Saturday, October 10, 2009

Tansy Time

While I was working with the Pokeberries I also harvested some Tansy leaves from the garden.

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Most dye resources mention only the flowers. I got a lovely bright at the same time mellow yellow on some Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool. Here it is right out of the dye bath.

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I gathered about 175 grams or so of tansy leaves still on the stems then added enough water to cover them. I brought them to a boil then put them on simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool over night and repeated the same in the morning.

I transferred the dye liquor with the leaves in another bin while I mordant the yarn with Alum and CoT assist. I used about 2T Alum and 2t CoT for about 175 grams of Lionbrand Fishermen's Wool.

Then I removed the leaves from the dye liquor. I drained the mordant water off. Then added the dye liquor to the pot with the fiber and cooked it at 180 deg F for 45 min give or take and let cool over night.

Here's the lovely dye all dried and ready for some mittens.

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Here a comparison of the Tansy dyed yarn and a small sample of Dandelion flower dyed yarn I did earlier this summer.

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1 comment:

  1. Lovely colors on these past two entries. I'm glad you are sharing this with us. Always fun to see what you are up to. I'm sharing with Evie as she has been spinning. I think she will appreciate the natural dyes.

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