| This is the third in a series of articles about dyeing | | | | B-07-05 - 25 - 05 - 70 |
| wool using liquid dyestock, percentage-based formulas, | | | | R-07-10 - 70 - 20 - 10 -- Y-07-10 - 20 - 70 - 10 -- |
| and the three primaries. As mentioned before, when I | | | | B-07-10 - 20 - 10 - 70 |
| first began wool crafting, I decided to to try dyeing my | | | | R-07-15 - 70 - 15 - 15 -- Y-07-15 - 15 - 70 - 15 -- |
| own wool to save on money and time shopping. I didn't | | | | B-07-15 - 15 - 15 - 70 |
| see a lot of selection online (the web was relatively | | | | R-07-20 - 70 - 10 - 20 -- Y-07-20 - 10 - 70 - 20 -- |
| new) and Dorr Mill, while blessedly nearby, was still an | | | | B-07-20 - 10 - 20 - 70 |
| hour away. I knew that I wanted a large selection of | | | | R-07-25 - 70 - 05 - 25 -- Y-07-25 - 05 - 70 - 25 -- |
| colors to use for projects, and I knew this could get | | | | B-07-25 - 05 - 25 - 70 |
| prohibitively expensive. The purist in me had already | | | | R-06-05 - 60 - 35 - 05 -- Y-06-05 - 35 - 60 - 05 -- |
| decided to use only primary colors for dyeing, rather | | | | B-06-05 - 35 - 05 - 60 |
| than listening to the reasonable side of me that said to | | | | R-06-10 - 60 - 30 - 10 -- Y-06-10 - 30 - 60 - 10 -- |
| use all the lovely pre-formulated colors available. Using | | | | B-06-10 - 30 - 10 - 60 |
| those colors would have been easy -- I could just go | | | | R-06-15 - 60 - 25 - 15 -- Y-06-15 - 25 - 60 - 15 -- |
| envelope-by-envelope and try them all. But I found the | | | | B-06-15 - 25 - 15 - 60 |
| color selection somewhat limiting (not that it really is, | | | | R-06-20 - 60 - 20 - 20 -- Y-06-20 - 20 - 60 - 20 -- |
| mind you, but when your greedy heart wants every | | | | B-06-20 - 20 - 20 - 60 |
| color of the rainbow, it feels a little binding). Despite all | | | | R-06-25 - 60 - 15 - 25 -- Y-06-25 - 15 - 60 - 25 -- |
| of this initial thinking, when my first shipment of dyes, | | | | B-06-25 - 15 - 25 - 60 |
| wool and equipment arrived in the mail, I stood there | | | | R-06-30 - 60 - 10 - 30 -- Y-06-30 - 10 - 60 - 30 -- |
| scratching my head, wondering where on earth to | | | | B-06-30 - 10 - 30 - 60 |
| begin. I wanted to experiment with many colors from | | | | R-06-35 - 60 - 05 - 35 -- Y-06-35 - 05 - 60 - 35 -- |
| all over the color wheel, but I could see no clear and | | | | B-06-35 - 05 - 35 - 60 |
| organized path in front of me using primaries, which | | | | R-05-05 - 50 - 45 - 05 -- Y-05-05 - 45 - 50 - 05 -- |
| was unsettling, given the magnitude of the Grand Plan I | | | | B-05-05 - 45 - 05 - 50 |
| had laid out for myself. How would I make deep | | | | R-05-10 - 50 - 40 - 10 -- Y-05-10 - 40 - 50 - 10 -- |
| pumpkin orange, or a soft, wheat yellow, or the palest | | | | B-05-10 - 40 - 10 - 50 |
| grey green? I had no clue how to formulate those | | | | R-05-15 - 50 - 35 - 15 -- Y-05-15 - 35 - 50 - 15 -- |
| colors, and I didn't like the idea of hit and miss -- I could | | | | B-05-15 - 35 - 15 - 50 |
| see wasting a lot of time and money that way, and I | | | | R-05-20 - 50 - 30 - 20 -- Y-05-20 - 30 - 50 - 20 -- |
| didn't have much of either at the time. | | | | B-05-20 - 30 - 20 - 50 |
| So I revisited the article by Linda Knutson in a very old | | | | R-05-25 - 50 - 25 - 25 -- Y-05-25 - 25 - 50 - 25 -- |
| issue of 'Threads' magazine that had already guided | | | | B-05-25 - 25 - 25 - 50 |
| my decision-making to that point. I remember reading | | | | R-05-30 - 50 - 20 - 30 -- Y-05-30 - 20 - 50 - 30 -- |
| the article, when all the light bulbs in my head started to | | | | B-05-30 - 20 - 30 - 50 |
| flicker on. I made a spreadsheet on the computer of all | | | | R-05-35 - 50 - 15 - 35 -- Y-05-35 - 15 - 50 - 35 -- |
| the possible combinations of red, blue and yellow, in 5% | | | | B-05-35 - 15 - 35 - 50 |
| incremental changes, using only two of the three colors | | | | R-05-40 - 50 - 10 - 40 -- Y-05-40 - 10 - 50 - 40 -- |
| for any formula. For instance, I started with 100% red, | | | | B-05-40 - 10 - 40 - 50 |
| and the next formula was 95% red and 5% yellow, | | | | R-05-45 - 50 - 05 - 45 -- Y-05-45 - 05 - 50 - 45 -- |
| then 90% red and 10% yellow and followed this | | | | B-05-45 - 05 - 45 - 50 |
| pattern down to 0% red and 100% yellow. Then I | | | | You may wonder why we stop at 50% for each main |
| repeated this, starting with 100% yellow and the | | | | primary. Any formula that contains 50% of any one |
| remainder blue, then 100% blue and the remainder red. | | | | color will also contain the other two colors in |
| This approach was easy to understand, and it | | | | increments of 10%, 20% 30% and 40%. So those |
| thoroughly and systematically covered all colors | | | | increments were already covered in the existing |
| around the outside of the color wheel, producing a | | | | charts, in fact the only formulas not covered by the |
| lovely collection of vibrant colors. Many were | | | | charts above were those where no primary |
| near-duplicates, so I culled through them, choosing | | | | contributed more than 40% to the formula. So I |
| colors that produced a nice, even progression all the | | | | worked up formulas for these nine colors, which of |
| way around the wheel. It was exhilarating to have a | | | | course, are mostly grey, listed below. You can see that |
| start, something to branch out from. | | | | there is no color above 40% or below 20% in any |
| All-in-all, I dyed 60 formulas to a medium value, dyeing | | | | formula. Formulas with 10-15% of one of the primaries |
| six 4-gram squares at a time, one in each of six | | | | will be more like a dull secondary color, and probably |
| beakers held in a dry casserole and placed in the | | | | very near one that has already been produced. Only |
| microwave. (More on the detail of this method in the | | | | when there is at least 20% of all the primaries in the |
| next article.) This took several days, mostly because | | | | formula do you start to see greys, near-greys, and |
| of mistakes I made in basic technique. Once I got into | | | | browns. Notice that you don't need to repeat the |
| the groove, things moved along more quickly, and later | | | | process using yellow and blue as the main primary -- |
| I could do this many colors in one day. | | | | this will duplicate formulas. The combinations below are |
| Below is what a chart of two-color formulas looks like, | | | | the only ones needed to finish sampling. You may |
| with a numbering system that shows how much of | | | | want to explore using each main primary at 45% and |
| the "main primary" is in the formula. It is essential to use | | | | 35%, as well -- this will create some discernibly |
| some kind of numbering system if you plan to do | | | | different shades, especially when yellow is the main |
| quantity trialing of colors -- you must label each piece | | | | primary, because it is so easily altered by small |
| with permanent marker before you dye it, so that you | | | | changes in the other two primaries. But if your color |
| can keep track of the formula for each piece. If your | | | | needs are simple, the formulas below may be enough. |
| attention span is like mine, you will forget what you did | | | | -R----Y---B- |
| five minutes ago, or less than that, if the phone rings. | | | | 40---40---20 |
| Notice that I use the initials 'R, Y and B' (red, yellow, | | | | 40---35---25 |
| blue), rather than M, Y, C (magenta, yellow, cyan) only | | | | 40---30---30 |
| because this is how I have always thought of the | | | | 40---25---35 |
| primaries, so it is familiar. Also notice that no matter | | | | 40---20---40 |
| what the formula is, the chart is in the same order -- | | | | 30---40---30 |
| R-Y-B -- because I have learned from unhappy | | | | 30---35---35 |
| experience that keeping all the labeling and dyeing in | | | | 30---30---40 |
| the same order all the time prevents mistakes, like | | | | 20---40---40 |
| putting 75% blue into the pot, when it should have been | | | | You may also wonder why I jump 10% with each main |
| 75% red, if I'm lazy about charting the colors. You may | | | | primary, while using 5% increments for the other two |
| choose a different way of organizing formulas, but this | | | | colors. I realized that by using 5% incremental changes |
| is one option that I have found to be logical and easy | | | | for the main primary, it would greatly multiply the |
| to work with. | | | | amount of colors to trial! Also, jumping 10% each time |
| (Please note: it is very difficult to find a universal way | | | | with the main primary makes it possible to keep the |
| to format tables and spreadsheets for articles sites, so | | | | percentages of the other two colors in round numbers. |
| I have formatted with basic text, using dashes and | | | | And I didn't think that using smaller increments of the |
| extra digits to line everything up visually. This should | | | | main primary would produce colors that were |
| also make it easier for you to cut and paste these | | | | discernibly different, for all the extra work, and I have |
| charts for your own use, no matter which platform | | | | found this to be generally true. I experimented with |
| you are using.) | | | | formulas in between some of the colors and found a |
| | | | few that were new, but in general the colors in |
| --------R---Y---B-----------R---Y---B----------R---Y---B-- | | | | between were only marginally different. I also tweaked |
| R100--100 - 00 - 0 -- Y100 - 0 - 100 -00 --B100 - 0 - 00 | | | | a few formulas to split the difference more evenly |
| -100 | | | | between the two colors on either side. Ultimately, I |
| R-95 -- 95 - 05 - 0 -- Y-95 - 0 - 95 - 05 -- B-95 - 0 - | | | | created about 165 "master colors". |
| 05 - 95 | | | | In this manner, I sampled the entire range of colors that |
| R-90 -- 90 - 10 - 0 -- Y-90 - 0 - 90 - 10 -- B-90 - 0 - 10 | | | | could be made using the three primaries, resulting in a |
| - 90 | | | | wonderful collection of color from every part of the |
| R-85 -- 85 - 15 - 0 -- Y-85 - 0 - 85 - 15 -- B-85 - 0 - 15 | | | | color wheel. Naturally, once I had a lovely universe of |
| - 85 | | | | colors, I felt it absolutely mandatory to explore the |
| R-80 -- 80 - 20 - 0 -- Y-80 - 0 - 80 - 20 -- B-80 - 0 - | | | | values of light and dark for these colors (an |
| 20 - 80 | | | | announcement that caused a lot more spousal |
| R-75 -- 75 - 25 - 0 -- Y-75 - 0 - 75 - 25 -- B-75 - 0 - | | | | eye-rolling and sighs from the rest of the tribe, who |
| 25 - 75 | | | | wanted dinner in the pot, not wool). Mentally, I multiplied |
| R-70 -- 70 - 30 - 0 -- Y-70 - 0 - 70 - 30--- B-70 - 0 - | | | | 165 times 6 or 7 values for each, and felt completely |
| 30 - 70 | | | | overwhelmed by the number that resulted. But, as you |
| R-65 -- 65 - 35 - 0 -- Y-65 - 0 - 65 - 35 -- B-65 - 0 - | | | | can see, I never do anything small. So I took a big |
| 35 - 65 | | | | breath, apologized to my entire family, and plunged in. |
| R-60 -- 60 - 40 - 0 -- Y-60 - 0 - 60 - 40 -- B-60 - 0 - | | | | Before continuing, let's return to the concept of the '1% |
| 40 - 60 | | | | dyestock solution', which, as you may recall from the |
| R-55 -- 55 - 45 - 0 -- Y-55 - 0 - 55 - 45 -- B-55 - 0 - | | | | first article, is 1 part dye powder and 99 parts water. |
| 45 - 55 | | | | Also remember that 1 ml of liquid weighs 1 gram, |
| R-50 -- 50 - 50 - 0 -- Y-50 - 0 - 50 - 50 -- B-50 - 0 - | | | | making it possible to compare liquid and dry |
| 50 - 50 | | | | measurements equally, using metric. |
| R-45 -- 45 - 55 - 0 -- Y-45 - 0 - 45 - 55 -- B-45 - 0 - | | | | It is known that doubling the amount of dye with each |
| 55 - 45 | | | | darker value will provide a nice progression of a color |
| R-40 -- 40 - 60 - 0 -- Y-40 - 0 - 40 - 60 -- B-40 - 0 - | | | | from pale to dark, in 6 to 8 jumps -- this is the principle |
| 60 - 40 | | | | at work when using the jar method. I knew this would |
| R-35 -- 35 - 65 - 0 -- Y-35 - 0 - 35 - 65 -- B-35 - 0 - | | | | be the case before I started, so for me the only real |
| 65 - 35 | | | | question was where to begin to create a pale shade, |
| R-30 -- 30 - 70 - 0 -- Y-30 - 0 - 30 - 70 -- B-30 - 0 - | | | | and then see where doubling would take the color |
| 70 - 30 | | | | from there. So I experimented until I found a good |
| R-25 -- 25 - 75 - 0 -- Y-25 - 0 - 25 - 75 -- B-25 - 0 - | | | | progression of values, and it is listed below. There are, |
| 75 - 25 | | | | of course lighter and darker values than these, but |
| R-20 -- 20 - 80 - 0 -- Y-20 - 0 - 20 - 80 -- B-20 - 0 - | | | | these meet my needs. |
| 80 - 20 | | | | The lightest value I generally produce (a pastel that I |
| R-15 -- 15 - 85 - 0 -- Y-15 - 0 - 15 - 85 -- B-15 - 0 - 85 - | | | | refer to as Level 1) uses a 5% "saturation" of |
| 15 | | | | dyestock, meaning that for a 4-gram piece of wool, |
| R-10 -- 10 - 90 - 0 -- Y-10 - 0 - 10 - 90 -- B-10 - 0 - 90 - | | | | (the size of the samples for all my trials) I use 5% of |
| 10 | | | | that amount in dyestock, which is.2 ml, to achieve a |
| R-05 -- 05 - 95 - 0 -- Y-05 - 0 - 05 - 95 -- B-05 - 0 - | | | | pastel value. (Multiply 4 times 5%, or.05, and you'll see |
| 95 - 05 | | | | that the answer is.2. Remember again that the ml |
| This exercise completed, it was time to venture | | | | measure of the dyestock and the gram weight of the |
| deeper into the color wheel, by adding the third primary | | | | wool can be related on equal terms to each other.) A |
| to the formulas. I knew this would increase the number | | | | 10% saturation, or.4 ml, produces Level 2, and so on. I |
| of possible formulas exponentially, forcing me to think | | | | found that most colors follow a predictable pattern, |
| three-dimensionally. (I hate that.) So I had to figure out | | | | value-wise. However, when moving around the color |
| an organized way to approach it, and I ruminated for | | | | wheel towards yellow, about 2/3 of the way through |
| some time. Finally, my "Eureka!" moment came one | | | | the greens and the oranges, the amount of dye must |
| day at my son's basketball game, and I wrote down | | | | be increased to keep the values about the same, |
| my plan on a scrap of paper with a pencil stolen from | | | | visually, as more yellow is added to each formula. The |
| a student sitting next to me. I started with 90% | | | | chart below shows the saturation levels needed for |
| magenta this time (since I already had 100% red), | | | | generating values on 4-gram pieces of wool: |
| adding 2.5% blue and 7.5% yellow. Next, I used 90% | | | | ------------------------BLUES & |
| red, 5% blue and 5% yellow, and finally 90% red, 7.5% | | | | REDS-----------------YELLOWS--------- |
| blue and 2.5% yellow. Then I followed the same | | | | |
| pattern, using 80% red with all possible combinations of | | | | estock |
| blue and yellow in 5% increments (I could use larger | | | | Level 1 ( Pastel |
| incremental changes with 20% of the formula to use, | | | | )-------5%-----------0.2------------7.5%----------0.3 |
| vs. only 10% of the formula, when the red contributed | | | | Level 2 (Md |
| 90%). And I speculated that, in general, there would not | | | | Pstl)------10%-----------0.4-------------15%----------0.6 |
| be a discernible difference in color with a 2.5% change | | | | Level 3 (..Light |
| in formula. I repeated the process down to using 50% | | | | )------20%-----------0.8-------------25%----------1 |
| red and all the combinations of the other two colors. | | | | Level 4 (Lt. |
| Then I followed this same pattern using blue, and then | | | | Med)------40%-----------1.6-------------50%----------2 |
| yellow, as the main primary. | | | | Level 5 |
| Below is a chart showing how this looks, with a | | | | (Medium)------80%-----------3.2------------100%----------4 |
| numbering system that you could use, that indicates in | | | | Level 6 (Dk |
| shorthand the name and quantity of the main primary | | | | Med)------160%----------6.4------------200%----------8 |
| for the formula, and how much blue is also in the | | | | Level 7 (...Dark |
| formula. (When blue is the main primary, you could use | | | | )------240%----------9.6------------300%---------12 |
| numbers that indicate how much yellow is in the | | | | There are couple of exceptions to these numbers in |
| formula.) If you know how much of two colors are in | | | | the brighter red and blue families. Some of these |
| the formula, then it is easy to figure out the rest. This | | | | pastels run a little dark using a 5% saturation, and for a |
| may seem like overkill, but it comes in very handy | | | | few of those I start with 3%. You may find your own |
| when you have about 200 squares spread out all over | | | | preferences, but this is a good starting point. When I |
| the living room floor, and you wonder which formula | | | | am working up these values on wool samples, I don't |
| you used for a particular piece, as compared to the | | | | label them -- the values are obvious when they come |
| piece next to it. For serious color study, having a code | | | | out of the pot. I dry them, stack them together, and |
| like this written on each piece is very useful. | | | | place a folded piece of card stock around them, which |
| | | | contains the formula number, percentages in the |
| --B-- | | | | formula, and the saturations used for each level. |
| R-09-02 - 90 - 07 - 03 -- Y-09-02 - 07 - 90 - 03 -- | | | | On the very first day of my Grand Plan, I imagined |
| B-09-02 - 07 - 03 - 90 | | | | dyeing perhaps 300 colors, total. Today, I have close to |
| R-09-05 - 90 - 05 - 05 -- Y-09-05 - 05 - 90 - 05 -- | | | | 1,200 in an inventory that I offer for sale, and I have |
| B-09-05 - 05 - 05 - 90 | | | | near-future plans for adding at least 70-80 more, plus |
| R-09-07 - 90 - 03 - 07 -- Y-09-07 - 03 - 90 - 07 -- | | | | many more specialized colors in the future. It was quite |
| B-09-07 - 03 - 07 - 90 | | | | a process to organize all of this, and I couldn't be |
| R-08-05 - 80 - 15 - 05 -- Y-08-05 - 15 - 80 - 05 -- | | | | happier with the collection -- there is not one color I |
| B-08-05 - 15 - 05 - 80 | | | | don't love! |
| R-08-10 - 80 - 10 - 10 -- Y-08-10 - 10 - 80 - 10 -- | | | | I know that this is a different way of approaching color, |
| B-08-10 - 10 - 10 - 80 | | | | and I hope it helps you, should you take on your own |
| R-08-15 - 80 - 05 - 15 -- Y-08-15 - 05 - 80 - 15 -- | | | | Grand Plan, or even if you just want to do some |
| B-08-15 - 05 - 10 - 80 | | | | dabbling. |
| R-07-05 - 70 - 25 - 05 -- Y-07-05 - 25 - 70 - 05 -- | | | | |