Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Colour

Some of the results of the dyeing workshop:


Black walnut on merino yarn, I used yarn that had been mordanted with alum but I know I didn't have to use any mordant since the tannins in the walnut are enough. I am not a huge fan of brown, but this one really catches my eye.


Some BFL fleece, unmordanted, in black walnut.


Onion skins with alum mordant.


Onion skins with tin mordant. I added too much tin to the pot so while the colour is amazing, the mordant is breaking down the fibre. A stupid mistake that comes from not knowing much about tin mordanting. Now I know.


That fibre in the middle is mohair dyed with tea. I collected every tea bag I used for about a month in a large jar filled with water. It got quite...um...fermented. The results were well worth it, however. The colour is so gorgeous, especially on this glossy mohair. Again, no mordanting since tea also has a lot of tannin.

Such fall colours! Such fun! I want to get back at those dye pots.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

love that walnut!

Unknown said...

great photos, but they hardly do justice to the colors! the yellows of the onion skin dye looked so deep and glowed.. like captured sun shine!

(i hope you can salvage the deep tin mordant one.. it was really beautiful!)

Taos Sunflower said...

I'm with you on browns, but that one is gorgeous. It's rich and warm and inviting.