I was very, very, unreasonably excited when the dye came. I should have procured the scale and PH strips first, but I did not. I prepped the soda ash - 1.5 tbsp dissolved in hot water - before the indigo even arrived. The indigo arrived with the water still hot, at 3:50 on Friday afternoon. 1 tbsp indigo, mixed seperately in hot water. I accidentally added more hot water than intended, and did not achieve the paste-like consistency I was aiming for, but I removed all lumps and ground down as much grit as I could manage. Then I added the dye to the soda ash solution, and added hot water to the shoulder of the quart jar. Once this was stirred, I slowly added 1 tsp of thiox while stirring slowly. The solution slowly began bubbling, and the characteristic "flower" bloomed - but the dye did NOT turn green under the flower. Not good - I thought perhaps my water was too hot to start with. I went out to get a scale and give the dye time to cool, and do a brief (and unsuccessful) hunt for pH strips.
Upon my return, I weighed my fabric - 226 g, or just under half a pound. I needed 15% of the weight of fabric in alum, and "1-2 tsp hide glue per pound of silk. I prepped my rabbit hide glue, adding .8 tsp to 12 oz cold water in a quart jar. I double checked the time-frame for mordanting my fabric - I can pre-mordant with no problem, and it should be mordanted at least overnight. I filled my aluminum stock pot as high as I thought I needed to with warm water, dissolved my alum, and added my silk - not enough water to allow it to free float! Oops. Added more warm water and stirred with my hands (then remembered I was supposed to wear gloves, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was not as irritating as I'd feared*). That was at 7:50 on Friday night.
The indigo vat is still a deep, dark blue. This is because the pH was off to begin with. I cannot find pH strips in my town that cover the applicable range. I will adjust when pH strips arrive.
For my full dye vat, I will be carefully measuring things with a kitchen scale and testing acidity.
There are now 3 containers in my kitchen for a dyeing project that I know will last all weekend, at least. Sorry, husband.
*I've been dreading the period dyeing process in part because I have a distinct memory of disliking alum. I help my dad prepare a deer skin about 20 years ago, and the alum was very unpleasant on my skin. I had guessed from the percentage of alum needed that the mordant solution would be more manageable, and that turned out to be correct. There's a slightly unpleasant sensation from it, but not the "ew, get it off, get it off!" I remembered from the tanning solution.