The GW Sash project - Dying

The color of the sash that is in the keeping of George Washington's Mount Vernon is red. But what shade of red? I discussed the situation with curator Amanda Isaac.
Dying is not something I consider to be my strong suit. Yes, in the past I've dabbled with plants and flowers, picking the petals, fiddling with mordants. There's just too much to explore there, too many things that affect the color, and I've found it necessary to narrow my focus. I focus on the technique, and short-cut the dye process ... all this to say, I've been using commercial dyes. I've been using Landscapes dyes. They are an eco-friendly dyestuff, using plants rather than chemicals.

To determine the "right" shade of red, I wound up six small skeins. I placed them in pairs and dyed them, each pair in a different teacup, each a different shade of red.

One set I sent off to the curator, the other set I kept for my records.

She chose "chili" .... so that's the color I'll use.

I had the silk in skeins, each skein containing two parallel strands, as that's what is in the original sash.
Each skein is tied in several places. I am hoping to avoid the threads getting tangled within the skein, and will not be a problem when I get to warping.

I soaked the skeins ahead of time, prepared my depot and lowered the skeins into the dyepot.
Here is the silk in the dye pot. I followed the recipe for the Landscapes dyestuff.

Here are my freshly dyed skeins, ready for warping.
That step is planned for Monday, December 15.

In the mean time, waiting for Warping Day, I've set up a "narrow" warp (200 pairs of threads) to work a sample piece. I need to "train" my fingers and my eyes to this fine silk.

I was glad I did. I remembered a couple of challenges that I faced last time. I discovered again how important it is, when using pairs of fine threads, to push each row around before starting the next row. It's waaaay too easy to grab an incorrect pair of threads, and then it is impossible to push that bit around to the other side.
No shortcuts, Carol. No working several rows before pushing around. Remember that, Carol!