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I wanted to test my new plant dyeing yarn type, which I’m very excited about. It’s not only cheaper than my regular supply used to be (it has recently gone up 20% in price), it’s also much nicer. Smoother, more plies, and comes in readymade 25 g hanks.
not the ones I used (1993)
So I’ve been deadheading daffodils for a few days, leaving them to soak in water until I had enough. In fact I was so busy collecting, that I forgot to take a nice flower photo for this post first!
I haven’t had time to do any natural mordanting yet, so I did the usual alum routine.
I didn’t actually expect much, but was pleasantly surprised, especially with the unmordanted hank, which is considerably more coloured than the dandelion hank I did on the same day.
I then collected the last heads and did an iron mordanted hank as well. I’m extremely pleased with this! Remains to be seen how fast these are of course. But I like this green so much compared to other iron induced greens or the nettle sample I did the other day, that I may just get more bulbs in the fall just for dyeing green!
1. unmordanted, 2. alum+CoT, 3. alum+CoT+iron
Daffodil top, nettle bottom (no iron)
Påskeliljer
Det siges jo at man skal prøve alt mindst een gang, så i år hoppede jeg på påskeliljerne. Vi har ikke så mange af de helt gule i haven, men det blev da til et alunbejset fed, et ubejset og et jernbejset.
Jeg samler når de begynder at visne, eller hvis nogen er knækket, og opbevarer i vand indtil der er nok, gerne flere dage.
Jeg blev da glædeligt overrasket over hvor meget farve jeg fik ud af dem, så den er absolut på listen over mulige planter i fremtiden. Faktisk er den grønne ret fantastisk i forhold til det ene fed brændenælde jeg har fået lavet (mere på vej).
Jeg har ikke nået at lave alternative bejsninger, som fx. rabarber, de er kun lige begyndt at kigge frem.
Colour Cottage 
they are nice colours from daffodil flowers, Frances
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Det var da utroligt. Der er ikke megen krudt i dine nælder 😉 Jeg bruger ca. 8 gange så mange nælder som garn, det er jo ikke ligefrem en plante, man behøverat spare på, og det bliver khakigrønt.
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Jeg har brugt 345 g nælder til 25 g bejset garn, så…. Men jeg skal lige prøve en lidt anden metode.
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You are right, the greens are particularly lovely!
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I’m awed by the use of natural plant dyes. I’d heard of the concept in fabrics at hippie stores, but I’d never really thought about the process til now. I’m very much in awe of your work. I just feel it’s all so ancient and powerful.
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I’m not always sure why I keep doing it. It’s like I “have to”, it just fascinates me.
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I’m just looking through your blog posts about plant dyeing because I’m about to embark on some dye experiments myself. You have achieved such lovely colours, it’s really inspiring to take the trouble etc. of dyeing yarn with plants.
We have quite a few Daffodils in our garden, so I will keep the heads this year. Do they have to be used immediately after collecting them?
And another question: Do you prefer dyeing hanks of yarn or the unspun/uncarded fleece?
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I honestly don’t know how they’ll work if you use wilted flowers, I haven’t tried.
As for yarn or fleece, I do like blending raw fleece that has multiple shades, but it’s also more delicate as you have to heat it several times, first to mordant, then to dye, and every time you handle it there is the risk of felting. Yarn is easier, also hanging it to dry etc.
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Thank you for your reply. You are right, yarn is easier to handle, heat, dry.
I just thought like you, it would be nice to blend different shades. I will experiment and see what works best.
As for the Daffodils, I will do some more research onnline and see what experience people have using them as a dye plant. Have a nice day. 🙂
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sorry to jump in, I was eavesdropping 😉 – just wanted to mention that combed top works well in dyeing experiments, as it tends to stay intact so it’s easier to handle than fleece, and you can still blend it afterwards. You can hang it on a washing line to dry it and I haven’t had a massive problem with felting either (except with indigo dyeing when there’s a lot of dipping in and out of the dye vat).
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