Colorway Chronicles: Waiting for Monet

Some colorway effects take longer to produce than others. In this particular case, I knew I wanted to create a sock yarn with bright jewel tones but with a watery tonal effect, rather than fully saturated blocks of color.

For this project, I opted to experiment in my roasting pans with a combination of poured and scribbled dyeing techniques.

I soaked my yarns in a high acid solution in my roasting pans until fully saturated, then added a rich purple color to just one end and allowed it to set in the oven while I mixed up a medium sapphire blue and an emerald green and loaded those to condiment bottles for a scribble application. I applied these colors to the remaining white end, heat setting and then reapplying multiple times to achieve a layered and yet clean, not muddied look. I was careful to carry the scribble application of the dyes into the previously dyed purple to provide a cohesive blend to the overall skein, rather than leaving distinct color blocking.

As I worked each application, I found myself waiting to see if it would muddy or retain the water color look I was hoping for.  I am very happy with the end result. These skeins reminded me of the works of Claude Monet - his beautiful waterlilies and riparian representations, and thus I found with each batch, I had been "Waiting for Monet".