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Just beet it - part II

Here it is. The beetroot dye experiment results.

I had read that beetroot turns a disappointing orange colour when the dye is set. The most saturated end turned a beautiful burnished orange however the far end of the skein, which had been a delicate shade of pale pink before cooking was a mucky yellow. The cream/mucky yellow colour dominated the skein and wasn't as graduated as I'd hoped for.


I decided to redye the cream section, leaving a small section of the Naples Yellow (mucky yellow) for contrast (I actually like the colour in small amounts and looked up a nicer name in my Artists Colour Manual). I added a few drops of pink food colouring to the beetroot vinegar just to see what happened and over dyed the mid portion of orange with more beetroot vinegar with a few drops of red food colouring. This is how it looked while drying...


...ta dah! Here it is reskeined. Well half the skein anyway. I was in a rush as I wanted to enter it in a dip dyeing competition on Ravelry which closed today and I was getting in a tangle. I'm very pleased with it. I'll try and take some photos in natural light tomorrow.



In case you're wondering, it doesn't smell of vinegar or beetroot, which in my opinion is a shame.

Comments

Anonymous said…
That's pretty! Go you.
17 June 2009 at 14:55
claire montgomerie said…
gorgeous colours in the end! who knew that beetroot turned yarn orange - i love that burnt orange shade but i am disappointed, I was looking forward to seeing your yarn dyed that beautiful vibrant purpley pink shade that beetroot soup goes!
18 June 2009 at 11:38
picperfic said…
Oh now that is so interesting. I would have thought the pretty pink colour was the beetroot! I am eager to try this out, thank you for the inspiration!
20 June 2009 at 08:39
janice said…
I believe beetroot is not colourfast so be careful what you wash it with, you could end up with undyed yarn and a washing machine filled with clothes dyed a funny colour.
22 June 2009 at 23:04
Ginger Knits said…
Thanks Janice. I washed and rinsed it thoroughly after dyeing and didn't lose any colour then. I tend to hand wash my hand knit socks anyway but I will be careful the first few times.
22 June 2009 at 23:20
Janice said…
Sorry forgot to say love the colours you got :-D
23 June 2009 at 10:50
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