Tunisian Crochet History

So this all started out because I may or may not have made up a new stitch and wanted to vitrify that before posting it on here. The whole thing has morphed into what will be my first A&S research project for the SCA.

What little research I have done hasn't turned up much verified information online, yet. The popular date says it first appeared in publications in 1907, however I've already found a book from 1866 that has several Tunisian stitches and a few more alternate names to research.

I will be adding stitch patterns and swatches as I go. I'm also earmarking those historical patterns that I want to make. They are not necessarily all Tunisian crochet and those that are not will have their own post.

Overdying Firestar

Okie dokie, recently I've been playing with my new to me drum carder and watching a ton of videos on blending/adding goodies to your fibers in order to add interest, color and texture to your fiber work. I have wool, mohair, alpaca and angora but didn't have any as of yet. Well, that changed recently. A local business sadly closed its doors but while I was there I was able to pick up a bunch of Firestar. (I did look up whether or not it was dye-able before making my purchase) I got a nice assortment of colors but wanted more variety and more solid tones. There will be a full list of dyes used at the end of this post.

I started with:

white

rainbow

mottled blue, dark green, and purple (not shown)

a solid orange and bright green

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture at the start of this. So, here's one of the un-dyed fibers (except purple) most of the way through the process.

I skimmed through Blue Barn Fibers blog post on her method and realized; I could dye an entire rainbow in a couple hours! I did mine over 4-5 batches, all while taking pictures and trying to keep careful track of what I dyed and with what kind/color dye. I was limited by the number of jelly jars I had clean and on hand. Even so it only took a couple hours Wed. morning.

 I did separate all of the firestar into 1/4 ox portions and rolled them into little nests the night before.

I scooped the dye (super scientific, I totally did not measure) into the bottom of my jars and added hot tap water over that. Mixing them thoroughly before adding my nests of fiber. 

For the last round, I did add a splash of vinegar to each jar. It deepened the color just a bit and I achieved a more even tone, however I don't believe it was 100% necessary. There was almost no change in the shade of the reds.

I carefully sat each jar next to its colorway just so I would know which firestar was dyed with which color. I let them "process" for between 5-10 minutes and then moved to the sink for rinsing out.

Rinse out and let each batch drain for a bit while setting up the next round.

I took lots of pictures during and tried to document as best I could while still trying to get as much dyed as possible. I also sped up the drying process by rolling one batch at a time in a dry (dark colored) towel and stepping on it to further squeeze out as much water as possible.

(Trying to get pictures in natural light)

I think this is round 4?

Done! As you can see the reds are not supper deep. Also the rainbow Firestar would not take much dye at all. Kind of like they were just tinted.

Overall I really like how everything came out and would definitely do this again! I do have several oz of white firestar left we'll see what the future brings!

List of Dyes:

Procion MX - Bronze

Country Classics - Golden Pear

Greener Shades - River Blue

Cushing's Perfection Dye - Copenhagen Blue

Jacquard acid dye - Lilac

Dharma Trading Co acid dye - Plum Danddy

Jacquard acid dye - Crimson

Washfast acid dye - Sky Blue

Jacquard - Chestnut

Greener Shades - Ruby Red

Jacquard - Spruce

Pro Chem acid dye - Woodsmoke

Jacquard - Emerald

Washfast acid dye - Country Green

Dharma Trading Co acid dye - Jet Black

Dharma Trading Co acid dye - Oxblood red

The Lanolin Experiment

May 8th
Right now as I'm writing this I'm 80% sure I've messed this up. . .

Sigh, let me start from the beginning. I have a ton of fleece with a ton of lanolin in it. So much so that it looks a bit orange on the under side!

I want to extract the lanolin from the wool without damaging it. They used to boil the wool for hours but I don't want to do that and ruin the wool. I did see a wool washing video from Bluemtnhandcrafts  where they were able to use their hottest tap water to wash the lanolin out. Which brings me to my fail. . . 

I used our hottest tap water and a little just under boiling in each pot. I did not take the temperature, I definitely will next time.

I started with my lock-ier, already rinsed fleeces and added them to the pots. I then let them soak for 30-40 minutes. Then I gently squeezed the water out and placed the wool into a couple pop up laundry baskets to dry.

Now I believe I failed because I can see actual bits of solidified lanolin in a few of the locks. Not a ton and mostly in the ones from the popcorn tin. This may be because it lost it's heat faster. I will know for sure tomorrow morning. I have all 3 pots sitting outside for now, hopefully it will cool down enough tonight for the lanolin to rise to the top. 

May 9th

Ok, it's the next morning, I'm not entirely dissapointed and I have a plan! While there is not a solid layer of lanolin at the top of my pots I do think it's there. When I dip my fingers in, they come back sticky. 

My plan is to:

• Reuse the same water
• Heat it to just under boiling
• Add the locky wool I can visibly see lanolin in and let it sit for 30-45 minutes
• Gently squeeze out the excess water (while trying not to burn myself) and
• Let the locks dry, at least mostly, so that I can see if they need washed.