Can a Bird Change Its Feathers?

A peacock can! Here's a reminder of what the Peacock Feathers Shawl looked like in its natural, scariegated colorway. Ewwwwwe!


Prepare to be amazed!

I tried everything, but I couldn't get accurate shots of the dye swatches. The colors turned out so much deeper and more saturated than they look on the computer. They came out a deep teal, and intense, jewel-like royal blue and a dark, deep-sea turquoise. The teal came out the most monochromatic, probably because it was the same color as the darkest color already in the yarn. The royal blue swatch had subtle darker shades in it where the blue covered the teal, but it was mostly one color. The turquoise swatch had the most variations in it, but they were still so subtle that it just looked like it was a trick of the light. It seemed to almost glow.

Well, I decided to ask my trusty assistant, PH, to give me his opinion.

PH: Yeah, so what do you want me to do with these things?

Me: I just want you to give me your opinion. What color would you dye this shawl if it were yours?

PH: Look at me. I'm short, hairy and orange. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a cat. And, besides that, I'm a guy.

Me: I'll give you canned food.

PH: (SWIPE!) I like these two. Let's make a deal. Throw in some cat treats and I'll narrow it down to one.

In the end, we both decided on the same color. So, back to the laboratory....

That little enamel pot that I did the test swatches in was a great find. I found it in the camping section of Wall-eye World. It's a great size for small batches.

I tried to do some fancy calculations to try to get the same result with the much larger shawl that I did with the little swatch. It came out a bit lighter, so I let it cool a bit and took it out and mixed up another batch of dye. But, as I spread the shawl out and started looking at it in the sunlight, I started to really like it the way it was. The stripey variegation was gone and you could really see the lace pattern, but there was still some color variation. Very peacock. Well, have a look for yourself!

The photos still seem a bit light, but if you click on them and make them big, you can get an idea. When you see it in person, it looks like light playing over irridescent bird feathers. Only it's yarn! Heh. I like it. It's purdy. Oh, and, by the way, PH and I decided on turquoise.

Tomorrow, I'll post a picture of the roving I dyed with the second batch of dye that I didn't use. You know, I don't think I've ever posted about spinning on this blog. Well, I guess that'll have to change. Spinning, coming up sometime this week!