Microwave Dyeing
This is easy, fun, quick and effective and I first saw it demonstrated at the Craft Group some years ago and have dyed in this way since. I mainly use Easy Peasy and Omega acid dyes, as they need no mordant but have found liquid food dyes with a slurp of vinegar added to the pot equally effective. Dyeing can be done in the hank, "painted " onto rovings, on raw fleece, washed fleece, on the finished article (providing it is small enough to fit into the container you use). The choice is yours.
I use a 650-watt microwave oven and use any microwave proof container as a dye pot. It is important to make sure one has sufficient liquid in the dye pot or it will burn the article you are trying to dye!! It only takes 5 minutes. I particularly like to rainbow dye in the hank using up to 5 colours applied with an old paintbrush and the results on wool and silk mix can be quite stunning as the silk takes up the dye more intensely than the wool.
Have I whetted your appetite? Then come along to one of our meetings and see some of the skeins, etc. for yourself.
Irene Anscombe
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