# Morning with my blending board



## mtnviewpottery (Feb 15, 2013)

Hi everybody!

I spent a pretty productive morning with my blending board. I experimented with some dyeing Shetland rovings yesterday and got some pretty colors with Wilton Food Dyes. I'm using them because I can't afford/don't have the room for a second microwave right now and I'm not ready to move on to my hoarded Cushing dyes. 

I've found I really do like my blending board a lot. It's much easier to use than my drumcarder, and I can use it sitting down, which is a good thing since I fractured a vertebra last year. 

One bat on the blending board can be dizzed off into a roving about three and a half feet long. I have no idea exactly how much I dyed yesterday, but it was probably about three ounces. So, with the white shetland, and the tussah silk for luster, I probably got a total of six ounces of rovings.

This shetland roving from Paradise Fibers is wonderful, and after the stuff I was working with it's a dream! I'm glad I got a couple of pound of it.


morning with blending board shamrock roving and dye experiment by mtnviewpottery, on Flickr

Hope you're all well!
Jan


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Very pretty! I like those colors. 
Can't wait to see the yarn they become.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Those are lovely!

You know you can use the Cushings dyes with a crock pot, eh? (See WIHH's other thread) ... or just a regular pot on the stove, too. Obviously a crock pot / regular pot that you don't use for food, but they take up a lot less room (and cost a WHOLE LOT LESS) than a whole separate microwave.

If you like dyeing, don't let the perception that you gotta have a bunch of equipment to do it safely and successfully stop you ... you do need to use separate tools, but one thrift store pot and an old spoon is all you *really* need.


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

COOL colors !!! I've used Kool Aid to dye ...


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Those look great! I bet you're having fun playing 

I have stainless steel stock pots that I cook in and use for dying. I just make sure to wach them out, really scrub them well. I do use seperate wooden spoons or dowels.


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## BlueberryChick (May 12, 2008)

Oh, my goodness, those are yummy!


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## mtnviewpottery (Feb 15, 2013)

Hi, everybody!

I do have an enamel canner I use for dyeing. I haven't used my Crock-pot for dyeing because I only have one big one left. I find I've reached the age that many of my small appliances have been given to children or appropriated to crafts, etc.

I just found all the neat articles and Youtube videos on using food colors and wanted to give them a try. The are a great way to experiment with colors. I may at some point invest in a stainless steel pot, but I'm more than happy with my canner for right now. 

I plan to get busy spinning these, but hopefully, in the next few weeks, I'll be buying a new wheel that's easier on my back. I'm looking at a Lendrum or a much less expensive Heavenly Handspinning. I think I'll go with a two-peddle model, because I think it would be less stressful on my back.

Thanks for the feedback,
Jan


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