Dyeing with Daffodils and Scotch Broom

 I gathered Daffodils and Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) and soaked them for 6 days, bringing them to a simmer twice.  I used only the petals on the daffodils and the flowers plus some of the young tips on the Scotch Broom.  The liquids had a brownish color, and I was a bit pessimistic about getting a nice color.  I used about 3 cups of daffodil flowers and covered them with water.  The Scotch Broom was more plentiful, and I soaked about 6 cups in a gallon of water.

 The wool yarn was alum mordanted.  I soaked it in water for 30 minutes before immersing in simmering dye bath.  I left the dye bath at simmer for an hour, and then I removed the yarn and rinsed it.
The Daffodils have a surprisingly strong golden yellow color.

The Scotch Broom gave a lighter and brighter yellow with tints of green.  I am very pleased with both samples.  I am saving the dye bath to use on larger items.  I also have some cotton which I have mordanted in tannin and now is in an alum mordant that I can try.

That's what's out there in nature right now.


Skein on the left is Dharma Trading Licorice Twist Merion Wool dyed with the Scotch Broom.  The yarn has a twist in it that picked up a darker tint.  Nice.  The scarf is silk dyed with Eucalyptus.

Big beautiful bowl of Scotch Broom flowers.  I am wondering if including many of the yellow-red type of flowers didn't give a greener shade.  Next time I will pick only the yellow and see.

Gathering Dye Plants the Fun Way

Furthering the "Better Living through Dyeing" Philosophy, I bought a carrots for leaves; ate a carrot and felt healthier, saving the feathery green leaves in the freezer I can accumulate enough for a dye bath

On the way up Albion Ridge, I stopped by the side of the road to gather some much-maligned Scotch  Broom for dye, and of course, after walking a bit, I 

felt healthier.

I saved the flowers and some of the tops green leaves and stems and covered them with water.  I will wait a couple of days and watch for changes before steeping for an hour.

Scotch Broom Cytisus scopanius, Use the flowers + green stems with an alum mordant.  That should produce a

yellow or yellow/green on animal fibers.

Avocado Dyed Wool Yarn Variegated with Pits and Peels

I mordanted 8 oz. of Henry's Attic Sport yarn in Alum.  I did it a couple of weeks ago, and I just got around to the dye baths today.  The avocado pits and peels soaked in water for 10 days; I brought the dye bath to a simmer every couple of days.

Soaked the wool overnight in water, and added it to simmering dye baths this AM.  I did half of the yarn in the pits bath which is the lighter shade.  After an hour, I put the soaked undyed half in the simmering peels dye bath, and let it go for an hour at about 175 to 180 degrees.  

I love the coppery tones achieved with the avocadoes.  This will probably be a pair of socks, so the variegation is nice.

It may get lighter as it dries.

Really stoked about the whole project.  Now back to guacamole, carrots, daffodils and anything else I can find for dyes

Flower Smashing on Silk

March 9--Flower Smashing  Mordanted (alum) silk scarf,

plastic on sturdy porch bench, old towel, silk scarf, flowers,

second plastic bag, wooden mallet

Flowers used: Viola, violet, grape hyacinth, violet leaves,

kale leaves.

Results: Violas worked nicely, leaves were hard to get an

impression from, kale didn't really work for me, violets

were to small, hyacinth seem to be good now, but some of

the debris needs to dry and come off

Crepe de Chine may be the best type of silk for this

process, and the Habotai was rather flimsy.

This could be resmasheed, I think, maybe spraying with vinegar first to see what that does.

Turkey Tail Mushrooms for Dye

March 6--Found some Turkey tail mushrooms gorwing on a decaying pine log in the Pygmy Forest.  This black and green striped mushroom, Trametes versicolor or

Coriolis versicolor, is sometimes used for dyeing.

I washed the mushrooms, about 1 cup, broke them into pieces (the directions said to mash but they were too dry), and covered them with water. They simmered for an hour, at 185 degrees, and produced kind of a grey looking liquid, I may experiment further, or put in a bit of yarn, one knot for alum mordant as per Mushrooms for Color by Miriam Rice. I did see glints of green in the depths of the dye pot; maybe I will try again tomorrow, reheat and brew. March 7--put small (one knot) strand of mordanted wool into dye pot, simmered 190 degrees 1 hour.  Forgot to wet first, part mustard yellow, part almost no change

Pits and Peels: Adventure in Avocado Dyeing

I love the idea of dyeing with avocadoes.  It's one more useful step before they hit the compost pile.  I saved up avocadoes for a week or 2, washed carefully and frozen, for dyeing. I had about a cup of each, pits and peels, and much wonderful guacamole. February 27--mordanted silk scarves 8 oz. in .1 oz alum .03

oz. tartar 8 pints water trying to keep at 180 F for an hour

Put pits and skins of avocados (about 3 cups each) in 2x

Amount of water, bringing to simmer, repeat every 2 days

for 9 days

February 29--binging avocado dye pots to simmer this AM

pits dye looks pink purple already

Just brought it to a boil, which one is not supposed to do,

now it looks greyish.  I hope it's not ruined.  More Guac.

Peel dye pot brought to 180 degrees, used thermometer

like a smart girl, looks OK

March 2--brought both pits and peels to simmer

March 5--brought dye pots to simmer, put in wet silk,

simer one hour.  Pits take on lighter color, peels seem

deeper rose. Let cool in dye bath, rinse, dry, then

mordant a couple for flower smashing

tied a couple of loose knots on 2 scarves

Lightened as they dried

March 6--dyeing bamboo rayon alum-mordanted scarf in leftover avocado peel dye pot, brought to simmer wet scarf immersed, simmer 1 hour, then cool, rinse Noticed faint tie-dye lines in Peels scarf when ironed Bamboo scarf noticably lighter, whether due to material or spent dye, I know not.  A light peach color which will be good for something

March 6--dyeing bamboo rayon alum-mordanted scarf

in leftover avocado peel dye pot, brought to simmer

wet scarf immersed, simmer 1 hour, then cool, rinse

Noticed faint tie-dye lines in Peels scarf when ironed

Bamboo scarf noticably lighter, whether due to material or

spent dye, I know not.  A light peach color which will be

good for something

AVOCADO PRESERVED LEMON GUACAMOLE RECIPE

Mash 2 ripe Haas avocadoes with 1/4 cup chopped red onion (save the peels for more dyeing), 1 clove minced garlic, 1/2 ripe tomato, chopped, 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, 1 diced fresh Serrano chile (or to taste), 1/4 Preserved Lemon, rinsed and diced, plus 1 Tbsp. Lemon juice from the preserving liquid.