Citrus Gradation

I can see a pattern developing here.

I've just finished another skein of silk ribbon for my friend D: This one is gradations of "citrus" orange, with a touch of "rust" at one end.

I'd done a batch of dyeing with skeins of wool and there was "just a bit of colour left in the pot". I couldn't let that bit of colour go to waste, so I skeined off a dozen or so metres of silk ribbon. The silk is so greedy for colour that it grabs anything that's left in the water--perfect. I dangled about 2/3 of the skein in the pot and hooked the end over one of the pot's handles; heat, add vinegar and leave it overnight. Now I had scarcely any colour in the pot and a short white section of ribbon. Still relying on the silk's capacity to absorb colour, I dropped the rest of the skein in the pot, reheated and again left it overnight. The result was a subtle gradation of orange across the skein: good, but I thought I could do better; so I rearranged the skein--using a metal S-hook this time to control the length--added a bit of the "rust" colour and went through the routine again. You can see the result in the pic. I'm pleased with it, but guess what? Yep, I've now got " just a bit of colour left in the pot"! Is it time to skein off some more silk ribbon?