Category: Plant Dyeing

Marigold – Morgenfrue

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Calendula Officinalis.

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I didn’t check up on dyeing with these flowers, but I hope you do. Don’t bother. Really, I mean it. Just leave it. Instead use the following options, if you have this plant in your garden:

  1. Look at them, enjoy them, soak up the colour with your eyes, they’re very pretty.
  2. Pick the leaves and add them to salads or smoothies, they’re shock full of antioxidants.
  3. soak the leaves in a good olive oil, when they begin to sink to the bottom the solution is ready, strain and keep in a nice flask for treating burns or small cuts.

Silk mordanted with alum, dyed at a ratio of 20:1

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Mordanted silk solar dyed for a week in hot weather in greenhouse:

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The solar dyed skein after an iron dip:

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Hvis du har sået morgenfruer i din have, foreslår jeg at du bruger dem på følgende måder:

  1. Nyd dem med øjnene
  2. Pluk kronbladene og put dem i salater eller smoothies, de er fyldt med antioxidanter
  3. Lav en olie til små sår og forbrændinger ved at lade dem trække i olivenolie til bladene begynder at synke til bunds, si dem derefter fra.

Det kan VIRKELIG ikke betale sig at farve med dem. Ovenstående resultater på silke er dels 20:1 plante:garn opvarmet OG trukket natten over, dels solfarvet i et varmt drivhus i en uge.

St. John’s Wort – Perikon

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I’ve been dyeing several sets first with flowers only and one set with whole plants. A “set” refers to the method where you dip one skein for 5-20 minutes, take it out, enter another for an hour, then a third until it cools and finally reheat with a fourth. This supposedly gives you green, red, brown and yellow.

For me, the green is certain, no matter the contents and the dye temperature, the 2nd unmordanted skein is also a sure beige no matter what I do! No red whatsoever apart from a pinkish orange skein of silk in a dyebath of its own.

For thirds I got both yellow and green, the last skeins were a beigey orange.

I used “equal dyestuffs” in the sense that if I had 4 x 25 g of wool I used at least 100 g of flowers. When I get to the last bath, the solution is very weak.

At first I thought I missed the point where you “take out the 2nd skein when it’s red” because I went outside to pick black currants. Way too many things happening at once, I had 4 different dyepots going that day and really needed to get out of the house rather than watch them – and well, the book did say 1 hour! But after trying new batches, watching them like a hawk, all I can say is, my plants with my water = beige on unmordanted wool. No matter if you pop it in first, even.

But I still got several different shades from one dyebath, and I plan to overdye the lookalikes. Woad?

Firsts:
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Seconds:
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Thirds:
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I added silk to see if they behave the same way as wool. That would give me – or you – the option of dyeing small amounts of yarn if you can only find a few flowers, each skein is only about 3 g. I forgot to put in a 3rd silk skein, so didn’t bother with a 4th, but when I repeated the experiment, I skipped the first 2 and then popped one in the 3rd. The wool results weren’t the same on each set, but in any case it doesn’t look like the silk will take any green or yellow from this plant. The one on the bottom is the one I did alone, it’s more orange than shows, but silk is very hard to photograph. It’s either extremely shiny or not at all.

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I have so many plants now that I could do several experiments. One of the advantages of letting farmland grow wild, all these interesting plants appear just like that. Our neighbours think I’m nuts, especially because I won’t let them “help me” use my land to make profit (for themselves). But I’m really fed up with everywhere being so trimmed, polished and streamlined, every bit of land either filled with monocultures or asphalt. The deer LOVE my tall grass pasture. They have babies in it.

Since you can dye with the whole plant as well – some do the same sequence that I described above, or you can just do the usual mordant then dye procedure, I had to try that too, obviously. I read here and there that people dry the plant and use later, the books mentioned above say that this won’t work with the flowers. I’ve only tried saving the flowers in alcohol.

So I cut some reasonably youngish and fresh plants and tried to simmer them to get the same wonderful red. Close to 200 g, much easier to get enough obviously.

The first skein turned a brilliant yellow in the first few minutes, and while I was deciding that I wanted to keep that and to see what came next, it was already turning greenish. Took it out and broke the sequence, I added not only the unmordanted-destined-for-beige, I included a mordanted skein too, since the dyestuff ratio was so much higher, and, well – still beige, and another green. It’s a LOVELY green, and with a bit of modification I see lots of possibilities

Since the 2nd skeins are all so dull, I’m wondering if I can use the same skein for that over and over, or, simply use this plant for green and skip the other stages.

I also feel extremely clever (not), because it turned out that I’d used the tin mordanted skeins (which I normally reserve for madder) in the last 2 experiments.  Doh. Not that it made any difference probably, but still, not exactly correct procedure.

I think next year I’ll just pop new skeins in every 5-10 minutes, all mordanted, and see how far it goes. One thing you could also do is put one in and get it out as soon as it’s yellow, a few minutes only, then another for green. Or together, and leave one in longer.

This is one of the things that facinates me about plant dyeing. Some respond to changes in pH or temperature, others don’t care if you boil them, soak them – they just give the same every time. Some will change in minutes being dunked in a pot of rusty water, others have to be heated with the iron to change and again, some don’t change at all. So if your usual method doesn’t work for a new plant – try changing your method before you “give up” or conclude anything.

So I decided on one last experiment. Getting my third “last skein” in a weak salmonpeach colour, I left it in the dyepot and added MORE plants, which I then reheated, then took off the stove and left there to cool. So what would YOU expect to get? Green? Brown? Mucky fawn? Indeed, what I got was: nothing. It looked exactly the same as before I added the new plants. Which in itself is interesting, except that I now have 3 skeins of absolutely no value except perhaps if I want to crochet a doll with a sickly face colour.

Fourths:perikum04

Image a bit dark – look below for proper colour

Perikonblomsterdanish

Jeg har så mange perikonplanter på engen efterhånden, at der er rigeligt blomster til at få testet den specielle metode med at farve i sekvenser. Teoretisk set skal man kunne få både grøn og rød fra samme gryde, men den røde er godt nok en anelse genert. På uld får jeg grøn, brun, gul og orange, på silke sådan en slags rosa-beige i forskellige nuancer.

Jeg gjorde fem forsøg med 25 g uldbundter og 3 g silke i hver sekvens. Ca. 100 g plante i hvert forsøg, eller 50 i det tredje hvor jeg kun farvede 2 fed. Det femte sæt var med hele planter, de fire første kun med blomster.

Det pudsige er, at når man laver snaps, er farven jo rød, men når man koger blomsterne alene, bliver badet mere brunligt. Så jeg blev ret overrasket, da et prøvebad med en hel plante blev flot rubinrød! Så jeg måtte lige teste et blomsterbad mere uden kogning, det blev sådan nærmere rødvinsfarvet.

En sekvens har 4 stadier. Når man har simret blomsterne en times tid og siet dem, kommer man 1 fed i gryden 5-20 minutter, det bliver grønt. Næste skal i en time og skulle blive rødt men mine bliver beige eller brune. Tredje fed skal ligge koldt natten over, det første blev gult, anden runde blev lysegrønt. Nr. 4 og 4 blev hhv orange og beige.

Silken i første test blev variende grader af – beige. Jeg lavede sÃ¥ et fed silke for sig selv med en hel plante (den flotte blodrøde gryde), og det blev fint rosa-orange (mere rosa før tørring).

I tredje forsøg lavede jeg kun 2 fed med halvt så mange blomster. Og byttede rundt på rækkefølgen, jeg kom et ubejset fed i først, derefter et bejdset. Den almindelige sekvens hedder bejdset-ubejdset-bejdset-bejdset. Det første fed i runde tre blev som sædvanlig beige, men fik en tur i det rosa silkebad og tog farve af det. Fed nr. 2, det bejdsede, startede med grøn, men jeg lod det ligge i gryden lidt og så blev det nærmest bronzegyldent.

De fire blev altså ikke helt ens, pånær den grønne som er ret pålidelig. Jeg synes selv det første sæt blev det bedste, men det var spændende hver gang.

Når man farver med hele planten, så får man jo lidt mere materiale at arbejde med. Enten farve almindeligt med et enkelt farvebad, eller forsøge hele sekvensen som ovenfor.

Jeg har læst mig til at nogen tørrer planten og med held farver med den senere. Jeg har kun forsøgt med en lille mængde blomster i alkohol, ligesom når man laver snaps.

Fremover dropper jeg det ubejdsede fed og vil prøve at simpelthen hive op og putte nye i hver gang de har taget farve og se hvor langt jeg kan strække den. Det er en af de ting som er så spændende med plantefarvning, man kan ikke bruge samme metode til alle planter. Nogen giver bare det samme hver gang, uanset om det er koldt eller varmt vand, sur eller basisk pH, andre kan ændres på flere måder. Nogen kan nøjes med et kort dyp i en spand med hesteskovand, andre skal opvarmes med jernopløsning for at give farveskift.

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Wild Chamomile / Skive-Kamille

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Matricaria discoidea / Chamomilla suaveolens

Having dyed with Scentless Chamomile I thought I might as well add the other weedy type growing in my paddock. This does smell quite strongly and can be used in tea instead of the “real” chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla / Matricaria recutita) I’ve read. Since my horses poop on it, I haven’t, though.

I just did a single skein to compare, and it does indeed work. But since the plant is a lot smaller and rarer, the Scentless is still easier to get results from. I used a smaller ratio for this lot, but didn’t weigh, I’m guessing 4:1. And the yarn smells very nice!

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For at fuldende mit kamille eksperiment, mÃ¥tte jeg lige teste den anden slags som vokser pÃ¥ min hestefold. Den dufter kraftigt og man kan faktisk lave te af den, det gør jeg dog ikke, da mine heste gÃ¥r og møger sig over det hele. 😉

Planterne er meget mindre og ikke helt så vildtvoksende, så jeg kunne ikke samle ligeså stor mængde som til gårsdagens projekt. Glemte at veje, men gætter på der er 4:1 i forhold til garn. Og det blev en nydelig, ren, lysegul farve som dufter skønt!

False chamomile – Lugtløs kamille

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Scentless chamomile, wild chamomile, mayweed, Matricaria perforata.

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If you don’t have the time or space to grow specific dye plants, there is plenty to be found in the wild. I wanted to do a comparison of chamomiles and decided to use the method of extraction described by Leena in Finland. She suggests that you can get more dyestuff out of the plant by making the water alkaline. When the dye has cooled it returns magically to a neutral pH, you can then add the wool without harming it. I did one pot with just regular boiling of plants, the other with 1 tbsp. of potash. One alum skein and one unmordanted in each pot. As you can see, the yarn from the alkaline extraction is a lot darker! If your bath is not quite neutral enough after cooling, you can add a small slosh of vinegar, the extra dye will still be in there.

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I think this yellow is just as good as Dyer’s Chamomile, remains to be seen if there’s a difference in permanence. Of course you won’t get the orange that the Anthemis tinctoria provides just with enough dyestuff, but the alkaline method works to get a fair orange (not as vibrant) and for yellow it’s a good and cheap source, available all summer in your nearest ditch. I used the whole plant, so no careful picking of flower heads either.

You will need to use the fresh plants, though, no freezing or drying. I also used a huge dye ratio, like 15:1, so that is another difference. Not that it matters, it’s so abundant where it is. The dye ratio however doesn’t really show in the unmordanted skeins, so perhaps they would come out with no colour at all at a lower rate. Mordanted yarn should give a less golden, clearer yellow at a lower ratio and with iron I’m assuming you could get some sort of olive colour.

Tomorrow we’ll try a different chamomile!

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Lugtløs kamille er ideel at farve med, hvis man ikke har farveplanter i sin have, eller slet ingen have. Den breder sig lystigt på kornmarker hvis den får lov og helt sikkert alle andre steder som ikke sprøjtes.

Jeg besluttede mig for at teste en metode til at trække mere gul ud af planten ved at gøre vandet basisk med potaske, ca. en spsk. til en stor 8 l. gryde. NÃ¥r vandet sÃ¥ har kogt og er kølet ned igen, falder pH værdien igen til neutral – hvis ikke kan man tilsætte en lille sjat eddike – den ekstra farve er stadig i vandet.

Jeg lavede en identisk gryde uden base, og som det ses på billedet er den en del lysere. Den orange farve er ikke helt ligeså klar som med farve-gåseurt, jeg har også brugt en hel del mere plante (15:1), men det er da et fint alternativ. De to fed i midten er ikke blevet bejset først. Med tanke på den enorme mængde planter jeg brugte, så tænker jeg, at det ikke kan betale sig at farve ubejdset garn, men med alun kan man godt nøjes med mindre mængder og stadig få en flot gul. Med jern vil jeg tro man kan få olivengrøn eller noget i den henretning.

Man kan ikke tørre eller fryse vild kamille og farve senere, som man kan med gåseurt, det skal bruges frisk.

I morgen prøver vi med en anden slags kamille!

Herbal dyeing

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“Red” sage 3:1 in rainwater. Left it rather long in the dyebath because nothing much seemed to be happening, came out a nice fresh green eventually, which has now been sent to solar testing.salvie

Purple basil 2:1, hard water. Plants boiled, yarn then solar dyed for 2 days. Dyebath blue, no pH alteration on my part. Rita Buchanan says it’s the same colour molecule as in Hollyhock, so it should be able to give blue and purple at other pH, I suspect red cabbage and black currant are in the same group, as they respond with the same colour scale. Hard to get onto the yarn and very fugitive. Also sent to solar testing in the bedroom window – I don’t have high hopes, but I’m wishing, because it’s such a nice green!basilikum2

When the purple basil grows back I’ll test it with tin mordant, I got a good purple with black currants.

It’s interesting that the unmordanted cotton ties turned blue, so I popped a failed cotton skein with 4 other layers on it into the exhaust. It would be interesting to test on silk as well.

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I’ve also prepared some jars for solar dyeing:

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Dyer’s chamomile, coreopsis, oregano, marigold,  tagetes, weld leaves.

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Ikke at jeg tror farverne er særligt lysægte, men det skulle lige prøves, farvning med rød basilikum og salvie. (jeg har også sået bronzefennikel, men de skal lige blive lidt større)

Salviegarnet skulle ligge ret lang tid før det tog farve, det samme gælder basilikum, som jeg valgte at solfarve i drivhuset et par dage. Farvebadet og bomuldssnorene blev blå, men uldgarnet blev grønt. Det skulle være samme farvemolekyle som stokroser, så det er nok ret pH følsomt, hvis man vil skrue lidt på farven.

Jeg har også gang i et par glas i drivhuset, hvor de bare står og gasser i solen. Fra venstre Farvegåseurt, Skønhedsøje, oregano, morgenfrue, tagetes og vau.

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