Dyeing Silk Mawatas

I had an email from a customer requesting some custom dyed Mawatas for a knitting project featured in the Yarn Harlot's blog for some knitted silk mittens.

She wanted some Mawatas dyed in vibrant shades of pinks and reds. My friend Magan from Modern Spin graciously sent me some mawatas, to use since I had unknowingly sent the last of what I had to her! Check out her awesome Artfire shop here.

The Mawatas came lickity split, and I love these. These Mawatas or Japanese silk hankies are made from silk cocoons. They can be spun or crafted with and they look like this when they are undyed.

I soaked the Mawatas for 24 hours and gently wrung them out and began hand painting them with acid dyes.

I used intense shades of pinks, vibrant reds and purple. They were then steam set to lock in the colors.

When they were done, they look like this:

I can't wait to see what they knit up like!