Ask the Experts: Testing Direct Multiplication

Although rug hooking teachers often present students with small wool samples of dye books (generally arranged on a chain) from which to choose a custom-dyed color, they often suddenly realize that pulling one color from one eight value swatch that now needs to be dyed in larger quantities can cause consternation. The first time we offered students the option of choosing from 12 different dye system swatchettes, we had 54 colors of wool that needed to be dyed—some as large as a yard and some as small as 1/16 yard. But the color plans they chose were exceptional, and to honor their own visions of what they wanted, we went about dyeing them all.