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Natural dyeing is unpredictable
Sep. 11th, 2011 09:49 amAt least, sometimes. You can get results that seem to have nothing to do with what the recipe or book instructions tell you to expect.
We have a lot of elderberries this year, which is unusual. Normally it gets too dry during August and the berries mummify. Not this time. Yesterday I went out and gathered about a pound of them for a dyeing experiment. My books say that elderberries produce a lavender blue color when used with an alum mordant and simmered for a long time. So I mordanted about 2.5 ounces of Wensleydale yarn with alum and cream of tartar, cooked up my berries with vinegar and water, and tried dyeing the yarn.
Above you see the dyepot filled with strained off elderberry solution and my yarn. I simmered this for about 90 minutes, then covered it and let it stand until completely cool. This morning I rinsed out the yarn and put it out to dry.
And there are the results. The color is pleasant enough, something like a warm rose tan. Not a hint of blue or purple, though. The berries may be affected by the fact that our soil is quite alkaline. Many blue-purple colored flowers and berries lose their blue in alkaline soil and intensify it in acid soil. Blueberries show similar effects, and ours are much more red in color though they taste the same as the true blue berries from elsewhere.
We have a lot of elderberries this year, which is unusual. Normally it gets too dry during August and the berries mummify. Not this time. Yesterday I went out and gathered about a pound of them for a dyeing experiment. My books say that elderberries produce a lavender blue color when used with an alum mordant and simmered for a long time. So I mordanted about 2.5 ounces of Wensleydale yarn with alum and cream of tartar, cooked up my berries with vinegar and water, and tried dyeing the yarn.
Above you see the dyepot filled with strained off elderberry solution and my yarn. I simmered this for about 90 minutes, then covered it and let it stand until completely cool. This morning I rinsed out the yarn and put it out to dry.
And there are the results. The color is pleasant enough, something like a warm rose tan. Not a hint of blue or purple, though. The berries may be affected by the fact that our soil is quite alkaline. Many blue-purple colored flowers and berries lose their blue in alkaline soil and intensify it in acid soil. Blueberries show similar effects, and ours are much more red in color though they taste the same as the true blue berries from elsewhere.
