soysilk

Did some experimenting with soysilk today, carefully painted on the colors and tried steam setting. So much of the color ran out! went from much bolder coloring to a pastel. Pretty, but not what I was aiming for!
This is what I was aiming for : (this lovely lilac-breasted roller was photographed by hvhe1 here)
And I managed a very nice approximation, but unfortunately the dye didn't set properly. I seem to have this problem with soysilk, it require abnormal amounts of vinegar to set colors! Now I have a pretty pastel top that doesn't have quite the same coloration as the bird. I'm debating touching up the blues; its lovely as a pastel, but I think bolder blues might make it really pop. This is it in the pot, resetting. I really do love how soysilk looks, its just such a pain to dye.

Store!

I've set up most of my artfire store now (here), and I've posted one 8oz top for sale, a bit of a tester really.

It's "Kingfisher" a bamboo/merino colorway
my next put-up will be the "Purple Martin" colorway in merino/tencil, also 8oz

I plan to have more fiber, yarn, and stitch markers for sale. Possibly also some toggles/pendants as well.

Inspiration

My crock pot has come back to life! Woo!

I think I'm going to try and capture this beautiful bird in a merino/tencel blend, there's so much shine to the purple martin! - This absolutely gorgeous photograph was captured by tinyfishy on flicker


I've also been wanting to do a bee-eater for a while, I think I might do this one as a yarn though.
And does anyone know what this gorgeous guy is? I love its coloring! - (I've now found out that this is a Lilac-breasted Roller! or somthing similar)

I've been spinning up some merino/cashmere/nylon, and oh, does it ever feel beautiful and soft.

EDIT: added Purple Martin photo and credit, and mystery bird name!