- and that's what I want.  None of this "will we, won't we" nonsense- it's a colour that can commit and I respect that.

And as if this experience wasn't magical enough- I discovered the pure wonder of chemistry that is citric acid in a dye bath.  It creates a process that Jacquard Dyes refers to as exhausting the dye bath, which basically is when citric acid (or vinegar) is added to the dye bath and it makes the fiber soak up all of that luscious colour.  If you look closely at the photo above and the photo below, after the citric acid is added, the water that was once dark and mysterious is suddenly miraculously clear, as if the water had never known the presence of the dye. 

To further my love for using acid dyes, the colour didn't bleed at all when I washed it afterwards.  The water I used to wash my yarn looked just about as clear as it did before I added the freshly dyed yarn.  

This process was so overwhelming positive that I will warn you now, you will be seeing my hand-dyed yarn from me.  I'm hooked and I think there's nothing that can be done to save me, this is my life now and I'm happy with it- so consider yourself warned.

Until then though,

Stay sweet, stay crafty, and stay tuned.