The pale green colour is my first attempt at dyeing woollen yarn from plants. This is horsetail which is an ancient plant but a pernicious weed in this area. No mordant was used.
I have also tried dyeing with lichens from an old tree branch which we removed from a tree in the garden, results were disappointing. However the synthetic net bag that I put the lichens in has come out a beautiful bright yellow. I wouldn't normally dye with lichens but these would have been burnt otherwise.
What a glorious weaving! The texture is just fantastic. Wouldn't this pic be a great computer desktop?!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy, I am quite pleased with it myself, I have been using different techniques than I am used to namely, eccentric weft, which is woven at an angle to the warp, its great fun going as steep as you can and still ending up with an even weave and I have invested in some beautiful textural yarns.
DeleteAgree with Nancy, yes I can see it as a desktop on your pooter. And horsetail! It grows in my garden; very ancient plant, related to plants growing in the carboniferous era. But for dyeing! Never considered it. Will play, now. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jan I may just try and upload it as my desktop. I would be interested to see what results you achieve with horsetail.
ReplyDeleteI've been told that horsetail can give a yellow color, haven't used any but I did dye with windfall lichens and therein is a tale! I had read that you need ammonia to get lichen color and that it takes some time for the color to appear. Didn't have any ammonia so used human kind (urine) and kept lichen in a jar almost three weeks, shaking it a few times during the day to get it all frothy. Finally, I emptied out the jar into a pot and simmered and gad! the stench was overpowering...this dye experiment was done in the dead of winter, when we lived in the state of Tennessee, cold and snowy outside but we had to open all of the windows to air out the house. In the end, the color was a nice peachy one but would I do this again...NO!
ReplyDeleteIf woad is anything to go by you're supposed to mature urine for several months before using it ( to concentrate the ammonia content) and only use men's.
DeleteThanks for reply, I just popped over to have a look at your blog, will be back when I have more time.
DeleteHi Marti, I think I will give that one a miss but your comment did make me smile. My horsetail is definitely pale green but of course water ph can make a difference. I get good yellows from golden rod and pomegranate skins but haven;t tried them on wool yet. If you try horsetail it smells of boiled cabbage and golden rod isn't very pleasant either, definitely window opening dyeing.
ReplyDeleteI love the colours in this piece and the weaving is wonderful. I've tried dyeing with lichens, and have ended up with a limey yellow......I agree the water used can make a big difference, I get a better colour when I use rainwater. I'm love the look of all your dyeing and am going to spend some time having a good look. Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting on the MIL quilt.
ReplyDeleteAfter washing my lichen dyed silk cloth the colour actually seems to have improved, maybe it was the washing powder, I also added copper pipe to one piece which has come out more orangey, I may post them once they have been ironed.
DeleteThanks for visiting and your kind comments, I enjoy following your blog and although not a quilter I admire people who are for all the work it involves.