The indigo vats got another look with a view to exhausting them a couple of days after the recent big event. I prepared a little more fabric (ah, holidays).
The fructose vat seemed in order but I thought it might be exhausted.
The first dip confirmed this. Well, we’ve been discussing this in the comments… but this was the conclusion I drew on the day. The fabric was very pale even when wet.
Reheating and adjusting Ph and adding more colour run remover produced spectacular results on the colour run remover vats.
I adjusted the Ph for one vat to suit cellulose fibres and re-dipped my calico samples several times.
Happy results!
The other I adjusted to suit wool. In with some pale, spotted polwarth (cream and tan).
During…
After…
There still seemed to be colour left in the vat so I entered a lot of grey crossbred fleece. The last, overlooked bag of Macchiato the Mongrel. I think he was named a mongrel partly because, you know, crossbred. And partly because he ate the neighbour’s pea crop and had to be found a new home. Thus capturing both meanings of this word in Australia.
I’ve been spinning the deep blue result with delight since. This is quite a coarse fleece, but I have just loved spinning every bit of it, and one of Macchiato’s humans brought me another fleece a while back… so once I’ve washed it, I can go again with all that pleasure. Most of the first fleece went to a friend of my beloved’s who wanted to knit a jumper from it. I don’t know whether she ever did, though!
Local & Bespoke 
that’s fascinating. I have never tried any other indigo vat method besides Michel Garcia’s 1-2-3 with henna as the reduction agent. it has so much indigo in it that it will be a while before it’s exhausted, but when it is I can refresh it by making a very concentrated batch with henna, or madder exhaust, and adding it to the original. how much indigo was in your fructose vat?
the dark blue mongrel fleece yarn looks great. looking forward to seeing what you knit with it!
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I am yet to try henna. I expect I will try fruit next, as its here and doesn’t need to be imported. or maybe madder, as I am growing it and one day there will be a madder exhaust to try. I used just 20g indigo. I think it was entitled to be exhausted !
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I LOVE that dark blue mongrel fleece! Nice even if it is coarse and somehow it makes it easier to spin.
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Me too! 🙂
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The yarn in that last shot … divine.
I have plans to get an indigo vat going in a slow cooker and keep it going for as long as possible.
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Slow cooker… That is quite an idea! I finished that yarn yesterday and love the colour. Thankyou!
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