As the old fiber stash is dwindling, it was time to break out some fiber I was gifted last fall. This first one is some Copworth dyed in cochineal and madder root. The wool is on the coarse side, and the color is somewhat intense. It was originally a compact little ball; but, once unwound and prepped for spinning, it turned into a reddish cloud.
I’ve never really worked with Copworth or naturally-dyed fiber before, so this was rather unusual. And, for the most part, I tend to only spin my own handpainted fiber. This particular spinning didn’t go well at all. The dye wasn’t set properly, and it came off on my hands, my desk, the basket, and all over the spinning wheel. Even though there was almost eight ounces of it, I found that I was only able to do a few ounces before having to stop. Not only was the color coming off, the fiber/dyes were causing me to have reactions such as runny nose, watering eyes and a cough. At first, I thought it was the onset of a fast-moving head cold. A few days went by, and I was fine. Once I started spinning this again, the symptoms came back.
Spinning on this stopped and it was retired to a paper tube and sealed in a plastic bag. The spinning wheel was wiped down and the bobbin soaked to remove the deposited dye.
After letting it sit for almost a week, I put on my particle respirator used for mixing dyes, and plied it with some butterscotch colored wool from Grafton Fibers that I had spun up to use with it to soften the hand of the wool.
The yarn has been soaked and I tried to set the colors, but I’m hesitant to do anything with the yarn. What to do? Do I say anything to the gifter of the fiber, whom I sure had absolutely no idea? Or, do I let the dyer know that they should perhaps check their dyeing procedures? Or, just add this to my spinning list and let it go? I’m opting for letting it go. I’ve got other fibers to spin, but I’ll stick to my own dyed fiber.
Yarn Details-
Color: Mango
Fiber Source: Gifted
Fiber Content: Copworth
Spun on: Schacht Matchless Spinning Wheel
Yardage: 374 yards
Finished Weight: 3 7/8 oz
WPI: 21
Ply: 2
Divine Bird Jenny
Is that Coopworth from Sojourner Farm? I have several batts from them. It sounds like you’re allergic to the plants they used in the dye process. (I know, I’m such a detective.)
I actually think the dye coming off on your hands is excess and won’t actually affect the color of the yarn. This happens from time to time, though it’s pretty dramatic in this case. A good wash or two of the yarn should help.
You might want to let the dyer know; I always do if something like this happens. It could be a fluke or it could turn out to have been this batch or it could be a recurring issue. It’s good to at least make them aware of what happened.
Jun 11, 2009 @ 1:11 am
Devorah
Let it go. If you meet the dyer in person some day, then you might say something. But otherwise, let sleeping cats lie.
Jun 11, 2009 @ 5:20 am
Heide
Personally I’d not say anything unless asked (what are the odds of the dyer contacting you?), but I’d not buy from them again to avoid something like this happening again. As for the yarn… could you soak it in something to insure that the excess dye and/or offending mordants are removed? Is it wrong to say that picturing you spinning toxic yarn while wearing a respirator yarn made me chuckle?
Jun 11, 2009 @ 7:47 am
Benita
As a natural dyer, please let the dyer know what happened. It should NOT have come off like that and they need to know about it so they can test and adjust their dyeing methods. If that were something I had dyed, I would want to know because I have a reputation to keep and that needs to be fixed.
Since you have it spun and plied, you can rinse it until there is no more color bleed (in cold water). With cochineal, this may take quite a bit of rinsing. I’m betting it either wasn’t properly mordanted or the dyer did not take the time to rise it at all after dyeing seeing how much it came off on your hands.
And that might explain your reaction to it. Try rinsing it until you get no more color bleed and see what it looks like.
Jun 11, 2009 @ 7:54 am
Roxie
I’m with Benita. The dyer needs to know. Even if it’s a gift from an amatuer, they need to know. If it were me, I would want to know.
If it’s coarse, I would weave it with a dark warp, then toss that sucker in the washer on hot and felt the heck out of it. Nice tote bag material. Or even a nice cat bed if it gets too thick to fold.
Jun 11, 2009 @ 8:27 am
Tina M.
As someone who used to dye for sale, I would counsel you to PLEASE tell the dyer. It’s all how you say it, of course. No one likes to be yelled at, but a polite email letting he or she know that there was an issue will help them be a better dyer in the future if there is an ongoing issue.
On a parallel topic, I wish we all felt more free to talk about the things we don’t like when purchasing from vendors, large and small. Since no one wants to hurt anyone’s feelings, I find many people (in my experience) are ’sucking it up’ because they don’t feel comfortable leaving neutral or negative feedback when they have the proper venue. This leaves a lot of graded vendors with artificially positive feedback, and does the buyer no good service. I’d want to know.
Jun 11, 2009 @ 9:37 am
JessaLu
Natural red dye comes from lil cochineal bugs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal), not plants, which is why I never plan on dyeing anything red using natural dyes. The idea of using lil squished up bugs to make something red just skeeves me out to no end (as does the pictures of your naturally dyed red fingertips…yikes). ;o) Also, I hope it came off your wheel! Skeery!
I would tell the dyer very politely that you had an issue because as far as they are concerned at this point there is no issue. Personally, as a seller, I’d want to know if something I sold was defective and I’d go out of my way to make it right.
Jun 11, 2009 @ 10:35 am
Heidi
Wow! I say, yes, chat with the dyer to insure others don’t suffer through the same messy process. Who knows, it may have been an anomoly, part of a batch that was somehow not processed correctly. They would do well to offer to compensate you with something you’re able to work with, though. I’d chuck what’s left of it–it has bad juju!
Jun 11, 2009 @ 1:01 pm
Peg in South Carolina
Interesting. I am having some very slight respiratory problems that I think are coming from the current fiber I am spinning. It’s been washed, dyed, carded, but there is junk in it. I keep a white cloth on my lap for visibility and it is getting very very dirty! I know dirt can give me some allergies and keeping floors clean seems to solve these issues for me (I know, it’s not the dirt, it’s what is attached to the dirt……..) so I’m thinking it might be dust mask time, groan……….
Jun 11, 2009 @ 1:18 pm
Ginger
Will vinegar help set the color? Hope you were able to clean the wheel and bobbins, and your hands of the dye.
Jun 11, 2009 @ 8:57 pm
kitkatknit
Since you had a reaction, I’d say stick to your own beautiful hand dyed fibers!
Jun 15, 2009 @ 12:29 am