Dyeing the Wool (Part II)

 After leaving the wool to mordant over the weekend, I came into school yesterday, ready to dye. So, I pulled all the wool out of the container, emptied it out, filled it back up with water, tossed the logwood extract and iron in there, and put the wool back in. I gave it all a good stir and was delighted to see it was turning a lovely light grey colour. Then I put the lid on the container and left it alone.

I went to check on it a few hours later, lifted up the lid, gave it all a stir, and pulled a skein out to have a look.

It was so purple.

Oh no.

So, I pulled all the wool back out again, dissolved more iron into some hot water, added it to the dyebath, gave it a good stir, put the wool back in, and hoped for the best.

Another few hours later, I went to check on it again. Fortunately, the wool was looking considerably more grey this time, however, it was also looking a little darker than I would have liked. While I had originally intended to leave it in the dyebath for a couple of days, I decided at that point that I really didn't want the colour to get any darker.

I removed all the wool, rinsed it, and hung it to dry. I spent at least two and a half hours getting it all rinsed... I'm definitely not looking forward to rinsing twice as much during the next batch!

I checked on it this morning and it was mostly dry. The colour, although it had lightened up a bit while it was drying, is definitely a bit darker than I wanted it to be, but I think if I make sure that I dye the remaining 2/3 of the wool a really dark grey, it should be fine. The only issue I have now is finding something large enough to dye the remaining wool in. The container I have is a perfect size for the 29 skeins that I dyed a light grey, but I don't think it'll be nearly large enough for twice as many!