Time to naturally dye that hand spun yarn I mentioned last post! Goldenrod flowers were gathered from the front yard. According to Jenny Dean and her book Wild Color, the ratio of flowers to wool should be .5:1 or 1:1 for a stronger color. I probably used .75:1 and mordanted with 8% alum sulfate and 7% cream of tartar for an hour. Meanwhile I simmered the flowers in water for an hour and then strained the liquid. Then I added the mordanted fiber to the dye liquor and simmered that for an hour, then let it sit overnight, rinsed, then air dried.
As you can tell, it's a lot of work but it's really worth it to gather or grow your own dyestuffs. It's kind of like the farm to table food movement... but for knitting. I'm currently trying to grow marigolds and coreopsis as well. Coming up: photos of the finished knit goldenrod sweater!
-Amanda
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