Dye Methods
We currently offer Colorways in five different dye methods, and Semisolids in two different dye methods. In order to showcase our dye methods and how they knit up, we decided to dye up one of our Fan Club Colorways in all five methods. Here is the inspiration photo of Pentland Hills, Scotland along with skeins of the five dye methods. Left to Right they are: Pooling/Striping, Nebula, Pop of Color, Variegated and Watercolor.
Learn more about our dye methods below!
Pooling/Striping
(with or without speckles)
When I started Round Mountain Fibers almost 8 years ago, I started with the Ornithology Collection. It featured pooling/striping colorways and coordinating semisolids. Next came the Entomology Collection, which also featured pooling/striping colorways and coordinating semisolids. We now also offer the Aquatic Collection, which adds speckles to pooling/striping colorways. The colorway pictured here is pooling/striping with speckles.
Variegated
Our third collection (after Ornithology and Entomology) featured a new dye method: The variegated method featured in the Botany Collection. This dye method is ideal for lace or just a more consistent look (with minimal pooling or striping).
Pop of Color
Finally, we added our newest collection, the Geology Collection. This collection features the Pop of Color method, where most of the skein is a semisolid, with a pop of colors at one end. This super fun dye method is great for all kinds of projects.
Nebula
A more recent method we’ve been playing with we dubbed the Nebula Method. Our inspiration for the month was a photo of a Veil Nebula. We poured one color of dye on one side of the skein, flipped it over, and did the Aquatic method on the other side (pooling/striping with speckles). And we loved the results! If you love surprising color changes as you work, this is the dye method for you! Of course, the effects vary widely depending on the amount of contrast in the colorway.
Watercolor
In our Fan Club we decided to explore even more dye methods! So you’ll see a few of those colorways in our Dye To Order offerings. There’s the Watercolor Method which involves putting the skeins in a bath of hot vinegar water, and pouring liquid dye over the yarn in washes. This method is a little less predictable than the others, but I really love the effect. It is similar to that of the variegated colors of the Botany Collection.
Semisolid & Tonal
When we added the Aquatic Collection, we decided to take a Tonal approach to the coordinating semisolids, where they shift in tone from one end of the skein to the other. This makes for a more interesting pooling/striping effect. All of our semisolids are now offered in both regular and tonal semisolid methods. In this image you can compare regular and tonal versions of two of our Featured Semisolids: Starfish Iris Purple and Agama Lizard Blue