Procion Mysteries
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006So! The vibrating pink silk scarf is off the table loom and I love it… after having overdyed it (scroll down…)
I’m currently playing with some new Procion MX dyes on silk and well, it’s a bit of a love/hate relationship. The results can be a little unexpected and I think it’s because I’m using soda ash as the dye activator. I’ve read that you can also use citric acid to activate the dye (plus heat) and that you are more likely to get a colour that is the same as the dye bath. See here…
Yeah, the colour COMPLETELY changed when I added the soda ash. It was like the blues disappeared entirely and I was left with magenta again. I love it anyway, but I want to try again for a deep, dark violet. With this yarn, I’m hoping to knit the “Silk Camisole” from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.
This result, however, was so very welcome. I overdyed the super pink scarf with 1/2 tsp of Navy Procion MX in order to “sadden” or desaturate the colours a bit. I got a lovely raspberry colour and will absolutely wear this — I love it! Thanks to June who suggested the overdyeing.
One thing that concerns me is using soda ash on silk — it takes away some of the sheen of the silk and makes the texture a little more “cottony” or rough… So the next thing I need to try is using the citric acid instead and adding heat. But the appeal of dyeing with Procion, for me, is that it can be done easily without much equipment — take your dye powder and table salt (although I used Glauber’s Salt) and dissolve it in warmish/cool water (105F); add your wet fibre/yarn/fabric and mix for 30 minutes; add soda ash and mix for 30 minutes; let it sit some more then wring it out and rinse (a million times) until clear. All you need is a dedicated pot. One pot dyeing.
