The Muffs Monthly
June 30, 2024
I spent an entire year dyeing fibre using only primaries. I used Dharma Acid Dye Sunflower Yellow, Caribbean Blue and Florescent Fuchsia. It made sense to me to start with primaries so that I could get a really good grasp on dyeing techniques and how these colours mixed together. I didn't want to waste money buying dye and I could learn almost everything I needed to know to get started. Confetticorn was officially designed using low immersion on a hot plate. To this day I swear by it for speckling yarn so that I can turn the heat up quickly and get those speckles to set. I can turn it over and add more dye and speckle while maintaining a high heat.
I love dyeing yarn in my dye oven because I can set the temperature, timer and leave only to return to beautiful results. I tested Confetticorn in the oven but when I added speckles, the speckles set very slowly, the dye colours bled more and I had to take the pan out to flip it over and place it back in again. By this time the yarn had cooled so I deemed it not the best method for speckling, but it did work. I recommend using a hot plate or stove top method to dye Muffs Confetticorn Colourway.
My first attempt at Muffs original Confetticorn colourway resulted in too little white space and too much pink dye blended into the yellow. This created too much orange gradient for the circus look I was aiming for. I recommend spacing out your dye colours with a fair amount of white space between with very minimal overlap. For more precise results, use a squeeze bottle with narrow tip instead of a pouring cup.
If your colourway doesn't turn out exactly how you imagined, don't give up. Try again and observe your results. Write them down. A long time ago I created the Rule of Four for Muffs Merino. It's a lot of hard work but for me, I have never received the results I wanted exactly when starting a new craft until the fourth attempt. You might get closer to your vision after two attempts or six attempts. If you stop continuing the practise in the exact same way, you will need to redo the Rule of Four. It has been a long time since I made Confetticorn and the photos you will see are my first and second attempt in 2024 and now I know exactly what I would change for my third attempt.
You can download your June 2024 free Confetticorn Colourway Recipe by joining our newsletter.
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There are so many variations that can be made with three primary colours. Here is a quick low immersion step-by-step guide to learn everything there is to know about dyeing with primaries (all yarn is laid out lengthwise across pan).
For this guide, I recommend using three primary colours that have a similar depth in shade such as Fluorescent Fuchsia, Brilliant Yellow & Caribbean Blue. Alternatively you could use three primary pastel colours that are similar in depth.
I used 100g of yarn for each test. I recommend using a pan that fits your yarn snuggly so that dye colours do not bleed to the edges or empty areas of your dye pan.
Keep in mind:
Fluorescent Fuchsia and Brilliant Yellow makes orange.
Fluorescent Fuchsia and Caribbean Blue makes Purple.
Caribbean Blue and Brilliant Yellow makes green.
Muffs Amateur to Primary Pro Fast Yarn Dyers Blog Post Workbook:
1. Natural White Yarn & Speckle
A) Natural white yarn and all three primaries speckled all over.
B) Natural white yarn and all three speckled on half yarn.
D) Natural white yarn and two primaries speckled all over.
E) Repeat (D) with the other primaries: (CB + FF, CB + BY, FF + BY).
F) Repeat the above and choose one colour to be more dominant than the other. Repeat with all other primaries.
2. One Colour & Speckle
A) One colour 3 vertical stripes with all primaries speckled only on white areas.
B) One colour 3 vertical stripes with all primaries speckled on all areas.
B) Repeat with the other primaries: (CB + FF, CB + BY, FF + BY).
3. Two Colours & Speckle
A) Two colour vertical stripes with white space in between with all primaries speckled only on white areas.
B) Two colours vertical stripes with white space in between with all primaries speckled all over.
C) Two colours vertical stripes overlapping (makes new colour) with primaries speckled only on white spaces.
D) Two colours vertical stripes overlapping (makes new colour) with all primaries speckled all over.
B) Repeat with the other primaries: (CB + FF, CB + BY, FF + BY).
4. Three Colours & Speckle
A) Three colour vertical stripes with white space in between with all primaries speckled only on white areas.
B) Three colours vertical stripes with white space in between with all primaries speckled all over.
C) Three colours vertical stripes all overlapping (makes rainbow) with primaries speckled only on white spaces.
D) Three colours vertical stripes overlapping (makes rainbow) with all primaries speckled all over.
E) Three colours vertical stripes repeating and overlapping (makes rainbow), no white space, no speckle.
F) Three colours vertical stripes repeating and overlapping (makes rainbow), no white space, all three primaries speckle.
G) Three colours vertical stripes repeating and overlapping (makes rainbow) only on half, all three primaries speckle on white half.
If you truly get this far you will be well on your way to becoming a pro colourway yarn dyer. All you need to do now is repeat. And, if you do dye all these variations using only primaries, please send us your results! I would love to see them.
I will be going through this workbook myself. When I have my completed results, I will be adding the photos to this post.
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https://www.etsy.com/nz/shop/MuffsMerino
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Kindly, Lori from Muffs Merino
