Why is it So?

This is one of several last minute dyeing experiments from last week's batch of procion dyes. As far as I'm concerned it's the best. I love the angular variations in colour--they remind me of crystals.

This is the stage that comes in every dyeing day, when time, energy, fabric and dye solution are nearly all depleted. But somehow I can never stop until I have used the very last bit all of them. I was out of white cotton homespun and nearly out of dyes, but I raided my box of plain coloured cottons and crammed whatever I could find into the nearly empty jars of dye solution. In this case the fabric was jacaranda blue and the last bit of dye was a cool red. I didn't add soda ash to fix the colour until the next day--I'd run out of that well before.

What I really want to know is how to reproduce this textured effect. I've only achieved it in the one jar and I did about the same thing in each of them. I guess it's just the ratio of fabric to dye liquid that determines how the colour travels through the fabric. I'm guessing there was less liquid in this jar. I suppose I'll just have to accept it as serendipity, unless I have the patience to do a controlled experiment with different quantities of dyes. So there you have it, my favourite, uncontrolled experiment!