Teaberry Color Slam: 96 Purples

I like to do tests. I like to find good colors. I like to repeat a good color.

But this time, I got a little carried away.

I wanted to find a good purple, so that means trying different proportions of red to blue. And trying the three different blues, and both reds. And I might as well try super-low immersion and regular low immersion, right? And all that dye left in the cups, what if I try a second round? And the two reds are pretty different, so maybe try a combination of the two?

Well 5 different proportions x 3 blues x 2 reds...that's 30 colors. Dye three versions of each and that's 90. And throw in two more colors using a mixed red and do three versions...96 purples!

Here they are:

I can't say I really found my perfect purple, but I discovered some interesting things.

My biggest surprise was seeing what happens the second time I use the same dye bath. Blues stick around much better than reds, and there is a tan that remains in the Fire Red (which is a mixed color). I really like those tans, and the aquas I got from Fire Red & blue. Neutrals being so hard to get, I might try this on purpose some time. Clearly I need to test a second round of each color alone

I was also surprised that the reds are as beefy as they are. I tilted my proportions to include more red, because I expected the blue to overwhelm it. But take a look at the Fuchsia & Turquoise combo. Even with twice as much blue as red, it's a pretty reddish purple. It's also clear that reds just don't travel like blues and yellow. So in super-low immersion, the blue got good penetration but a lot of red must have stayed in the water. (My super-low immersion is 4"x6" of fabric in a 1-ounce container.)

I expected the Fire Red combos to be muddy, but hoped they might be interestingly subtle. They're just muddy. But the combo of Fire Red & Fuchsia shows promise.

That's even amounts of Fuchsia & Fire Red. The proportion of total red to Turquoise is 2:1 (above) and 1:2 (below). Very low immersion on the left, regular in the center, second run on the right. I rather like that pale aqua lower right, and each of the low immersion samples.

By the way, that stripe of pale blue on the lower left sample was the result of a failed experiment. I label my samples in Sharpie along their top edge. If the fabric is dyed a dark color the label can be hard to read. So my clever idea was to put gel glue resist over the label. But being water soluble (duh) the resist rinses away in all but the very low immersion versions.

Of course I did some plain old playing around with the remaining dye. Here's fabric crammed in a container which I squirted with lots of colors. The result is the one on the left.

For no good reason, during the main dyeing I added dry fabric to the cups and let them stand there a few minutes before submerging them. I think I just liked the look of them all standing up like soldiers.