dip dyed extra wide cuff 3535

  An explosion of color comes to life with this extra wide cuff. The knot design is a long turks head made with 21 parts and 10 bights on a mold. The double pass (2 strand) creates the requested 3" width.

The colors were dip-dyed in a progressive process starting with the darker turquoise blue, the the lime green and ending with celosia orange.

  In this view you can see the elongated proportions. The size requested was only 7 1/2" so the weave is open and flexible to allow this cuff to settle comfortably on the forearm.

Each color required time to dry followed by treatment with a mordant to reduce the color bleeding

Custom work like this is available through the Etsy shop please visit to review the design possibilities then make your request.

These and other unique bracelets can be found online WhatKnotShop on ETSY





design and photographs © copyright 2015 WhatKnotShop

black walnuts are in season - hand dyed cord back in stock

Summer got a late start here in Minneapolis but the hot weather  has finally arrived in late August and with it a crop of black walnuts.  There are several trees along the alley behind the house which have been shedding nuts. There is also a small grove in the corner of a park several blocks away. The squirrels are fierce competition but the harvest is underway.

Here's a look at the first batch scooped up from the ground.

These are about the size of paddle tennis balls and as you can see un-split and therefore safe to handle.


So the important thing about this is that these little green nuts make a very nice dark dye that is used to make a once-a-year special colored cord.


Read more about the process of making hand dyed cord here. 

And here is a finished hank of dyed cord ready to use.

Read more about finished rope bracelets made from this special dye here.





design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

hand dye process - overview and process variations

All of the colored cord used in WhatKnotshop products is made using a small batch dye process. The term "hand dyed" refers to this process  Here's a discussion of what this means including definition of some of the variables that affect the outcome.

pastel palette here

Cord Materials
The cord materials come in two different basic structures:  One is a twisted cotton cord that looks and feels like a miniature piece of rope. The other is a smooth braided cotton cord with a soft fiber core that looks more like a piece of spaghetti with no surface texture. These two base materials respond to the dye in slightly different ways.

A hank of twisted cotton cord read for the dye bath.

Dye Process overview:
The dye process begins with a color recipe that is based on the dye manufacturers specifications. I use RIT dyes both dry powder packets and liquid from the bottles. The liquid RIT colors can be blended to produce a wide range of color outcomes as can be seen in the Color RIT Formula Guide. I use a standard dye bath mix proportions to prepare the single colors made with the dry dye packs.



Liquid RIT dye and recipe card.







Dye Process Details and Variations:

Cord color:
This is the original native color of the cord material. It can range from grey to white in a variety of shades. The final color outcome is influenced by the amount of grey in the cord. A low concentration dye bath combined with a grey toned cord produces attractive pastel colors. A high concentration dye bath combined with a bright white cord produces brighter more saturated colors.

Dye bath concentration:
This is the amount of dye pigment and the proportion of added water. The less pigment the lower the concentration. A high concentration dye bath is required for good saturation of color especially when using the darker colors like navy and black.







Dye bath temperature:
This is boiling (100 C/ 212 F). A dye bath is brought to a full boil before introducing the cord.

Cord density:
This is a subjective estimate of the tightness of the cord lay. High density or tightly woven cord requires more time in the bath to fully absorb the dye due to the compression of the fibers.  Low density or looser lay cord enables greater dye penetration and absorption in a shorter period of time.

Dye solution penetrates from the outside of the cord towards the center creating a gradient of color in the cord fibers.

Time in bath:
This is how long the cord is immersed in the dye bath. Generally the longer the immersion the more saturated the color due to increased penetration. High density tightly wound cord requires more time in he dye bath to overcome the slow absorption rate.



Batch of cord in the dye bath using the stovetop method







Rinse out process:
Dyed cord is pulled from the dye bath allowed to cool then rinsed out three times in warm water to remove excess dye. Additional rinse cycles are required for high saturation colors like navy blue and black. The purpose of the rinse is to remove excess pigment so it doesn't "run" or bleed out of the finished product. 

three sailor bracelets in copper green 702, 703, 704

A set of three classic turks head sailor bracelets made with hand dyed twisted cotton cord. The color is a copper green made by diluting the concentrated dye packet and limiting the time the cord remains immersed in the dye solution.


It's pretty amazing how much color range is available from a single colored dye packet. Even within the cord hank as it is immersed there are slight variations in color. Some areas take a bit more pigment, others less which creates a pleasing variation

The color will continue aging as the bracelet is worn. Repeated wettings can cause the color to fade even more giving the bracelet that "forever" look.


Sizing:
The small one is 14 bights, child or tween
The medium one is 17 bights, older teens and women
The large one is 20 bights, adult males and knuckle draggers (guys you know who you are...)

Each is made with three passes and worked to a firm shape. There remains some stretch in the material as the cord is naturally elastic.

These were photographed with the working ends in place although there isn't much slack to work out of the weave.


A note for the photography class: the background is actually a grey cardboard although the color in the photos appears to be light purple. White balance was set prior to the shoot with the light sources fully warmed up. (3600K CFL lamps)


design and photos copyright 2010 WhatKnotShop

A process to dye for - how color comes to cotton cord

Step one: assemble the chemicals

I use RIT dye which is commonly available at many stores. I like the stovetop method which involves a large stainless pot, water, salt, detergent and of course the dye pack. Get rock salt from the hardware store in the huge bags, rob the laundry for a squirt of detergent.

Step two: prepare the cord

This involves unspooling the cotton cord and laying it out (flaking) in a large loose coil. I always pre-wet the cord in the sink with warm water. I also will do a series of materials to get a range of colors and diameters from #18 all the way up to #60.

The picture shows a single hank of 3 mm cotton cord.

Step three: into the bath

Once the dye bath is mixed and cooking at a simmer the hanks of cord go in for various lengths of time. The darker the desired color the longer it must boil.

A light or pastel color gets a quick dip. Black or brown needs 20 minutes or more.

Step four: rinse out excess color

The dyed cords come out of the pot hot, wet, and dripping color that stains everything. I use stainless frying pans to transport the freshly dyed cord hanks to the basement where they go into the laundry sink for the rinse out.

This can take awhile as the excess dye works out of the cord. You need lots of water...

Step five: hang it all!

After the rinse the cord hanks are hung up to dry out. As you can see the cord usually has tried to revert to to it's natural tangled state. The moisture swells the plies of the cord causing it expand and twist.

After drying out the hanks must be untangled and re stretched. Then they are coiled back up an added to the inventory for use in making the turks head bracelets.

Here's some of the recently dyed cords draped over the back of a couch. There are a lot of other colors too.

I'll leave it for a future entry to discuss the variables of cord type, color, and material and the impact on the final color of the materials. Suffice it to say that all these things affect the results.