When our merry band of natural dyers decided (wholeheartedly) to gather one last time
before winter sets in and puts the big kabosch on outdoor *cooking,*
it seemed only fitting that this enthusiastic group of
dyehards
should celebrate their past ~ and future! ~ successes
with a brand new pair of tongs ...
I think they liked them.
The November day was kind to us. Plenty of sun, not a whisper of (normally biting) wind
and although we each worried a bit about the slimmer pickins of autumnal plant material,
we pulled it together with great exuberance
and generous sharing from each other's stash ...
including a bit of pilfering from S's hedgerow.
Somehow it ALWAYS works out.
We've been lucky that way.
Our brews:
1. Carrot tops, peach leaves & wild blackberry leaves, with copper pipes in a stainless pot.
2. Scraps of rusty metal in plain water (no vegetation) in a stainless pot.
3. Red cabbage with sea salt & alum in an aluminum pot.
Wrapped inside my bundles:
cedar bark, onion skins, rusty washers, frozen blackberries, "ice flower" red scabiosas,
purple elderberry leaves, madrone bark
and eucalyptus leaves ...
which flew in all the way from California.
(Mercy, THANK YOU!)
Just when I'd begun to think that I was finally achieving a small grasp on this whole dye thing
the eucalyptus has to come along and throw me a curve ball.
What? I thought eucalyptus was supposed to be fairly easy to "manage."
I was dead set certain these babies would leave gorgeous ORANGE-RED marks.
The onion skins did not fail me ... but pale spring green from these eucs???
*sigh*
Oh well. Maybe it's the water.
In any case, I am ever so grateful to my dye pals for their fortitude, unbounded enthusiasm,
rip roaring senses of humor and most importantly, their kindness & camaraderie. It truly has been,
"the more, the merrier,"
and I can't wait to see where we'll be heading next spring ...
Christi, those fabrics are beautiful! FYI I've never gotten a good orange from my local eucs in Humboldt County CA. It really depends on where they're growing. I've tried every combo possible of mordants, fabric types, processing methods, etc., and still never get orange from my eucs. Your other colors, though, more than make up for it.
ReplyDeleteConnie....thank you so very much for that detailed info, I'm a bit relieved to hear of your failures as well ~ take no offense, please! At the same time, I'm quite disappointed. I had such high hopes for this batch of eucs. They traveled straight from the Berkeley Hills (inland from San Francisco) and I was soooo sure they were the correct species for this desired dye result (having lived myself in the vicinity for many years). Still so much to learn. But that's OK ... they are VERY GOOD things awaiting on the horizon ;>]]
Deletecould also be the species, the recent heavy rains and a few other things besides. we can sort out all those tricks when i visit next year
ReplyDeleteoh, me dear, India ... so many variables to this alchemy of yours ... we shall have a BOATLOAD of questions by the time you get here (cat scratching eagerly to come out of bag very shortly)!! In the meantime, our band forges on, falling more and more in love with this pure process.
DeleteThis looks like such fun, all the girls gathered around to dye!
ReplyDeleteI recently had similar green from some eucalypts near home. For me it was the species that created a yellow/green colour.... I used mistletoe. The lighter coloured (silver green) leaves seem to give more of an orange colour for me.
Love seeing all of your dyeing experiments.
Jacky xox
Jacky, I cannot even begin to describe to you the sheer JOY of working alongside these gals ... SO FUN ... I completely *feed* off their enthusiasm as if I'm starving. Truly. That may sound lame, but I tell you in all honesty that they are manna from heaven.
DeleteI will try to understand more about species diversity. At the moment I'm clearly not well versed enough, but I am intrigued by your mention of "silver green" leaves ...
Thank you so much for the comment!
I love that first tong shot! oooooo I'm aching to try to dye things for myself.....
ReplyDeletegood grief, ronnie, you are kidding me, right? you've not done any eco-printing for yourself?! GIRL, you must spread your wings!!
DeleteYou have the master living in your own home country, no need to delay. ok. I will shut up now. p.s. GO.
What stunning colours ad patterns, I'm so impressed, I tried a very tiny bit of Eco dying this Autumn and loved it, can't wait to get cracking again in the Spring.
ReplyDelete'Tis a bit of an addicting adventure, Sharon...and that is the only warning I will give you ;>]]
DeleteThanks for visiting!
The soft green of your ecu leaf imprint has me just sighing over its beauty. I get a lot of oranges, reds, golds from crab apple leaves, goldenrod, etc. but green is elusive and it is my favorite color. Still, you never know when color will come. Over the summer, we tied up our tomato plants with strips of white cotton and when it came time to clean up the garden for winter, all of the strips had turned green from contact with the tomato vines and the green is still holding, three months later. Something magical about dyed cloth and a circle of dyers.
ReplyDeleteIs that you, Marti, from way back in one of Jude's classes? HELLO! How have you been?
DeleteYou have given me an excellent idea, one that I've walked by dozens of times but just didn't register...our wild crabapple out in the field! It had not occurred to me until this moment to try its leaves, but now I most certainly will....thank you! Our group has been achieving some very nice sage greens by using carrot tops with some sort of copper added (such as a cup's worth of penny brew or plain old copper pipes put in the water). On my own at home I've come up with some nice greens using amaranth leaves, rose leaves and that weed, equisetum (horsetails). I haven't been a huge fan of growing my own tomatoes here in the Pacific Northwest although now I will think twice about it ;>]]
Hi Christi. No I'm not from one of Jude's classes. I was one of the 10 women (live in TN) involved with Kaite M's wrapped tree project. Thanks for the tips on getting green, I have done a bit with copper and horsetails. The joys for me in natural dyeing are the color surprises that pop up now and then.
DeleteOh indeedy, I knew your name spelling seemed very familiar...gosh, that tree project was yonks ago now, wasn't it. And I wholeheartedly agree ~ it's the surprises that bring on the most joy...
DeleteSounds and looks like you have a ball with your fellow dye-hards...and with wonderful results too.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a hoot and a half, Donna! We've been fumbling along, trying to find our way through piles of plant vegetation and boiling cauldrons of who-knows-what, testing fabrics left, right & center and most definitely, having a raucous good time. Having ***any*** piece of cloth turn out somewhat decent is mere icing on our cakes ;>]]
DeleteSo lovely and pretty color. I love the purple and all those soft images. Looks all enjoyed and had a great day.
ReplyDeleteThere's never a dull moment when we're all hanging out, that's for certain!
DeleteThanks so much, Terrie.
Beautiful! I've had the same results with the eucalyptus that was collected for me in CA (from the Mendocino area)in the past. I have two varieties, the long narrow leaf and the round coin shaped one. My mom and dad brought me some more this fall so I'm going to try again. I've had fantastic luck with apple leaves so be sure to try those crab apples.
ReplyDeleteKeep me posted on your euc experiments, Deb, I'm curious about options. Thanks much for the tip on the apple leaves as well ~ did you post on your blog about them? Will pop over there to do a search. In the meantime, fingers tapping for spring...when all the crab apple leaves reappear.
DeleteI'm sure I posted somewhere but it might have been while I was in the not labeling the posts...I'll see if I can find a sample for you. Haven't gotten to the Eucalyptus yet, maybe tomorrow!
DeleteSuper fun post, Christi! New tongs in hand, you braved the chill and produced three dye pots, and got wonderful (in my opinion) results!!!!
ReplyDelete