Adventures in Color...Tints, Tones and Shades....

Tints are a pure color mixed with white (or diluted with water for our dyeing purposes). Tones are color mixed with gray and shades are color mixed with black. By mixing the colors with gray or black I achieved the earthier, muted colors that I am interested in working with.

I made many mixtures of warm blue-violet with water, gray (10% black and 90% water) and black dye.

After making many yarn test samples I came up with mixtures that gave me the colors I was looking for.

I made test dye samples for several more colors, added them to my color wheels with notes on the porportions of color, water and black dye.....

….and then it was play time!!

"Moss"

Blue Faced Leicester wool, Mulberry silk and firestar

"Blueberries"

Merino wool, Mulberry silk and angelina

"Boysenberries"

Merino, angora, silk and angelina

I am very happy with the batts I made with the fiber from my first hand mixed dye experiments.  The "Boysenberries" colorway is exactly what I wanted for a shawl that I have been planning for myself.  I'm going to have to dye up a large batch of fiber and I know I can match the color again ... I have the recipes on my color wheel cards!  Then I'm going to spin it up and crochet myself a lovely shawl...and I'm already thinking of designs for the shawl pin I'll make to go with it...something with silver and amethyst I think....

Enjoy!

Deb