Fall Dyeing

There are so many ways to dye and all have a fascination of their own. Recently I have been working with the goldenrod that grows in the fields and the giant marigolds from the garden. The process is simple.....After chopping up the flowers and simmering them for 45 minutes I strain out the flower material and am left with the dye bath.

 
The yarn from our Shetland sheep has been prepared for the dye bath with an alum mordant (45 minute simmer in water and alum) to make it color fast. The final step is another 45 minutes with the wetted wool in the dye bath.

 The finished product is shown below, the goldenrod on the bottom and marigold on the top.

Right now I'm working with madder root, that lovely red that comes from the roots. Check in next post to see!