New Fiber Hobby - Handpainting/Dyeing

So, I decided that I wanted to dye up some of the plain roving that came with my wheel. I researched how to handpaint roving using Wilton's Cake Icing Dyes and jumped in...

I soaked the 4 oz. twists of roving in hot water and vinegar...












I mixed up dyes with water, vinegar, and the Wilton's in five colors (Violet, Teal, Brown, Copper, Golden Yellow)...

I set up my station with newspaper, glad plastic wrap, and laid out the roving (after gently wringing it out)...

I used a turkey baster to apply the dye to the roving in segments...

I rolled up the plastic wrap around the roving and placed in glass bowls, and then microwaved them rotating 2 min on 2 min off for 6 total "on" minutes each...

After they cooled a bit, I took then out of the plastic wrap and let them set over night...

In the morning, I rinsed them in cool water to make sure that the dye wouldn't bleed out and hung them to dry...

And Voila! The one is called 'A Midsummer's Night Experiment'. I intended it to be purple and green, but the Teal turned more blue than green...

This one is called "Mason's Earthy-tones' because Mason picked the colors for it. The brown turned out a bit more red than expected...











All in all, I am very thrilled with them. After they have set, I will experiment spinning a small section to see how easily they draft. I fear that they may have felted a bit. If they draft nice, I may try to sell them on etsy.