I finally finished Bob's socks but decided to photograph before he wore them. These came from a pattern in Folk Socks by Nancy Bush. These are the Lithuanian Amber socks although not amber. Mine are made of handspun yarn predominately from our animals. The grey, main color is a natural colored grey mohair fleece that is extremely soft mixed with some of our grey Border Leicester wool. The stripes and spots are a dark brown woolen spun yarn. Click here for a closer look.
I used a continental cast-on but the Dutch heel was new for me. I loved the alternating color on the heel and hope this will be strong wearing. The size of the sock required modification of the original pattern but was worth it.
Some of you may know about my fascination with red dyes. Cochineal, madder and lac are all workhorse dyes for me and I need no excuse to play with them. I am currently working with a new batch of madder root extract which for me is producing a truer red than the extract I used in the past that produced a very orange red if not a true orange. I am experimenting with additions of calcium carbonate (chalk) in the dyepot. Madder likes hard water to produce its best colors. If your water is not hard enough, calcium carbonate will push the dye take up and insure strong red color. If your water is already hard the cal carb will push the color range to a darker more burgundy coloration. Jim Liles writes about the alkaline/acid issues associated with madder root dye in his book The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing. One teaspoon per pound is the usual recommendation.
Also keep in mind that madder is extremely sensitive to temperature. At lower temps the alizarin dominates, thus producing a good red color. At higher temperatures the browns in madder fix on the fiber. Some books recommend going no higher than 160°F while others say that 190°F is the upper limit for red. Monitor your dye bath carefully and stay focused. A few samples at both temperatures, as well as a higher temp will quickly illustrate this point. Additionally when mixing madder extract dissolve in warm, not boiling water. This may affect the final color.
Madder is extremely colorfast and benefits from careful mordanting. I use alum and cream of tarter premordant for my yarns. To prevent uneven take-up of the dye, it is suggested that the mordanted fiber or yarn be rinsed and wrung (carefully), and allowed to remain damp for several days. I typically put these yarns in an extra refrigerator I have, in plastic bags.
Perhaps my favorite way to dye is to mix two or more dyes for richer color ways. Cochineal and madder will produce a range of reds. Small amounts of madder mixed with fustic will produce beautiful oranges, warm golds, salmons and coral shades. These colors work well in color schemes that include natural sheep greys when knitting or weaving.
For more information on madder, including instructions for making Turkey Red see:
The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing by Jim Liles, The University of Tennessee Press. 1990. This book contains extensive information on dyeing with madder and includes instructions for wool, linen, cotton, and silk.
The Natural Dye Instruction Booklet, by Michele Wipplinger, Earthues. 2005. This book contains good basic information for dyeing with madder extract as well as extracting dye from madder roots. It includes formulas for combining madder with other dyes along with color pictures. It is the most complete book on working with extracts.
We see evidence of madder reds in Mideast carpets and rugs. Traditional ikats from Indonesia are often dyed with madder in combination with indigo as separate colors in the same textile. And South American textiles utilize madder along with cochineal bugs for a rich palette of oranges, reds and purples.
Currently we have madder extract in stock.
I finally finished Bob's socks but decided to photograph before he wore them. These came from a pattern in Folk Socks by Nancy Bush. These are the Lithuanian Amber socks although not amber. Mine are made of handspun yarn predominately from our animals. The grey, main color is a natural colored grey mohair fleece that is extremely soft mixed with some of our grey Border Leicester wool. The stripes and spots are a dark brown woolen spun yarn. Click here for a closer look.
3 comments:
Hey Jane, I've never "posted" before but your socks are cool. I'll look for updates to come and we still need to get your "getaway spinning and fiber workshop" business up and going.....with all of Lindsey's new found skills building our place in Booneville, he could help Bob with building the cabins!
Great looking sock, Janie. Are the foot section double stranded - making the spots? They would be double warm!
I ripped out that Clapotis I was working on at Kim's and restarted it in Ellen's Half-pint Farm lace weight, baby alpaca/silk. It will take freakin forever but should be SO worth it.
Hey Rosie,_Yes the foot is double stranded. With the "fuzziness" of the mohair and the stranding of the brown, I do expect Bob to keep his feet warm when cutting wood outside. I also hope that next time when he wears them, he keeps the chainsaw out of the boot. (As happened the last time he cut.) Saturday, after you guys left Georgia, I hit the local knitting store in Lawrenceville, GA, The Yarn Garden Knit Shop. What a great store. Small, cozy and stuffed with beautiful yarns. Many hand painted and lots of natural fibers. Susan and I went over to find some yarn and needles to get her started. I picked up New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book One, by Cat Bordhi. I'm back to my roots knitting socks. I originally learned from Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I was learning to handspin and needed some guidance to knit without a standard pattern that did not fit my yarn gauge. My goal is to knit socks for the family, particularly from the sheep and goats here on the farm. My other goal is learn a new technique with each pair. I'm focusing on Cast-On techniques and heel turning techniques. New Pathways takes it all in a different direction. What fun. I managed to read some of it on the plane back to Vermont. She mentions Book Three of the series which will is to be titled Knitting Around the Foot: Ancient Pathways, which will reflect her research on traditional outer footwear inspired by her research of footwear from the Arctic Circle. I can't wait. It speaks to my interest in Anthropology and the history of textiles and ethnic textiles. I better get through Book One first.
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