In the Dye Studio: Finding Balance between Production and Exploration
Posted by Kristine Vejar on August 26, 2013 34 Comments
One of the challenges of working in the dye studio is finding consistency in one dye lot to the next. With natural dyes, one batch of dye can vary from another due to the amount of tinctoria found in the leaves. In this case, we'll look at madder. I've always thought it would be fun to travel and collect madder from 3 or 4 different regions and to compare what kinds of red you would get from them in light of the soil and environment they are grown in. The amount of time the madder has been growing also contributes to the type of red and amount of red in the roots. The madder plant here at the shop needed to be in the ground for 2 years before we could start harvesting and dyeing with the roots. I am sure this knowledge was widely known and plants guarded long ago, what about beginning to capture this knowledge today, with where we at today with the cultivation currently. I digress.
So at the studio this week, using a newly received batch of madder, I skipped over to the dyepots, planning to dye a new batch of our saturated red colorway, Transnational Fury. At the studio, we have a book where we have recorded all of our recipes. Some are more predictable than others. As I have been on my kick to get things in the shop and studio more organized, this book doesn't get a pass. I am hoping to employ a bit more help from others in the dye studio in the upcoming year. And this is going to mean recording more through instructions next to each recipe. I record the weight of the yarn I plan to dye, and calculate the dye necessary to obtain transnational fury. Madder is the featured dye in this recipe.
Another tricky aspect to natural dyes is that when you mix them, pour them in the pot, and add yarn, the color you see is not the color you will get. As the pot heats, the color shifts. Madder always starts out brown. So when I see the color brown as I am adding the yarn, I don't think anything of it. I turn the heat on, set my timer, and walk away. Now let's add in another element, water. We have had more trouble than not getting that deep red that has more of a blue tone to it rather than an orange tone since moving into this dye studio. Our water tends to be on the acidic side of the pH scale. We can alter the water but have to be careful because by adding an alkaline and heat, you can feel it in the fiber as the hand gets slightly rougher. While I miss that blue-red, I am not sure that it is worth it to us to try and obtain it at the sacrifice of softness. Ok, let's add in one more factor. Different fibers react differently to the dyes. Superwash wools soak up the dye. In this scenario, Transnational Fury has not really been as big of a problem. Though Reliquary II which has not undergone the superwash process and is made of 80% Merino and 20% Silk (a fiber notorious for needing more dye to obtain the same level of saturation) has been a problem. As it constantly takes the dye lighter, and in this case for red-orange.
So for the past 2 1/2 years of dyeing in this studio, I've had the internal argument of whether to allow Transnational Fury to shift towards a more brick red. At this point, the Transnational Fury which is featured on the website has had a tinch of soda ash added to some of the base yarns, such as Reliquary II so that we could bump it up into the color of red we used to get at the old dye studio. I really loved that red. Though there is a larger part of me, that I would like to allow the plants and colors to speak as they are. To accept that this is what this dye studio has to give. It is still pretty. And sure, there are people who are going to bellyache that they don't like reds with orange undertones and why can't we give them a blue red, but really I don't think the red from the old studio would suffice in that case either.
One of the reasons I am drawn to work with natural dyes, and all the headaches they can cause, is that they are reflective of an environment, actually many environments all at once, where the plant was grown, the place at where it underwent the extraction process, and the place where it is dyed. It is alive. And these shifts are beautiful. Many of my natural dyeing peers are not in production, they are artists and ecologists, whose careers depend on exploring what all plants can give in terms of color. My world is almost entirely the opposite. I've had the challenge of trying to be in business as a natural dyer. The most effective way for us to reach our largest audience is through the internet and our online store. This means creating reproducible colorways so we don't have to constantly be photographing and updating our website, so a designer can work with our yarn, post a pattern, and people can use the colors and yarn the designer is using, and many other reasons.
Then there is the bookkeeping and tracking of cost, inventory, and sales. Last year, I hired a point of sale expert to help us build the infrastructure so we could track all of those things. Right now, our point of sale includes a live inventory of dyes, base yarns, and dyed yarns. What this means is that we have taken every dye recipe and base yarn combination and entered it into POS. Every time we receive a skein of let's say Reliquary II Transnational Fury, it reduces the raw amount of dye and yarn from inventory, and adds the current cost of what we purchased those materials at to the cost of the skein. As natural dyes fluctuate in price form month to month, we needed to have our finger on that pulse, and to truly understand from colorway to colorway what the cost is to make them, so in turn we could make sure that we were pricing Verb correctly. Many times we are contacted to sell wholesale. This conversation really can't be started without having a history of numbers, of the fluctuations that occur within a year, to see if we can afford to wholesale. Forget about wholesale, there is always the question of whether we are pricing Verb accurately for even us to sell. We haven't even begun to talk about labor costs. Right?
Luckily, I do have the brick and mortar shop, so that I can sometimes throw dye and yarn in a pot and see what happens, label it as limited edition, and place it in the shop for sale. Though what happens in the case, like the one with Transnational Fury, where we've ran an entire batch of yarn, washed it, dried it, begun to label it, and think - huh, I'm not sure this really can be sold as Transnational Fury. Where do we draw the line as to how far a color can deviate from the colorway. Remember all of these moments add up. It is very important for us to dye the colorway right, as each minute we spend going back and forth is keeping us from continuing our production. You know, there are just those days that you really don't want to think about these things, when really if we don't stop right there and then, and analyze why the color is not correct, we could end up making future batches which are also wrong. At which point, we end up with 12 skeins of a color that is not exactly Transnational Fury and 12 skeins which can't be listed on the website. Sure they can be for sale in the brick and mortar, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these skeins, I think they are actually better since they are reflective of the process, though the audience of who can see these skeins has now been cut in half.
So I thought I would put the question up to you - here's yarn from last week's Transnational Fury pot. In the upper right corner, you have a skein of Annapurna, made of 80% superwash Merino it is bright, saturated red. It is Transnational Fury (TF). To the right of that skein is Floating, also a pretty good representation of TF. Now looking below, you have a row of Reliquary II, all dyed in the same pot. Together the skeins look ok. Well not to me.
So I pulled them apart into 2 distinct camps. Darker, more red, on the left. Lighter, more orange, on the right.
Here's what I think needs to happen. We need to re-photograph Reliquary II for the website, accepting that it is more of a brick orange. And make a new colorway called Brick which will capture all the skeins which come out of the pot which are not quite red enough which we will photograph and add to our website. In the meantime, we are in the process of creating a thorough collection of all of our base yarns in all of our colorways and hanging them in the studio. We have bits and bobs of this kind of thing but need to pull out the entire collection. Within this collection, I would like to define what is acceptable within each colorway in terms of a color's range before it moves into a new colorway.
Believe me, I know I put myself up to the challenge of using natural dyes within a production environment. It is one which constantly fascinates me and motivates me to get out of bed in the morning. Nonetheless, there are still moments in which I desire to explore and to have a way to reach a client base, so that we can continue to depend on Verb as our income.
In May, I began a conversation with Melanie Falick of STC / Abrams about writing a book about natural dying. One thing led to the next, a book proposal, a box of naturally dyed yarn and fabric sent to NY, passing the publishing board, in other words, learning that my book proposal had been accepted, and receiving my contract - which I just signed!!
Do I really need to explain how insanely exciting this is. How much I love books. How much I love Melanie's work. And how excited I am to work on a natural dyeing project which encourages exploration - mine and yours! I can't imagine a better project to help balance all the work I have dedicated to production dyeing where we can frolic through the world of natural dyeing. There is so much fun stuff to do together - dye, knit, sew.
The plan is to have the manuscript and photography finished by Summer 2014, with the intent for it to be printed and released Fall 2015.
I have to give the hugest most heartfelt thank you to my customers, friends, and family for supporting Verb in so many ways, and giving me the time to actualize my creativity and love of natural dyes into a business. And now, a new journey to watch unfold, of course only in utmost grace ;)
To celebrate this turn of events, tell me what you would do in my case, would you have created a new colorway? To what degree do you think it is acceptable for a single colorway to vary?
Respond by next Monday at 10am, I will select someone to receive a skein of Reliquary II in Brick.
Much love!!
Comments (34 Comments)
Posted by adriennec on September 01, 2013
Congrats on the book! I’m sure it will be a fascinating read!
As far as colours go, I think a new name, or a light/dark designation is helpful. Some variation is expected, but I think that the difference between brick and transnational fury might be enough that people would have strong preferences for one over the other.
Posted by carol on August 31, 2013
Congratulations! Wow, there are a lot of variables that go into creating color. I think the 2 madder colors you showed would look different when coordinated with other colors, so I agree with your decision to show them as separate colorways.
Posted by Kendra on August 31, 2013
Congrats! Sad 2015 is far off, but know the book will be well worth the wait!
I think you could go either way with the colors – variation, especially with natural dyes, is understandable, but it’s hard to know what people’s expectations will be when ordering online. I support the new colorway, then list skeins into what seems appropriate when they come out of the dye pot.
Thank you for the beauty you create, regardless of what you decide to call it! :)
Posted by Claire Lee on August 30, 2013
Variation just IS in artisanal dying and an intrinsic part of its appeal. I would not make a new color way but I would ask on-line order customers to specify first and second choices between dark-medium-light hues. Most of all, I would like for you to have an acceptable balance between customer satisfaction and maintaining your joy in this process.
Congratulations on the book contract and thank you for continuing to promote interest in hand-dying!
Posted by Mimi on August 29, 2013
I like what you did with grouping the colors. If you have enough room and $, it might be nice to keep some mini skeins permanently available in your named color bases. That way, you can actually compare your dye lots when these questions come up, and you can try to group them again to see how much variation.Congrats on the book!
Posted by Cherylina on August 28, 2013
You’re going to produce a fabulous book Kristine. I love watching you evolve and share the process. Inspiring. I’d call one color Transnational Fury Light, and One Transnational Fury Dark. They are the same colors (Hues) but different Values (Tones). It also leaves room for Transnational Fury Medium!
Posted by Rachel on August 28, 2013
Congratulations on the book contract!
I am delighted for you and cannot wait to hold a copy of your pearls of wisdom, experience and your gift at explaining the process while honoring the breadth and depths of nature that each skein embodies.
I would have done the same thing that you did inre: creating a new yarn/category given that there is marked variation.
As many others have said above, I like the variation within a single color way and like what it adds to my knitting. That said, I don’t sell what I knit or dye, and can appreciate the need to somehow define or delineate TF. I really like the idea of creating the “Brick” line which can include those that don’t quite fit into TF.
I absolutely love your entries. I feel like I learn several things in each one. Thank you for that, and congratulations!
Posted by Sonya on August 28, 2013
Congratulations Kristine, that is very exciting and very well deserved!
Posted by Angela on August 28, 2013
Congrats on the book! I can’t wait to read it!
The new colorway is beautiful. If it were me, I would have done the same thing and named a new colorway, since there is so much of a difference from base to base.
I appreciate the variation in hand dyed yarn and chose it for most of my projects. It presents challenges to the knitter if they want to maintain smooth transitions in their project from skein to skein, but I prefer the effect over bulk-dyed yarns any day.congrats again on your book, I am so excited for you!
Posted by Krista on August 28, 2013
I really appreciate that you created a new colorway. There’s one dyer who I absolutely love but has extreme inconsistency in their colors. You have to see that yarn in person even if it’s a color that you’ve loved in the past. I knit a sweater in one colorway that was mostly orange and red-orange with hints of purple. When I was worried about running out of yarn and was looking for more, I found versions that were mostly purple with hints of orange. I do understand that one dye lot won’t match the next, but I would think that it should always have the same general look and color.Posted by Aimee on August 27, 2013
I would create a new color way. In reference to your photographs I would be mildly upset if I bought multiple skeins and received two different variations. It is understandable that working with natural elements can vary in color but being slightly OCD I’d like my skeins to match as closely as possible.
Congratulations on the book deal! Can’t wait to add it to my collection!
Posted by Sheila on August 27, 2013
Congrats on the book deal! I look forward to reading it when it comes out. As for the yarn, I’d definitely call it a new colorway. A repeat customer who orders Transnational Fury expecting the red is going to be disappointed with the brick color, even though it is a very nice color. As for only selling the skeins that don’t pass color quality control in your shop, couldn’t you photograph them and have a non-repeatable colorway section online? More work per sale, I guess, and I may have answered my own question there.
Posted by Angela on August 27, 2013
We experience changes in the water (I know when it’s Zebra Mussel breeding time in the lake because the water smells different to me) that affect color. Also, a new batch of yarn can sometimes take color differently. Even with synthetic dyes and careful measuring, chemistry and Mother Nature can have their way. Since you can recreate both effects, then a new colorway is great.
Posted by Alix on August 27, 2013
I love the variation, but too much can be difficult to work with in a larger project. The new colorway is fantastic. Even more fantastic is the book deal! Congrats!
Posted by Andrea on August 27, 2013
I would go with a new colorway. Nothing worse than buying 2 skeins that are supposed to be the same and having quite a varriant.
Posted by Adrienne on August 27, 2013
A book is the perfect continuation of your success. Fabulous! Your blog is so insightful, always a thoughtful read.
thank you
Posted by Marilyn (Merry) on August 27, 2013
I would create a new colorway. There’s just too much variation from the original in my opinion. They’re all gorgeous though.
wahoomerryf on Rav
Posted by nicole on August 27, 2013
Congratulations!!!
I would create the new colorway.
Posted by GoatBoy on August 26, 2013
Kristine, I am elated for you! Congratulations on your book proposal acceptance! I want a signed copy as soon as it becomes available! Now about the variance in shades, I have to admit that I am a big fan of ombré, and don’t necessarily view conformation as a sign of perfection, but as a business woman, you have to deal with very picky tastes and tolerances, so I say go with the path that gives you the least headache, and choose a different name (the imp in me is thinking ‘Tempered Transnational Fury,’ ‘Transnationally Peeved,’ ‘Echoes of Fury’s Past?’
Love you, and Adrienne, and Cleo, of course!
John
Posted by Lyssa on August 26, 2013
Congratulations on the book. Both colorways are lovely, and I think some variation is to be expected with naturally dyed yarns. But I think I would call this by a new name. You are doing beautiful work.
Posted by Kristen on August 26, 2013
Congrats on the book! That’s fabulous—I can’t wait to read it. :)
As for the color, I think as you said before that with natural dying, you never know how something is going to turn out. I would probably not lean in the direction of creating a whole new colorway as that could very easily become a downward spiral. You could always label the lighter skeins as such and leave it at that. I think most knitters who work regularly with hand dyed yarns, understand that some variance from batch to batch is normal and almost expect it. The colors shown above are certainly different, but don’t look different enough that they would require a new name.
Congrats again and good luck with everything!
Posted by Alison Hyde on August 26, 2013
Oh, that’s so wonderful! Congratulations!
And I love my shawlette in your Transnational Fury.
Posted by SuzanneWilsey on August 26, 2013
I think Brick — and perhaps other colours later — is the answer. And I do think dyeing as you describe it is like wines of different vintages or sourdough s from different cities. Real. Made with ingredients from the earth. Sustaining. And because they are natural, capable of change.
Posted by Deb S on August 26, 2013
So happy to hear about your book deal. I can’t wait to read it. I love how you have been working to help educate people about the challenges of creating a domestic and natural product. It makes sense to me that you would need to create new formulas for yarns created at your new location to get the colors that your customers have grown to love. However, I also think that your customers need to understand that working with natural, artisan colors is a whole different experience than working with mass produced factory yarn. Being upfront and honest about your challenges will go a long way in getting your customers to accept a degree of variation and to embrace it. Keep up the great work. I visit your shop every time I visit my daughter in Oakland. I’m from the Detroit area. I wish I lived closer so I could come and help you with your pursuit toward organization. I’m good at that!
Posted by LR on August 26, 2013
One of the aspects of hand dyed yarn I really like is the variability from base to base and dye lot to dye lot. I especially appreciate when the dyer takes time to educate me about the colors I’m knitting with (what affects the fibers and purposeful nature of variations). That being said, I also like the tidy categorization of colorways and would definitely have made another colorway.
Posted by nelle on August 26, 2013
I would have named a new colorway, especially if I had the yarn in front of me and noticed the difference. Reading about your dyeing process is interesting. Congratulations on your book!
Posted by Jennifer R. on August 26, 2013
Congrats! How very thrilling!!!
As for the colorways…a larger variance in color is anticipated with natural dyes, and it is exactly that “surprise” that makes me LOVE naturally hand-dyed yarns.
Posted by Birdsong on August 26, 2013
Congratulations on the book deal! I am excited for you and looking forward to what you produce. As you know, my work is more that of an artisan… dyeing skeins for projects and to educate others, offering dye plants through the CSA. I am not making the deep, full-time commitment to solving this problem of uniformity that you have taken, and I am extremely grateful that you did, and that Verb exists. Your task, of bringing naturally-dyed yarns to the marketplace for users nation (world?) wide leads to needing a much smaller range of deviation. I would call this variation in Reliquary II a different colorway, and offer it as a limited edition in the shop. I am only able to look at photos online, but there is enough deviation that a sweater knitter would probably be unhappy, even after using the alternating row method to blend two skeins.
Posted by Ann P on August 26, 2013
I would think it is fine to create a new color way. For me, differences are more acceptable fron naturally dyed yarns. The degree of difference I think would depend on the color and the control you have.
Posted by Veronica on August 26, 2013
I think that it is ok to have some variation, but if you are consistently getting a different color, it is appropriate to call it a new color. Otherwise I would sell it as a limited edition TF.
Posted by Anne Marie on August 26, 2013
I would have done as you did. The less variation the better for me since I have yet to master a way of making skeins work to my satisfaction that have a greater degree of variation. Practice practice practice is what I need!
Posted by Nancy N on August 26, 2013
Yes, I think a new colorway is appropriate. and my opinion is in part shaped by a change in my overall knitting point of view. I’ve been a small consumer of hand-dyed yarns, using them mostly in one-skein projects, and choosing more economical yarns for garment quantities.
But after this past weekend, I’ve completely fallen in love with the way the variations in hand-dyed yarns can shine in garments. There is a gradation in texture and the way the color moves within the fabric that just can’t be found in bulk-dyed yarns. If I’m buying sweater quantities, I need enough continuity of color skein-to-skein to make the garment work. And If, for instance, I’ve fallen in love with Transnational Red because I adore deep, saturated reds, I will be looking for the red I love. If I last used it six months ago for a garment, and find a design that just begs me for deep-red yarn, and I know which base will best give me the fabric I need, it’s a wonderful blessing to know just which red I want without relying on photography and monitors (especially since they have a dickens of a time with reds!). I hope this helps!
Posted by Tallie on August 26, 2013
congratulations kristine! that’s fantastic news!
as for the colorway question:
I think it’s totally fine for a colorway to vary, especially if the yarn is from a handyed/naturally dyed shop. But I have definitely realized halfway through a project that I need to be making stripes – even undyed yarn can vary so much that the color doesn’t match!
Posted by jen on August 26, 2013
Yes, I would have created a new colorway, they are both beautiful. I think with natural dyes I am much more acceptable of variations within a single colorway, as opposed to synthetic dyes. It would be hard to put a number, but I’d say 10-15% difference would be ok?
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