Procion MX and Cotton
During my latest dye session, I squeezed in a few minutes to paint a unmercerized 8/2 cotton warp that I will be using for towels/runners and maybe a doubleweave shuttle holder(?). See the finished warp:
I was inspired by an old back issue of Handwoven magazine (March/April 2000) where the author, Janelle Elissa, handpainted warps so that she could weave simple, quick, and inexpensive but incredibly colourful projects in between chasing her three young children. These are inexpensive cotton warps that will be woven with plain black cotton as the weft to make the colours pop out.
As for the colours, I was inspired by an old project designed by Jo-Anne Ryeburn from “Weaver’s” magazine (now defunct). It’s called the “Glowing Crosses Runner” and can also be seen in the book “Best of Weaver’s: Thick n’ Thin”. The colours in the runner are dyed with just three colours of fibre reactive dye: red, gold and navy. So simple. All the other colours — the varied purples, plums, wines, ochres, etc. — are all generated from mixing these three dye stocks in different proportions. I’m used to using two turquoises, three blues, three yellows, three reds… so this was so nice and easy!
Procion is available as a liquid, but is more expensive, so I used Procion MX powders and mixed up 2% dye stock solutions adding in Urea and Glauber’s salt. Rather than adding heat and acid to cause the dye to react with the fibre (like acid dyes), Procion relies on to addition of soda ash (alkali) to fix the dye. The first thing to do is scour the cotton yarn to remove anything that might interfere with the dye by washing it with Synthrapol or Orvus Paste. Then, the cotton needs to soak in a soda ash solution (1/2 cup of soda ash in 1 gallon of hot water) for about 15-30 minutes.
The soak solution can be saved and re-used (ProChem says this solution can be stored indefinitely at room temperature in a closed container!). Then the painting begins! If you like, you can thicken up the dye stock with sodium alginate so that you have more control over the placement of the dye. But I wanted to squish the dyes around and have them blend continuously throughout the warp, so I left the dye as is. It’s a little messy, but it’s like fingerpainting for grownups! These are “just for fun” dye projects so I don’t write anything down (except for recording it in a post like this) and I don’t worry about any of it being reproducible. Just splash, play, and squish…
Then the whole thing gets wrapped up in plastic and rolled up like a cinnamon bun. For some reason this is called “batching” or “batch setting”. I don’t know. Basically you roll it up and leave it alone for 24 hours. The dye “cures” at room temperature (above 22° C / 70° F). You could start washing the warp after a couple hours, but there are more vibrant colours to be had if you can be patient!
I do love this process so much that I find myself buying weaving yarns in only plain white/natural and black. Just add colour.
You can get the Procion MX directions straight from Maiwa here: http://www.maiwa.com/pdf/procion_mx.pdf. Or, ProChem has similar instructions here: http://www.prochemical.com/directions/MX_WarpPaintingCottonSilk.htm
And on a completely separate note, Connie at Pick Up Sticks has just opened her new online yarn shop and has lots of my sock yarns in stock plus tons more on the way!
Really lovely stuff! Sounds like it will be wonderful with the black.
Thanks so much for posting this! I can’t wait to use my dye!
Wow! You’ve been very busy! Just curious when you find time to sleep! The colours are wonderful and I’m looking forward to seeing the final results.
Beautiful colors!!! could you do a sock yarn with these colors??? Also, what plastic wrap do you use…u mentioned that it melted once before.Love the pictures!!!
What gorgeous, scrumptious colors! My eyes love to come and feast at your blog. Can’t wait to see what it looks like in a weaving.
Absolutely wonderful!
And I second the request for sock yarn in these colors!
wow, those are some BRILLIANT colors! do you find that the dye bleeds a bit upon rinsing? it seems that all of the cotton yarns i knit with bleed incessantly when i wet block so i’m wondering if it’s a cotton thing
I love the colors. Painting some cotton warps (both 8/2 and 10/2) is on my list for next week. I hope mine come out as brilliant as yours.
Doubleweave shuttle holder - what a great idea!
Well, your post makes me want to try dyeing some yarns of my own! (in my spare time. Ha.) Lovely new colors there.
Fantastic info and amazing colours. Just ordered sock yarn from Pick Up Sticks. Great inspiration!
Congrats! I’ll have to visit that Main Street yarn shop the next time I’m in town! I’d be REALLY excited too!
I read this post because I cannot stop staring at the gorgeous colors of the yarn. The combination is truly breathtaking.
Those colors are gorgeous!
How do you get the colors to be so vibrant? I have been using procion dyes (from Dharma Trading company) on my cotton/lycra sock yarn, and they come out much more muted and washed out than yours. What am I missing?
I love how vibrant the colors turn out.
Good Lord that is too beautiful for words.
Good Lord that is too beautiful for words.
I love the colors! You’re so talented!!
The warp is so beautiful! That’s going to be lovely to weave.
Everything you do is eye-candy. I always love seeing what you are up to.
Those colors are just beautiful. So intense!
As always, your creations are beautiful. Just wanted to let you know i have received your yarn in the mail yesterday… THANKS!!!! the are even nicer in real life
Wow. Those colors are so beautiful. Your finished product is sure to be just as inspiring.
Oh my goodness, whenever I need a colour fix I come to your blog. Drooling, Li
Very nice!! I love coming to your site….I always learn something new :-). Once I get past the fall fairs, weaving and dyeing are going to be high on my list this year and what could be better than combining them