- There is snow on the ground
- The dish-towels I dyed several years ago are looking faded and sad.
- I saw this video, taking ice-dyeing a step up from “random.”
- Constraint: I wanted a softer look than Gamon’s “blooms” (snow-dying is about surprises). But I don’t like the old hippie rainbow flower-star-whatever that you see everywhere.
- Go.
I grabbed four of my sad-sack flour sack dishtowels and an undyed “control.” My idea of overdying was risky because if the molecules are already fully bonded with dye then [something, something] nothing happens.
Following Nancy Gamon’s instructions, I soaked the fabric in a soda ash mix, then folded them so that there was a pointy end and a fluffy end. My folds were way more casual than hers. I laid the bundles out on a screen-thingie in the sink, covered them with snow, then sprinkled on the powdered dye.

That was yesterday. This morning the project looked like this:

Following my own standard protocol, I rinsed away the excess dye, washed the towels in cold water, then hot water, then dried and pressed them. I liked the results. In the small photos, they look kinda like the hippie tie-dye I don’t care for. But up close, there is lots of interesting texture, caused by both the random snow-melt and the previous colors.
the control originally indigo-dyed with a “sunburst” style resist
A fun winter project. Wine poured.
You always have such initiative! They look great!
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