We can't always find the right wool base for dyeing, but there's nothing barring you from dyeing batts! As long as you consider what you put into the blend, how much you want to card it, and that you handle it gently so it doesn't felt (obviously for wool!), dyeing and spinning a batt is just as simple as any other combed top or carded sliver. Have any other dyeing questions? Want to see a different mini tutorial? Post in the comments and give feedback so I can continue improving the content of my channel so we all have a great resource for inspiration and creativity. :)
Thank you, glad your liked it! I have so many videos to make but now that the PhD is done done, I can devote more time to making new tutorials regularly. :)
@@ExpertlyDyed I have learned a great deal watching your past videos. I think we have the same Kromski wheel. The Minstrel? And what an adventure you are on….. will you stay in the UK now that you e crossed the finish line, as it were?
Absolutely. Did you want to see me dye batts specifically, or dyeing in general? I can do either. Before I filmed this video, about 5 different asked the same question over a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd at least address it as a 'quick tips' type tutorial. I have everything for the setup (camera, lights, wool), just haven't had the time until more recently.
The thought occurred to me regularly when I was in prime mode for ED (2010-2015), but I had too many other things going on to really test out my ideas back then. I only relaunched at the end of last year and rediscovered old attempts at the idea when I visited my mom earlier this year. Then I had about 4 people asking within 2 weeks of each other! Clearly, I'm not alone (though you never are, right?). I'm slammed with finishing up my PhD and weekends are tough to allot enough time to filming, but I do try and make time for it each weekend...unfortunately, I find myself to be too exhausted to do anything (literally, just a slug on the couch). I have everything I need, except time. The tutorial won't be out soon, but I will try my best to get it filmed the next time I arrange a dye day.
@@eleanor.shadow I'm ready to be done with it! Over the holidays, I do plan to make as many videos as I can so you have something to watch while I'm frantically finalizing my thesis. :)
Hello! Just discovered your channel, and I'm hoping for answers :3 I wish to learn spinning, and I wish to begin with silk from the silk worm. I only just discovered that theres different "tensions". Do different tensions have different purposes? Maybe one is better for silk, and another is better for wool? I've been searching all over the internet, and have found no answers to this 😢 I wish to make a wheel, but I need to know what tension type to make it before I can start! Hopefully you see this and respond ^_^
Hi Yngvarr. That is a good question...a good, complicated, question. :) It may be easier for you to begin with a drop spindle and see how you feel about that. You can adjust your tension (ie., twist and thickness of yarn) much more easily than you can with a wheel. It's also cheaper! Most wheels will spin silk and wool equally well. Specialists who want to make extremely specific types of yarn will want to be selective with the wheel they use, but you don't have to worry about that. I have gotten on fine with my Kromski Minstrel and it allows me to make pretty much any yarn I want (very fine lace yarns to very thick bulky yarns). Making a wheel is admirable, but it would be helpful to gain experience with spinning so you understand what engineering aspects are required for spinning yarn. Finding and dismantling an old wheel would be helpful for that aspect as well. As for what to spin, I would suggest starting with a rougher silk to help you deal with the slipperiness that is challenging to spin. Try tussah silk or silk hankies (I have some silk hankies in my shop too). I have a tutorial on spinning silk hankies on RUclips. The reason most people start out with wool is that it's easier for beginners to spin. It might be good to try both. The skills in spinning wool will be applicable to silk as well. Each have their little quirks, but the basic principles of yarn making are taught by both fibers.
@@ExpertlyDyed I'm very happy to have gotten a response from you, made my day! ^_^ I'm a stubborn one heehee, once I have an idea in my head, I make it a reality no matter what. It's a promise I made to myself some years ago, long story haha! I have already made an inkle loom and practiced weaving on it. Unfortunately, I had no wood working experience and cracked the wood when I screwed it together. It broke after a few sessions :( Lessons learned, will have to make a new one in the near future, with adjustments to make it more suited to my needs. I have watched more of your videos, and your channel has become like a gold mine of information for me. Just watched you restore Gale, and this has given me new insight as to how to go about making my wheel. Thank you for that ^_^ Also...I've recently discovered your video of the loom...😍😍😍 My master goal is to build a jacquard loom! Yoube earned a subscriber, hopefully I can make my wheel, inkle.loom, and jacquard loom, and show you someday ^_^ I wish to spin wool as well, unfortunately I dont have easy access to wool. (No clue where to get it actually haha!) I am interested in silk because I can grow a worm easily in my house. I dont have land for sheep though...not right now anyway :p I have done a little bit of spinning with a drop before. Friend of mine dabbled a bit in spinning, I played with her equipment before we moved. Now I wish to make my own "tools of the trade" heehee
@@AmulekkofWOW90 I ship wool around the world, so stop by and see what I have right now: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/expertlydyed?ref=seller-platform-mcnav I have some plain, undyed fleeces that will go into the shop as hand carded batts. I've been struggling to keep up with production during the final stages of my PhD, but they will go in there at some point. Good luck with your ambitions!
I recently bought a dyed batt. Its supposed to be Corridale if I recall correctly. I also ordered a natural color Corridale batt from a different store. The dyed one feels foamy and has many small peices. Any clue why it feels foamy?
That sounds like soap residue. If you don't wash the soap out of your wool thoroughly, it'll start to break down the fiber. This can result in tiny pieces. Wool prefers a slightly acidic solution and the presence of alkaline (soaps and detergents) can break down the molecular structure of the protein fiber. You may be able to save some of the batt, but if you can see a bunch of small pieces, it might not be good for much. Spinning needs strength and it sounds like the wool fibers are weakend. It might be okay for felting though. Try rinsing it in warm water and see what comes out. Full a basin, submerge, then carefully lift the batt after about 5 minutes. If it's cloudy or soapy, do this again until the water is clear. Let it dry, then assess whether the damage was minor--the good bits could probably still be spun. Whatever you don't use, compost or give to the birds to enjoy. Sorry this happened to you! Hopefully we can salvage some of it though.
@@ExpertlyDyed thank you so much for your feedback. I've been dreading giving them a review, but I feel that spinners should be warned that these batts are really just for felting. The sample that I did spinning didn't feel right at all.
@@ExpertlyDyed on a side note, have you made a follow up video with your Smaug? I haven't seen it posted and my Smaug is one of my favorite spindles. 😊
@@keturahspencer It's worth mentioning to the seller. Sometimes they don't realize it's not good for something if they also don't engage in that craft. I used to do felting samples to gauge whether it would be good for it, even though I'm very unskilled with my felting projects!
@@keturahspencer Absolutely. I have a spindling project setup with Smaug right now (using some lovely Shetland) and planned to do a tutorial and Daily Vlog about it. :)
We can't always find the right wool base for dyeing, but there's nothing barring you from dyeing batts! As long as you consider what you put into the blend, how much you want to card it, and that you handle it gently so it doesn't felt (obviously for wool!), dyeing and spinning a batt is just as simple as any other combed top or carded sliver. Have any other dyeing questions? Want to see a different mini tutorial? Post in the comments and give feedback so I can continue improving the content of my channel so we all have a great resource for inspiration and creativity. :)
Very good information
Thank you, glad your liked it! I have so many videos to make but now that the PhD is done done, I can devote more time to making new tutorials regularly. :)
@@ExpertlyDyed I have learned a great deal watching your past videos. I think we have the same Kromski wheel. The Minstrel?
And what an adventure you are on….. will you stay in the UK now that you e crossed the finish line, as it were?
Could you do an actual dye tutorial as I'm a visual person not written thank you x
Absolutely. Did you want to see me dye batts specifically, or dyeing in general? I can do either.
Before I filmed this video, about 5 different asked the same question over a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd at least address it as a 'quick tips' type tutorial. I have everything for the setup (camera, lights, wool), just haven't had the time until more recently.
To be honest, it’s never occurred to me to dye a batt, just wool tops! I’d love to see you dye a batt :)
The thought occurred to me regularly when I was in prime mode for ED (2010-2015), but I had too many other things going on to really test out my ideas back then. I only relaunched at the end of last year and rediscovered old attempts at the idea when I visited my mom earlier this year. Then I had about 4 people asking within 2 weeks of each other! Clearly, I'm not alone (though you never are, right?). I'm slammed with finishing up my PhD and weekends are tough to allot enough time to filming, but I do try and make time for it each weekend...unfortunately, I find myself to be too exhausted to do anything (literally, just a slug on the couch). I have everything I need, except time. The tutorial won't be out soon, but I will try my best to get it filmed the next time I arrange a dye day.
@@ExpertlyDyed be kind to yourself and rest! Dyeing fun shall be the reward, and it’ll keep us on tenterhooks 😁
@@ExpertlyDyed oh, and best wishes for your PhD!
@@eleanor.shadow I'm ready to be done with it! Over the holidays, I do plan to make as many videos as I can so you have something to watch while I'm frantically finalizing my thesis. :)
@@ExpertlyDyed we'll be here to watch it when you're ready! In the meantime, rest and best of lucks with your thesis! :D
Hello! Just discovered your channel, and I'm hoping for answers :3 I wish to learn spinning, and I wish to begin with silk from the silk worm. I only just discovered that theres different "tensions". Do different tensions have different purposes? Maybe one is better for silk, and another is better for wool? I've been searching all over the internet, and have found no answers to this 😢 I wish to make a wheel, but I need to know what tension type to make it before I can start! Hopefully you see this and respond ^_^
Hi Yngvarr. That is a good question...a good, complicated, question. :) It may be easier for you to begin with a drop spindle and see how you feel about that. You can adjust your tension (ie., twist and thickness of yarn) much more easily than you can with a wheel. It's also cheaper!
Most wheels will spin silk and wool equally well. Specialists who want to make extremely specific types of yarn will want to be selective with the wheel they use, but you don't have to worry about that. I have gotten on fine with my Kromski Minstrel and it allows me to make pretty much any yarn I want (very fine lace yarns to very thick bulky yarns).
Making a wheel is admirable, but it would be helpful to gain experience with spinning so you understand what engineering aspects are required for spinning yarn. Finding and dismantling an old wheel would be helpful for that aspect as well.
As for what to spin, I would suggest starting with a rougher silk to help you deal with the slipperiness that is challenging to spin. Try tussah silk or silk hankies (I have some silk hankies in my shop too). I have a tutorial on spinning silk hankies on RUclips. The reason most people start out with wool is that it's easier for beginners to spin. It might be good to try both. The skills in spinning wool will be applicable to silk as well. Each have their little quirks, but the basic principles of yarn making are taught by both fibers.
@@ExpertlyDyed I'm very happy to have gotten a response from you, made my day! ^_^
I'm a stubborn one heehee, once I have an idea in my head, I make it a reality no matter what. It's a promise I made to myself some years ago, long story haha! I have already made an inkle loom and practiced weaving on it. Unfortunately, I had no wood working experience and cracked the wood when I screwed it together. It broke after a few sessions :( Lessons learned, will have to make a new one in the near future, with adjustments to make it more suited to my needs. I have watched more of your videos, and your channel has become like a gold mine of information for me. Just watched you restore Gale, and this has given me new insight as to how to go about making my wheel. Thank you for that ^_^
Also...I've recently discovered your video of the loom...😍😍😍 My master goal is to build a jacquard loom! Yoube earned a subscriber, hopefully I can make my wheel, inkle.loom, and jacquard loom, and show you someday ^_^
I wish to spin wool as well, unfortunately I dont have easy access to wool. (No clue where to get it actually haha!) I am interested in silk because I can grow a worm easily in my house. I dont have land for sheep though...not right now anyway :p
I have done a little bit of spinning with a drop before. Friend of mine dabbled a bit in spinning, I played with her equipment before we moved. Now I wish to make my own "tools of the trade" heehee
@@AmulekkofWOW90 I ship wool around the world, so stop by and see what I have right now: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/expertlydyed?ref=seller-platform-mcnav I have some plain, undyed fleeces that will go into the shop as hand carded batts. I've been struggling to keep up with production during the final stages of my PhD, but they will go in there at some point. Good luck with your ambitions!
I recently bought a dyed batt. Its supposed to be Corridale if I recall correctly. I also ordered a natural color Corridale batt from a different store. The dyed one feels foamy and has many small peices. Any clue why it feels foamy?
That sounds like soap residue. If you don't wash the soap out of your wool thoroughly, it'll start to break down the fiber. This can result in tiny pieces. Wool prefers a slightly acidic solution and the presence of alkaline (soaps and detergents) can break down the molecular structure of the protein fiber.
You may be able to save some of the batt, but if you can see a bunch of small pieces, it might not be good for much. Spinning needs strength and it sounds like the wool fibers are weakend. It might be okay for felting though. Try rinsing it in warm water and see what comes out. Full a basin, submerge, then carefully lift the batt after about 5 minutes. If it's cloudy or soapy, do this again until the water is clear. Let it dry, then assess whether the damage was minor--the good bits could probably still be spun. Whatever you don't use, compost or give to the birds to enjoy.
Sorry this happened to you! Hopefully we can salvage some of it though.
@@ExpertlyDyed thank you so much for your feedback. I've been dreading giving them a review, but I feel that spinners should be warned that these batts are really just for felting. The sample that I did spinning didn't feel right at all.
@@ExpertlyDyed on a side note, have you made a follow up video with your Smaug? I haven't seen it posted and my Smaug is one of my favorite spindles. 😊
@@keturahspencer It's worth mentioning to the seller. Sometimes they don't realize it's not good for something if they also don't engage in that craft. I used to do felting samples to gauge whether it would be good for it, even though I'm very unskilled with my felting projects!
@@keturahspencer Absolutely. I have a spindling project setup with Smaug right now (using some lovely Shetland) and planned to do a tutorial and Daily Vlog about it. :)