Equipment & Supplies Part 2 – Resources
Some Mini posts regarding Equipment and Supplies that I use for dyeing cotton yarn and thread, today I am breaking down dyeing resources.
I have cobbled together most of what I know about dyeing from a variety of amazing online resources and wonderful advice on forums from other dyers, so I am in no way an expert on any of this just an obsessed hobbyist hoping to provide more info for those looking to dye cotton yarn and thread like me.
Online Dyeing Resources
Paula Burch’s website All about dyeing - http://www.pburch.net/dyeing.shtml
This woman’s website has been my go to guide for all things dye related, this lady really knows her stuff and breaks it down beautifully for not just fiber reactive procionmx dyes but many others as well. This is the most in depth set of instructions and guides all focused in one place on the web that I have used so far. Of particular use is her now defunct Q&A blog for random questions not answered through her websites instructions, this is where you will find lots of fun little tidbits and discussions.
Ravelry - https://www.ravelry.com/
Most of the people, or person lol, who may stumble on this blog probably already know what Ravelry is. For those who don’t I urge you to go to their site and sign up ASAP if you love all things knitting, crochet, or yarn related. This is a free website that hosts thousands of knitting and crochet patterns from hundreds of designers and sources, it also has all sorts of resources and a huge database of yarn info. In addition to that they have forums on many fiber related topics including dyeing, in particular the group Love2Dye is a great place to post questions about dyeing, there are many experienced dyers on it who are more than willing to help you out.
Aside from all the resources it has to offer what I love about Ravelry is how it is not a place where I feel I have to compromise to use it. It is not a corporate website hoping to rope you into buying products or get you signed up for a paid subscription, even though you can buy patterns on it.
Although the website is not for profit it is run by paid employees who do an excellent job of moderating, designing and maintaining the website, I’ve never felt scammed, harassed or blocked by poor performance in my time on there. They really are dedicated to doing right by the knitting and crochet community by putting out a quality product for free.
As noted this is a totally free website, you do have to sign up for an account to fully use it, something that normally drives me away from any website as I know they are just fishing to get email addresses to spam me, but that is truly not the case on Ravelry. You will get no emails from Ravelry unless you specifically set it up in your profile, imagine that, you sign up for something and you AREN’T auto-enrolled in a bunch of junk email? There’s no fee, no renewal, none of the usual hoops websites make you jump through to get to their content.
Jacquard - https://www.jacquardproducts.com/
Jacquard dye supplier’s website does not sell their products through the website, although there is a wholesale bulk store buried in there, but they only sell their products to other online or store front retailers. However like all dye suppliers their site is also a wonderful resource for instructions, I have all their fiber reactive dye info and color sheets saved. They also have a great user forum where the mods will reply pretty quickly to questions you post there, its one of the only online forums specifically dedicated to dyeing so check it out. You will have to sign up to post, but like with Ravelry I never get spam from them of any sort.
Dharma Trading Company - https://www.dharmatrading.com/
Another dye supplier in the USA, they have many dyes, supplies and resources, no dye forum but I have contacted them with a few questions and they always get back to me promptly. Hoping to put an order in with these guys this year.
Prochemical & Dye - https://prochemicalanddye.net/
Another dye supplier in the USA, they are the east coast dye supplier in the USA, much like Dharma they have a multitude of dyes and supplies and useful resources and downloads on their products. They also set up dye workshops with experienced teachers, I’m hoping after Covid-19 calms down to go to some of these.
Golden Paints - https://www.goldenpaints.com/mixer
Not a dye resource per-se so much as a color mixing resource, their paint color mixer gives me a pretty good idea about colors being mixed together.
Tien Chiu - https://www.tienchiu.com/
Tien Chui is a fiber artist, weaver and dyer, she is very active on Ravelry’s Love2Dye forum with great advice but she also has a website and great blog that talks in depth about dyeing cotton yarn for her weaving. She also took Carol Soderland’s [master dyer, teach and author] lessons on making a color sample cube to the max on her own with cotton thread. Her breakdown of how she did it is truly a worthwhile read and best of all she has graciously shared in depth her methods and some tools on how to do the same. I have yet to see someone else do it but we can all dream of taking on such an ambitious project.
Google – If all else fails try googling what you are looking for, it’s true that cotton yarn and thread dyeing is pretty obscure on the web, hence why I made this blog. Most fiber reactive dyeing is being applied by tie dyers, quilters, screen printers and occasionally weavers, but these blog posts and websites are still worthwhile to read through as the fundamentals of working with fiber reactive dyes on cellulose fiber are all pretty universal.
Yarn Resources
Since I only dye cotton yarn and thread I’m afraid I don’t have many resources to offer that I have used for buying cotton yarn. Most yarn suppliers who sell dyeable yarns supply mostly wool and other protein fibers which I don’t work with, I’d love to since they are so pretty but I’m allergic. So not many resources to list here below, but there are many great sites that offer yarn blanks for dyeing, just google it and you will find many out there.
IceYarns - https://www.iceyarns.com/#home
Not a dye able yarn blank site but still a great place that I love talking up to anyone who will listen.
A wholesale supplier of yarns based in Turkey, these guys carry just about every type of yarn you can imagine and if you look closely you can definitely figure out what name brand the yarns belong too. So if you are looking for a bunch of yarn that you can’t find in store or don’t want to buy full price check this site out. The quality of the yarns is good, since it is wholesale no name yarn best to adjust your expectations accordingly, if uncertain stick to an actual yarn store where you can feel the product before you buy it.
They sell most yarns in packs of 2 or more, usually for the same price you would pay for just one item in store. The shipping prices put a lot of people off, but I have done the math multiple times on orders that I have made with them and I’m still paying 50% less than in store and that includes shipping. I have never had a shipping issue with them, everything always arrives very quickly within a week from Turkey to Canada. You will likely end up paying duties and tax, but still the price works out really well.
My only advice on this site is only shop there if you know what you want to buy, otherwise you will get sucked into the whole “it’s such a deal I’d be losing money if I didn’t buy more mentality” or maybe that’s just me!
Crochet Thread
I mostly work with crochet thread, or crochet cotton, my brand that I dye is Aunt Lydias crochet cotton thread size 10 in white, it is a mercerized thread with a lot of sheen and a very smooth texture. I have also worked with South Maid crochet thread, which is mercerized but has no sheen and very little give or bounce to it.
I have heard the debates on which is the best crochet cotton thread on and on, people tend to slam Aunt Lydia as a mid-level brand and recommend DMC petra or other tatting style threads as more high end. However since I’m making balls anywhere from 30-150gm balls, these other brands really can’t compete in terms of how much thread they offer for the price.
Most brands sell a 25-50gm ball of thread which simply won’t do, whereas Aunt Lydia will sell their jumbo ball of thread which comes in at 453gms/2730 yards each ball for about $22.00 CDN. Seriously I have never found a better deal for that much thread anywhere, not even cotton weaving thread is that cheap for that many yards. Side note I’ve haven’t tried it yet but have been advised that weaving cotton thread will never be quite as good as crochet thread for its purpose, but I will get into that on another post.
Anyway, all this is to say that based on my research if you are looking to dye crochet thread in large amounts like me your best place to buy it is likely at big box store like Walmart where I can get it for $22 CDN for the jumbo ball, or with 30% off at Michaels $16CDN. And the jumbo ball is the best deal of the 3 sizes Aunt Lydia offers, the regular size is 400yds or the Big ball is 1000yds but those don't compare to 2730yards ball in price vs yardage.
