PYSANKY for Eoster

Prepared jars of egg dye, sitting on the familiar metal tray known to the industry as a "Cookie Sheet".

It doesn't really look much like a cookie, does it, nor a sheet... Oh well,there it is. We highly recommend keeping several of these multi-purpose trays available at all times.

We haven't played with egg dyes for ages, so decided to keep it simple. Following one of the simpler patterns, we chose four basic colors:
Yellow, Green,Orange, and Deep Red.
Pour 1.25 cups of boiling water over the dye powder, then add a Tablespoon of white vinegar. Exception that proves the rule ~ ORANGE.  And that strangeness with orange continued...
Good idea to do this right over the tray, since the dye (did we mention yet) is vibrant and rather insistently persistent. Wash splashes promptly.

We recommend that you use a short candle, set close to the wax and the working egg. This minimizes reaching. Which minimizes the chances of catching your beaded sleeves on fire...&/or getting more wax on the work surface than on y'egg...also makes it easier to keep the KITSKY hot and the wax nice and liquid-y.
Those kitskies, oh my! Like tiny batik tools - !eee, doll-ized tjap or tjanting! and they come in different spout sizes marked by different colors marking the handles.

 There are patterns in books and online for the million and one traditional motifs. Many come with the dye sequence, too. Keep a page near for reference while you work.

Grateful for Rubber bands ~  L'attitude. & L'ongitude.

For nice clean lines that meet on the other side of the globe, use a rubber band and trace the line lightly with a pencil. Light lines basically disappear by the end of the process.  Use them as pattern lines or reference, as you develop the design.
Take your time heating the tool in the column of hot air just above the flame. Then touch the lip of the little kitsky cup to the edge of the wax block. If the metal tool is hot, the wax will immediately liquify and run clear as water to fill the cup. Write On!  It's amazing how much coverage one tiny cup of liquid was gives.

Common Problems /Solutions 

If your wax line starts to skip:

1. You needs a wax refill.  **!LEAST LIKELY!**
2. You need to reheat the tool so the wax will flow better.   **PROBABLE**
3. If  #2 doesn't work and the cup is full of wax, you may need to take a hot needle and run it through the tiny spout several times. The spout clogs up over time with the tiny soot particles - the black wax marks on your beeswax, blotting paper, and sadly, on your egg if you are over-heating the kitsky. **Most Probable, esp. w/ older tools or novice users**

If you are getting blobs instead of lines, it's also probably from overheating. When the tool is very hot and you bump it against the wax to fill the cup, wax likes to form on the outside of the cup too. And on the spout, and on the handle. And then it starts to melt. It will flow down following the line of least resistance gaily leaping off  the tip of the kitsky spout and landing in a blob in some particularly delicate spot on your design. ALAS, poor you, there is no way to easily remove this blot on your record! Consider it another opportunity to get creative. Make another flower...think how gay a PolkaDot egg will look...





 OK! Enough fooling around. Put the tool down. White is not really the most fun. Put it into the dyebath! It's really quite quick. We found 45 to 120 seconds gives a rich bright color.
We also found that this rich bright color is difficult to remove from skin and cuticles. We advise at least one latex-protected hand because no matter how many spoons and egg lifters you have handy, you're going to end up Using Your Doigts.  (If you're me. Maybe if you're you, also. We are curious about this whole hands on thing. Would like a grant, please, to do the full study.)

Remove egg from dye bath and let it air dry while you work on the next one. You can also pat it dry gently with tissue. Or be doubly creative and use a square of previously batiked silk. Did we mention, the colors are gem-like? So, add the next layer of wax design. Then pop it into the green dye bath.  The whole thing will now appear to be green with wax-colored lines, which are often quite black.
We assumed Orange would come after yellow, and that if we put it in Green first and then Orange, the mix would give a russet or even browner tint. Kel Shock, mes amis; the Orange Dye, that wierd non-vinegar mix, seemed to eat the green off the shell - except of course, where it was protected by the overwax.  See in Sharon's, below, where the little leaves are green? At one point, the whole egg was green. Swear!
Anyhow, repeat as needed, wax dye dry wax dye dry
and the finale? Holding your egg near the candle (remember the little heat chimney above the flame), gently tissue off the melting wax as it warms and liquiefies.
This is the moment of magic for me. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH~ those transformative moments...

From lumpy little buddy into glowing colors. Don't take my word for it; try this at home!

Correct sequence of colors

A cautionary tale ~

Sharon lived in the Ukraine for a couple of years and brought back - among many other fabulous treasures - some beautiful kitskies, which lay unused in the cupboard for more than a decade. She finally tried em out last week. Thoughtfully took home some dyes. Has not stopped since.  Fortunately for her, she has chickens to provide her with plentyeggs.  Unfortunately for the rest of her family, she has chickens to provide plentyeggs...

:~) Above, her first egg

 We will try to carve time for more notes and pix on this really fun project. We are DEFINITELY doing them for the next winter holidays...already have the little gold hangy things.  Plus more notes to share, like on what to do with the ones that crack midstream.  Which creams remove the stains.

OH before we go, here's just One More Thing.

OUR SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

Me & Miss S. wanted to see if the color would be deeper if we left it in overnight. 

The good news? Yes! Emerald Green is deeper. 

The perhaps not-so-good news? Weird Orange did not eat it as cleanly, and we have now an unusual vintage toned egg. We're giving it a 24 hour waiting period, to decide if we meant to do this.