Well, a lesson well learned. When using Indigo, use fresh chemicals if that is the route you are choosing. I will be talking about the different ways to make an Indigo vat soon. The Indigo pot is back up and I nearly finished the first round of the last giant bag of skeins to dip. It is good to get it going again. The fresh lye and Thiox made a huge difference. I will be at it again tomorrow to hopefully finish. The logging is done too as is the clean-up. Alas, we have a few piles to burn. We looked into chipping them but with 5 acres of slash, the cost was way beyond our means. The property doesn't look too bad. It is nice to be moving forward again on several fronts.
While I was waiting for the new chemicals to arrive the first dye batch had been curing for a week. I neutralized the skeins and thoroughly washed them. The lye is very caustic and needs to be neutralized with vinegar so the yarns won't be harmed in the long run. I will leave you with a couple of pictures of the Indigo dyed yarns. The colors are nice and bright before they go into the dye and come out muted in shades of green, blue, rusts, burgundies, and browns. Lovely. More to follow soon if all keeps going well, and a report on last night's Skagit Valley Weavers Guild meeting. -Renee
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