rainbows

A lovely customer requested some rainbow colorways with no purple in them. So I handpainted a couple, one with brown:





They weren't quite as vivid as I thought she'd like, especially the one with brown. So a few nights later, I redyed the chocolate rainbow (my inaugural skein from my night-ready dye studio):



Much more vibrant. This skein was space-dyed, which I find produces the most even color throughout a skein, and sometimes (as in this case) richer colors. The drawback is that it takes a while for me to do.

The customer likes the more saturated colors, as I thought she would. So I'll be hitting the rainbow dyepots again shortly for another go at the rainbow with no purple. My second Ott-Lite showed up today and makes a big difference, so I'm looking forward to some productive evenings in my new workspace.

dye studio--trial run

I dyed in my garage dye studio for the first time at night. It went pretty well. For lighting, I had one wide-area Ott Lite (with another one on the way). The second light is definitely going to help, but I was able to angle the first over my work area so that there was adequate light. The light is a little harsh, but the colors do show up quite accurately.

Since my fancy induction burner wasn't going to work out, I had a $30 two-burner hotplate from Target. I used it to steam set some yarn last week, and it worked fine for that. I was space dyeing last night, and it did take a long time to get the water up to the right temperature, but it will do.

It's really nice to have dedicated space, where I don't need to worry about spilling stuff. Michael was the one really pushing to get my studio set up, since he wants to give the kitchen a minor makeover but didn't want to see accidental splotches of dye on all his handiwork. He installed the utility sink, cleaned out the garage, bought me shelving units, and made an executive decision about the burner when I was dithering over what to get. Left to my own lazy devices, I would still be dyeing in the kitchen, but thanks to him, I've got my own space. I'm glad I married him. ;)

dye studio progress

I got some really thrilling news this week! For next year's Puget Sound yarn shop tour, one of my yarn lines will be the featured yarn for Apple Yarns. It's going to be fantastic business exposure for me, and to say that I'm excited is a huge understatement.

I'm now in the process of looking for a one-skein pattern that will work with my yarn for the store to hand out. I'm talking with a few designers now, plus I also have a fingerless mitt pattern of my own that might possibly work. When I meet with the store owner, I'd like to offer her a few options to choose from. The rest may become kits, which is an idea I've been wanting to explore for a while.

All this makes converting the garage into a dye studio even more important. Last weekend, we put in a utility sink, which was probably the most labor intensive portion of the conversion. To make the pipes as short as possible, we hooked it up right next to the washer. I used it for the first time today, and noticed immediately that I'll need some sort of adjacent work surface to put dye bottles and such. I like the idea of a cabinet on casters that I can use for storing my bottles and jars of powdered dye.

I'm still working on getting a burner of some sort out there. I was all set to get a portable induction cooktop--I like its smooth heating surface, energy efficiency, quick heating, and the lack of open flame. But then I read that it only works on pots that magnets will stick to. I tested my dye pots, and a magnet will only stick to one. So it's either get new pots or look for something else.

lighting for my dye studio

It looks like we're going to do some work to our garage to make it into a better dye studio. That's where I do all my handpainting, and now that daylight hours in Washington are shrinking to about four in a day, the first order of business is better lighting, with or without other improvements.

I went to Home Depot today to look at what they have. The cheapest option would be one of those 4" panel work lights with two long skinny bulbs. They're typically fluorescent, but they also come in daylight versions. I wasn't sure which of the many available bulbs would work best; it might take some experimenting to figure it out.

Another option, which I liked better, was halogen work lights. We already have a dual work light with a stand; those lights have 500 watt bulbs, which I find blinding. I think two lights with lower wattages (150w, maybe), one at each end of my table, might work.

Tonight, I stumbled onto Ott-Lites. Now this looks like the ticket--designed for handwork, intended to show true colors at night. The bulbs appear to be far more energy efficient than halogen bulbs, which is a big plus. I like the Craft Plus floor lamp the best, since it's got the highest wattage and seems to provide the most coverage. The catch? It's $170 plus shipping. Joann's is currently out of stock, but if this baby is eligible for their 50% coupons, I'm going to snap one up when they're available again. I should check the local store, too, just in case.