Bonne Marie & the Half-Blood Prince, part I

That’s me in the corner.
That’s me with the cauldron.
Stirring up my Potion…

That’s right, Professor Snape!
That dark swirling liquid you see NEEDS no flame!
You don’t see any steam because my potion doesn’t HAVE any vapor!

I’ve found some new and crafty magic and decided to give it a try – my original stylings were a 50/50 mess and it was time to aim for some SKILL!

My most delightful finds from the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool field trip were two books on dyeing AND a differnt type of dye.

My friend Rachel and I decided we were going to try and *rescue* some fiber she had that was the wrong color – so to get my feet wet, I picked up some Procion MX in several shades to experiment with.

Now this dye is different than the Sabraset Acid dyes I’ve been using in several ways – it needs no heat (when dyeing with cotton), and can work on cellulose or animal fiber, depending on the pH of the solution used. WOOT!

The other difference this time with my dye trials was that I followed the directions, to the letter.

Advanced Potion Making, by Libatius Borage

1. I weighed the Garment so I’d know exactly how much of the other ingredients to use.

2. I wore a Face Mask and used Rubber Gloves (very good!)

3. I found a beautifully marked container already in my cupboard and measured my liquids to a T.

4. I washed the garment with Synthrapol, rinsed twice, then let it SOAK while I was preparing my other stuff.

OOps – did you say GARMENT?

Why, yes, I did! I decided to experiment on a couple of pieces that were not hitting the runway anymore so if they went up in smoke, it would not matter.

Remember THIS?

a fun color for a season but curiously like a
Love Potion that’s faded away…

after a session in the Remedial Dyepot, we have

YIPPEE! OD Green, in a very palatable, clear light shade! This yarn is by Reynolds, called *Navy*, and is a veritable Half-Blood Prince of 50/50 cotton/microfiber. I was really throwing the dice on this – cotton might absorb the dye deeper than the acrylic but it came out clear as a bell…

How about this?

a deliciously tempting shape executed in an infantile shade…

but now, after a Dose of 2xOlive+1xBrown, we have:

a more User Friendly Medium Olive!

This yarn was another 1/2BPrince: Cotton/acrylic blend (Filatura di Crosa *Spongy*) wrapped in a shiny thread. It dyed an even color on the yarn, and a slightly darker color on the thread. Tweedy goodness reigns!