Dye action

take a lookey at the dyeing process i've been working out.

I took a very small amount of that romney fiber and soaked it in vinegar and warm water. Also dissolved a bit of cake decorating colors in warm water. (it would work better in hot water, but i am trying to reduce any risk fo felting)

Next, paint the colors onto the fiber and let them soak in. massage/squoosh colors around to get them to mix in interesting ways. For some reason, the red soaked into the fiber much better than the blue and purple. So the left over water was very blue.

wrapped it up into a wormy shape with cling wrap. you can see how all the extra blue seeped into the red areas and tinted them.

put worm back into glass dish. nuke on MEDIUM setting in the microwave for 2 minutes, then let rest for about 5. (meanwhile, light candles and chant "please don't felt, please don't felt.") repeat nuke and cool a few more times until the liquid runs clear. This means that all the dye has been taken up by the fiber.
Let it completely cool, then unwrap and hang to dry.
Here's the finished roving:

Spun singles:

plied yarn!

the red didn't take as well as the other colors, so it came out more purple tone than it was originally. i suppose any 5 year old knows that red and blue make purple. duh.