Yep, you guessed it, I am doing yet another natural dye on the blog. I just can't help that the natural dye bug has sucked me in and in a big way!
Today I finished up my third go round with natural dyes using lichens I gathered from around my horse's paddock. And here is how I did it......
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| I reused the mordant from Tuesday's go at carrot tops, by adding 10 more grams of alum and close to 250 grams of yarn. The yarns used here are: 100 grams of heavy lace wool, approximately 75 grams of superwash merino and the rest was a superwash merino, bamboo blend. This time about 1/2 way through the 2 hour mordant, I dropped in a couple of glugs of iron to the mordant. |
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| Picture of the dry lichens I am using. These were all collected from fallen branches. |
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| Crammed my little nylon bag full to the brim with lichens. |
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| Yarn moved from mordant to dye pot. Lichens are under the yarn in the mesh bag which was periodically moved around. |
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| And here is the resulting yarns! From front to back, Lace Merino, Superwash Merino & Bamboo, & Superwash Merino. I am in LOVE with how these colors turned out. |
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| Another shot of the same. Don't you just love the rich earthy browns! I have to admit, I am supper impressed with how well the dye did on the Superwash Merino & Bamboo yarns. Maybe next time, I will try an all bamboo yarn to see how it fairs. |
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| I think I was suppose to keep the dye pot going until the lichens disappeared, but after 24 hours, I was happy to only have a couple of small handfuls of lichen left. Saving these for another little dye experiment for a later date:) |
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| All dye experiments to date. From the bottom.... Lichen, Carrot Tops, & Black Bean. Out of all the 3 the black beans were the only ones I found disappointing. They have since started to fade which is faintly visible in the photos. |
I have had quite a fun little time with the natural dyes, but this weekend is of course the big Labor Day Holiday. Thinking it might be a good idea to lay off the dye pots for at least a few days:)
I hope everyone has a happy and safe week end!
4 comments:
Very easy to see the 'what if' factor has you in full command! Beautiful golden browns this time-very pretty. I love the new look on the blog, too!
I have a lead on black walnut to try. You don't need a mordant and very little of the walnuts. Use to dye baskets we made with them.
I have been wanting to jump on the walnut band wagon for some time now. Have a bucket and will be heading to Mom & Dad's in a few weeks to gather a few. It is nice to finally have a use for them!
I have been researching this natural dyeing as I choose to lead as chemical free life as possible. The best book so far I have found on the subject is Dyes from American Native Plants, A Practical Guide, by Lynne Richards & Ronald J. Tyrl published by Timber Press. A bit technical but very comprehensive. Talks about the dyeing process, what plants give what colors and what mordants if any to use to get different colors and finally a whole section on those plants and pictures. I got mine from the local library just to see if I wanted to purchase. I do. Just a good read for a gardener besides beginning dyer.
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