It's just what it sounds like, folks.  The method I was testing in the previous entry worked WONDERFULLY, and I ended up with an intact, completely unfelted and beautiful colorway in the Pencil Roving.  It will work up wonderfully and wasn't actually all that difficult - it just involved being careful with the movement of the fiber.  And since I scoured the internet and could find no tutorial of this kind I decided to do my own, complete with (bad) pictures.  So here we go!

 

 

 

Supplies:

 

- Corriedale Pencil Roving

- Protein Fiber dye of your choice - I'd recommend food coloring, easter egg dye, koolaid, or professional acid dyes.  I used Jacquard Acid Dyes

- White Vinegar, to use with your acid dyes

- Large pyrex bowl

- Cups and bowls to mix your dye colors in, squirt bottle work well too

- A vegetable steamer basket and lidded pot that will NOT be used for food

- Foam brushes

- a sink and counter space clear of any food or food preparation items

- paper towels for blotting and cleaning up spills

- wire whisk, if needed, for mixing your dyes

- latex or rubber gloves, if you don't want colored hands

- Synthrapol or Castille Soap, to use as a wetting agent

- Eucalan Wool Wash (optional)

 

Step 1: Unravel about two oz. of Corriedale pencil Roving and coil it as neatly as you can in your pyrex bowl.  You want the to coil it in layers so that it can be lifted out of the bowl without any tangles or snags. Hang the end of the roving on the edge of the bowl so you don't lose it in the mass of fiber.

 

 

 

Step 2: Take on of your spare cups and add two drops of Synthrapol or Castille soap and fill with cool water (no colder than 50 degrees, no warmer than 80 degrees, otherwise you risk felting.

 

Pour gently and slowly into the bowl of coiled fiber, so that it does not have the chance to agitate and felt the fiber.  I like to put my hand below the water stream so that it just trickles over my hand onto the fiber, instead of trying to pour it directly on the roving.  You want your roving well covered by the water, but not floating freely enough to tangle.

 

 

 

Step 3: Let roving soak for no less than 30 minutes, so it is thoroughly and evenly wet. Use this time to mix up your dyes in the desired shades and concentrations.  Generally speaking you should not use more than three color families of dye on your fiber, otherwise the colors become muddy.  Mix your dyes as directed for use on wool, and there are many tutorials online for this. Beyond that, be a mad scientist and have fun!  Set your dyes out of the way until the time comes for dyeing, so there are no accidents or spills.

 

 

Step 4: Press your hand into the center of it and gently tip the bowl into the sink, so that the water can run off and the roving stays put under your hand.  Press down as much as you can to expel the majority of the water from the roving, set aside.

 

 

Lay out a length of plastic wrap about 3 feet long on the counter top - this will be what you arrange the roving on for dyeing.

 

 

Step 5:  Place your bowl of drained roving next to your plastic wrap and GENTLY uncoil the roving.  Lay it in a zigzagging, orderly strip on the top end of your plastic wrap, and work your way down.  The trick to keeping the pencil roving from stretching apart and breaking when you lift it out of the bowl is to uncoil a length, then align it on your plastic wrap.

 

 

Don't just yank upward out of the bowl, because the weight of the water and the grip of the other fiber will make your roving difficult to extract and more likely to attenuate apart.  When you are working think "no tension, no tension, gentle!" as you are moving the roving.  Do not rub or abrade it against itself if at all possible, because you don't want it to felt and become impossible to spin.

 

As you go along you can gently bunch the roving on the plastic wrap so that it is touching itself, as this will make it easier to spread the dye.

 

 

 

Step 6:  Once your roving is down on the plastic wrap, take paper towels and gently blot out any excess moisture.  You want the roving to be barely moist.

 

 

The reason the fiber was initially soaked is so that it is evenly wet, which helps the dye apply without bubble and streaking, but too much water pooling under the roving when you are working with it will cause the dye to run and muddy up.

 

 

Step 7:  Apply dye!  Have fun with it, you can either do it in a blocky and organized fashion,or go mad with the squirt bottles.  I prefer to apply the dye with the foam brushed and dab it on.  Lift the roving every once in awhile to make sure the dye is penetrating the underside of the fiber.  If you color every inch of it the fiber will spin up with bold, undilute colors, and if you leave a lot of white space your finished yarn will be softer and more pastel, even with very strong dyes.  It's up to you, experiment and have fun!

 

 

The one thing to remember is that you want to apply your color with as little excess water as possible, to keep running to a minimum. I will sometimes lift up the roving and use some paper towels to wick up excess water as needed, but it is up to you.

 

Leave your roving on the counter for another 15 minutes or so, to cure and set the colors where they have been placed (this lessens the chance of severe color running when steamed).

 

 

Step 8: Wrap up your roving in the plastic.  I take the top and bottom edge and wrap it over the center of the roving, forming a tube, and then roll it up from one edge to the other, so it looks a little like a cinnamon roll.  I then take another two feet of plastic or so and wrap this roll securely so the ends don't come undone.

 

Fill your pot with about an inch of water and place the steamer inside.  You do NOT want water coming up through the steamer, but you don't want to burn dry either, so adjust as needed.  Place your plastic roll of roving in the steamer basket and close the lid.

 

 

 

Step 9: Turn on the burner to high and listen for the water boiling.  Try to remove the lid as few times as possible throughout the steaming process, so less steam will escape. Once you hear boiling turn the burner to the lowest simmer setting and set a timer for 30 minutes.  Sit tight and wait, and add water if you notice large amounts of steam escaping under the lid.

 

Steaming sets the color of the yarn and the heat acts as a catalyst to bond the dye molecules to the fiber, with acid (vinegar) as a chemical assist.  If you do not steam set your colors they will run, bleed, and fade significantly.  Steamsetting with make them colorfast and washfast, keeping them bright and beautiful.

 

 

Step 10: When the timer goes off remove the pot from heat.  I STRONGLY advise letting it sit to coil naturally, overnight, because the colors adhere to the fiber better and there is less of a risk of burning.  But if you're terribly impatient give it two hours to cool and then CAREFULLY remove your roll and leave it on the counter to cool the rest of the way.

 

 

Step 11:  When the fiber is cooled and ready, unwrapthe outer plastic, uncoil the inner roll, and slit open the first layer of plastic wrap to expose your steamed, completed roving.

 

 

Find the end of your roving, which should be on the bottom right corner if you coiled from the upper left initially, and recoil it in your pyrex bowl for its rinse.  I coil it up the same way I did to soak it, in orderly layers from bottom to top.  Handle gently, please, you don't want to felt it now!

 

 

Step 12:  Mix up a 1/4 teaspoon of Synthrapol for every 1/2 gallon of water used for the rinse - if you do not have synthrapol then just use plain water, no detergents.  You want your water temperature to be the temperature of the roving... so if your roving is still a bit warm do NOT add cold water, and if your roving is cold do NOT add warm water.  This is the stage where felting is MOST common, so take care that your water temperature is the same as the temp. of your yarn and that you do not rub or agitate the roving while it soaks. Many tears will result if you do!

 

 

Do one rinse with Synthrapol and then one or two more rinses with water, draining and refilling as outlined back in Step 2.  Usually that is enough, but if you used very strong or dark colors rinse until the water runs clear or mostly clear.

 

 

Step 13: Once your roving is rinsed, and drained, lay out on a towel until most of the water is absorbed (about one hour) and then hange somewhere to dry. Reeled over a chopstick and hung between cabinets works great in a pinch.

 

 

 

Step 14:  When the roving is bone dry, which depending on your climate can be anywhere from 1-3 days, coil it up and you're done!

 

 

It can be spun up into very fine singles, as it is predrafted nice and narrowly, or it can be knit as a bulky yarn, at around 6 WPI.  It is up to you, the sky is the limit.

 

 

Enjoy!