Tea Dyeing Ingeo

Tea-dyed ingeo at top
Natural white ingeo bottom

Awhile back I bought a small amount of ingeo to incorporate into a new fiber sample that included soy silk and a third fiber. I wanted all of them to be the same color and had no idea that ingeo was difficult to dye. The soy silk was it's natural caramel color and I decided that tea would be the dye of choice. Somehow it worked. I didn't give it another thought until I tried dyeing ingeo other colors to no avail. Thought this would be the end of it but I listed the skein left over from my project on etsy and got a custom order for more.

So I set about trying to re-create the tea-dyed skein more scientifically this time.

I did a test first of one cup of water and 2 Lipton tea bags. The first time I used either Lipton or something similar that comes in large quantity. I boiled the water added the tea let it steep for about 5 minutes and added my sample. Tried different timings and washed each sample afterward. Leaving the ingeo sitting in the tea for 6 hours worked best.

Today I dyed the big batch - 4 skeins

I used 60 cups of water and 45 tea bags (I probably could have just used 30, but went with what was left in the box minus one that developed a hole).

Brought the water to a rolling boil and as before let the tea steep and added the yarn - I did not remove the tea bags.

Note: I had planned to leave the tags hanging over the pot edge in bunches but they got inot a snarled mess so I removed the tags and just let them float/sink

I let the skeins set in the cooling "dye" for six hours then washed rinsed and hung them to dry.

Ta Da-
Still wet but no longer white

Published!

Today I got my advance copy of the March/April issue of Belle Armoire Magazine. My 1870's inspired 12" creation is on pages 52 & 53 (back-front) AND the lead picture for the article by Morgan McLaughlin. I am doin the Happy Dance. The one bummer is that I am the only submitter without concrete contact info at the end of the article.

It's been awhile since I've posted, I had that horrid cold that is going around and I have been spinning ingeo. I also took a class at WEBS in Northampton from Barbara Parry of Foxfire Fiber in January. I finally learned the technique for spinning lofty soft yarn and am busy practicing.

The class was wonderful. I learned so much and am looking forward to another.

Hats, Socks , etc.

I haven't been blogging because I have been knitting and crocheting like a fiend. I am a little more than halfway through the knitting of a pair of socks in the embossed leaf pattern in a bamboo and super wash merino wool blend yarn that I bought from

stick chick. Love the way it shows off the pattern. Love the leaf pattern. They are a gift for you know what so I have to finish them soon!

Project two - just listed for sale in my etsy shop is a crocheted cloche from yarn I made from soy silk that I hand painted and spun and plyed with wool that I also hand spun and dyed. The wool provides a soft contrast to the soy silks lustrous shine.