Woad generates about a ton of seeds per plant, I harvested a whole sack, forgot about it, they moulded and I went out and got another batch to boil directly for trying to dye with as instructed in “Wild Color” by Jenny Dean.

The dyebath was dark, dark and looked suspiciously like an actual woad dye bath, so I couldn’t resist trying a small portion out treating it as such. Alkaline, whisking, spectralite etc. Result:

To the rest, dark brown soup, I added some unmordanted fleece (yeees, more of that Dorset), which after a good heating up looks like this:

As I wasn’t certain the dye would yield anything much, I didn’t want to waste my last yarn on it. And, well…. good decision it seems. I may have made a mistake in leaving the dye to steep overnight (it was getting late), but really? I think I need to be very bored to try this again.

There was however a big difference in the dyebath along the way, dark green as it simmered the seeds, cognac as it was cooling and dark brown the day after. I have no idea whether that has any importance or not. I did mean to pour in some vinegar actually, but forgot…

Well, I guess I’ll consider it “pre-mordanted” for something else. (ok, ok, do I “really have to go out there and get a new batch of seeds to cook with vinegar and dye immediately, not “tomorrow”?!)

ETA: The wool actually does have a slight greenish tint after spinning it out and a part rinsed in vinegar a slightly warmer tint. But nothing to get excited about… The colour in the photo was accidentally darkened a bit too much in Photoshop, but you may be able to see the subtle difference.

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Siden jeg havde så mange vaidfrø ville jeg lige prøve at farve med dem, da de skulle kunne give en lys rosa farve. Som det ses ovenfor var det ikke rigtig besværet værd. Jeg ved ikke om det havde været bedre at bruge suppen med det samme istedet for at lade den stå med frø i natten over, men jeg gider nok ikke teste den teori med mindre jeg lige har et enormt overskud. Jeg ville også have puttet eddike i, men glemte det i farten.

Der var faktisk stor forskel i farven på vandet undervejs, mørkegrøn under kogningen, cognacfarvet ved afkøling og dagen efter sortbrun som muld. Om det har betydning? Nogen som ved? Vaid og indigo skal jo også helst bruges samme dag, men gælder det så hele planten?

Ulden er senere blevet overfarvet med Tusindstråle fundet i skoven.