Lilacs 2013

syringa

Two years ago I tried dyeing with lilacs and failed miserably: murky. I eventually suspected that this was due to boiling the flowers, it was at the beginning of my dye career, I didn’t know any better. This is what my 2011 skeins look like today:

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Well, this year I had the chance again, this time aiming for 60 degrees which is the lowest my automatic, programmable and very neat hotplate goes. Gift from the SO who just happened to see it in the supermarket and think of me, pretty great, huh? Just what every girl wants for xmas, kitchen utensils! 😉

The copper mordanted yarn is nothing much to behold, in fact it’s like the old results, but the others! Score! The unmordanted skein is actually very faintly green, I’m playing with “toned whites” at the moment…. The yellow is tin mordant.

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In the sun:

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Syrenfarvning

For to år siden, da jeg lige var begyndt at plantefarve, kogte jeg alle planter og resultatet med syren blev variende nuancer af beige. Jeg har senere tænkt på om det ville lykkes bedre ved en lavere temperatur, og sørme ja, 60 grader blev det til og en ny plante der giver grøn. Med kobberbejse bliver det stadig brunt, med tin citrongult.

12 thoughts on “Lilacs 2013

      1. Tænkte jeg nok, jeg har kun hvide og så de der fesent-lilla nogen. Jeg må prøve med de hvide. Hvide stokroser giver en nærmest neongul, men i hvert fald hos mig falmer den superhurtigt. Hvordan er lysægtheden for syrener? Dem fra for to år siden ser i hvert fald stadig meget “farvede” ud.

        1. Jeg kan simpelthen ikke huske, om jeg har lystestet dem, så jeg bliver nok nødt til at gøre det.

          Det gule fed er også en anelse neon i forhold til billedet, lidt som en citronsommerfugl (det ved jeg ikke om de hedder, det har vi bare altid kaldt dem) Klart anderledes end andre gule plantefarver.

          De fesenlilla har vi også, men jeg har endnu ikke prøvet at farve med dem.

          Jeg kom garnet i sammen med blomsterne, så de kun skulle varmes én gang, og så 60 grader ret kort tid, max en time.

    1. A shame – not for the tapestry selection then. But not unexpected. I just had to test whether my temperature theory was correct. And perhaps there’s some interesting chemistry in overdyeing such skeins to make them useful?

      1. ABSOLUTELY!!! Natural colour is natural colour, and the results are *always* useful, as are the tests and experiments!

    1. I love them too – perhaps because their visit is so brief? Unfortunately most years I don’t get to sit much outside and enjoy the smell, which is particularly nice around dusk somehow, when everything goes hush. Weather here tends to be chilly and blustery most of May.

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