Sheep Shots: Penny For Your Thoughts?

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Penny For Your Thoughts?

How about a half a cup of pennies?

I know what you are thinking! The mad scientist is at it again!

And you would be right!

(The mad scientist has also used her entire "!" allotment for the month.)

Here, we have, what I have been assured, is the beginning of a remarkable dye experiment.

Combine copper (pennies, wire, a hunk of pipe, whatever ya gots--I gots pennies) with common household ammonia (find it in the cleaning products aisle near the Windex).

I used 1/2 cup pennies

2 cups clear (not 'sudsy') ammonia

about 1/2 gallon water

Combined it all in a gallon glass jar and waited.

After about 3 hours in the sun, it was apparent that something was happening.

(Note blue color.)

Because I fear that several days soak in ammonia will seriously damage my wool yarn, I will allow the pennies to steep in the ammonia for several days (actually following directions), then dip the yarn.

Information on copper/ammonia dyeing can be found here and
here .

It seems that this an old technique. I am guessing that the original dyers used urine to cause the chemical reaction. After all, there's a lot of ammonia in pee.

Some cautions: If you are unfamiliar with ammonia, do not get it near your nose. The fumes will knock your socks off! Never mix ammonia with any product containing chlorine. The fumes from the chemical reaction can kill you.

That said, ammonia can be both useful (it's a great grease-cutter) and toxic (do not ingest it! it's poison). Keep this out of the reach of any child not old enough to understand Mr. Yuk. Okay?

Leftovers are good in the laundry and for washing windows, but make note of the caution above about sniffing the stuff!

Check back next weekend for pretty blue wool!

And speaking of pretty blue wool, this is the hat I have currently OTN. It's for Ship Support and is made of Plymouth Encore (the dark blue) and Phildar Pegase (the light blue).

It's the old "cast on X," in this case, 88. The stitch pattern(s) is from The Encyclopedia of Knitting by Stanfield and Griffiths (ISBN 0-7624-0805-7). It's called "Scandinavian Decorated Stripes."

This hat feels soft. I would like to put it right on my very own head and leave it there until the curls inflicted on me by the sweet little hair stylist at Cheap Walk-In Haircutters 'R' Us and her magic curling iron flatten out a bit. I look like a freakin' poodle! There will be no film at 11 (or any other time).

// posted by Ann @ 8/12/2006 04:28:00 PM

Comments:

Don't know if I can ever make myself dye wool with pennies and amonia, but some guy/gal is gonna LOVE that hat from Ships!

Beth :-)

# posted by

Anonymous : 6:16 PM

ann, are u using older pennies? i read on some list that new pennies don't have enough copper in them for the amonia dyeing.

# posted by

vanessa : 6:28 AM

I'm loving that hat! I've been making noise about learning fair-isle knitting, and the consensu I've talked to is to start on a hat, so I'll be
definitely checking this book out! Thanks for posting up the pattern info! :)

# posted by

Miss Knotty : 9:19 AM