What's Up Doc? a carrot top dye tutorial

You know when you workin' away 

and with out really thinking about it,

just one thought pops into your mind

which can remind you of another, and then of a taste, a tv show, an age, 

and so on...?

The other day while working away chopping up these carrot green 

and my hands where full of 

damp featheriness from 

4 bunches of carrots (thats a lot of carrots!)

trying to keep it under control on my tiny cutting board which balanced on my tiny counter top,

this was my thought sequince;

carrot tops

carrots

bugs bunny

saturday morning cartoons

my dad's Navy friend stopping by with a box of dunkin donut munchkins.

soon the tv time limit is forgotten as the adults enjoy another cup of coffee in the kitchen chatting and laughing loudly.

my sister and I dig into the box way too happy about the treats instead of snipping at eachother 

we hit our spots on the huge sectional and watch more 

Bugs. 

This also makes me think of that Cadbury Egg laying Bunny. 

Oh the days when we LIVED for such sugary treats. 

I used 124 grams of carrot greens

added a 6 gram skien of pre mordanted (ity bity) skein of 100% wool and a tiny strip of 100% silk fabric.

But first I pre soaked pre mordanted yarn and silk.

30 minutes later in went in one pot;

carrot tops

fibers

water

I heated the pot to a medium heat, so that the temp would climb slowly.

it took about 2 hours for any development of color to occur. 

I was expecting a brighter yellow because of what I got the first time I did this.

However, I was so pleasantly surprised. 

Look at that green!! 

I pulled out this little skein and the silk strip

and in went a large thick 100 grams of merino from Purl Soho.

And a vintage silk hankerchief. 

This time I added mordant to this second bath. About a teaspoon I think.

I should point out that in between the first and second bath I took the pot off the heat as I decided what to add next. As I was thinking the pot had time to cool down. 

Which can be really important when adding fibers to the bath because you want the fibers to be affected as little as possible so their delicate structures are not altered to a point that makes them not feel nice. 

Finally results. 

Love that green of the top tiny skein and the little silk wrapped around it. 

I can't quite decide if it's brassy or chartruese. 

The silk hankie will be avalible in my etsy shop soon in your interested:):):)

I thought it was be super fun to incorperate in a wedding. Groom's gift? Mom's gift? Whatever. Where ever. I have a whole collection going on right now of these natural dyed vintage silk hankies and I am in love with them. 

Have you tried dyeing with carrot tops? 

feel free to share your results ans thoughts in the comments.

Do you have any questions I didn't answer here? Let me know:) 

I love hearing from you. 

Happy Coloring!

ox,

rachel

Birthday Daffodils; a plant dye tutorial

I love daffodils.

To me they mean the start of spring,

a new year,

my birthday,

and now my wedding (almost a year ago now!!)

(photo credit: Serendipity Photography)

Last week I grabbed 4 bunches at the store so they would be ready 

later in the week for dyeing.

 

Lately my brain has been exploding more than usual with the endless plant dyes that are all around me. 

Back in.... well many moons ago, 

I tried dyeing with my birthday daffodils. 

for the first time.

I cooked up the stem and all

ending up with kind of a 

silvery color

and I was SO excited because it was the first time I tried such an experiment. 

I've been pouring over India Flint's book that has a section on 

flower ice dyes. 

Curious, I took a look and got very excited about using violas this summer! 

I'm planning on having flower boxes with violas and other things so it's really fun to be thinking of using them after they start to pass, for dyes.

I was encouraged with India's book to tuck the blossoms away in a zip lock bag in the freezer 

until I'm ready to use them.

Works perfectly for my life. 

There they sat next to the top of my wedding cake 

that I've been nibbling for a year:)

Before I put the flowers in the freezer, 

I weighed each blossom

out of curiosity-

2grams each.

I saved these 16 grams for this silk bundle. 

I them spritzed it with vinegar

and added two rusty nails.

I started to roll it up

but then got an idea...

I noticed the fennel ferns I'd been saving 

to just this very thing 

or something similar

so I added those 

before rolling it all up.

I spritzed it with more vinegar 

before finding a place to smoosh it 

for a while

to encourage the dye 

to work its way into the fabric. 

I've since found a better place.

The cast iron kettle behind our wood stove. 

It works beautifully really flattening them out. 

The one on the left is this bundle here. Look how dark just after two days!

The other two are bundles I'm reworking with California bay leaf and eucalyptus.

I can't wait to un wrap all these!! 

Back to the daffodil dyeing... 

in this here pot are 60 grams of daffodils. 

I pre soaked the yarns and two pieces of silk. 

One piece of silk and one skein of

wool were both premordanted 

with alum. 

The other piece of silk and other skein were not mordanted. 

 I let the pot heat up very slowly because I was concerned

about the temperature getting too high and 

affecting the color. 

Because I had tried this before and ended up 

with such a non-exciting color

(at the time it was exciting because it was something)

Here's my final result after letting the fiber sit in the pot

cooling over night.  

The top two small skeins are:

on the left- no mordant

on the right- alum

The larger skein is from the 2nd bath.

I'm so so happy with how YELLOW this came out! 

I'm so pleased.  

There was still dye left over

but this time I removed the soggy blossoms 

that were still in tack

and made a bundle.

I also added these Zinfandel shamrocks that I just discovered.  

bundle made with vintage cotton calico 

then spritzed with vinegar.

I still had lots left over so I put together a second one

this time on silk fabric

and a few browning 

basil leaves

(btw- if your growing a basil plant indoors-always harvest the tops. It helps it grow better- opposed to the larger leaves on the bottom. 

More on the bundling in another post:)

ok- so remember I had a 3rd dye bath

I added this light blue skein on 

a mohair blend

that I picked up in a tiny whole in the wall

knitting shop in Waterford, Ireland. 

Here are a few of the items that I dyed over the last few days. 

Including this lovely minty green skein 

which is the light blue skein 

over dyed with the 3rd bath of daffodils:) 

Last fall we planted many daffodil bulbs in the yard. 

And several weeks ago, I got the ones I 

couldn't get in the ground-

into pots around the house. 

They are now started to poke up through 

and I look forward to putting them in the ground.

Someday.

Until then, I'm enjoying what I find at the market 

and taking full advantage. 

Check out my etsy shop 

I'm running a little sale

now through the weekend. 

Enjoy!

Today I turned 36 (!!@#(&#^@*@!!) 

It's ok really, 

I'm off to spend the day at my favorite fiber shop

get my hair done

& then

I'll have dinner out

with my sweetheart

It's gonna be a great day. 

Cranberries; a dye tutorial

Like my blueberry experiment this past October, I thought I'd give these freezer burned cranberries a go. I had some hunches about how colors might turn out in regards to my blueberry results. Though with the cranberries, I was pleasantly surprised. 

1st dye bath:

to start, I had 13oz of cranberries

9 grams of 100% wool yarn in the form of 3 tiny skeins. 

1 skein with no mordant

1 skein with alum

1 skein with vinegar

This first picture is the non mordanted yarn half way through the dyeing cycle. I'm checking the yarn. I gave it a few squeezes to check the color-- because I'm impatient. 

Sometimes I'll reach into the pot & tug on the yarn a little, drying it with the corner of a dish towel to check the color. 

Later, to let it cool off gradually while I used the other cranberries for more experiments, I moved this first skein into a jar. The wool darken over time in the bath- which is a good sign. 

Left- vinegar only

Right- alum only

from bottom (darkest) to top: no mordant, alum, vinegar. 

All the skeins reached a heat of about 160-180 over the course of about an hour. 

The next morning a dyed with a 2nd cycle or dye bath. Leaving the cranberries in the whole time, thinking that creating a contact dye might give me bester results.... 

The tiny ball of yarn is a kid mohair silk blend- sitting on a vintage silk hankie. 

I was impressed with the no mordant color from that first yarn- but I also really like the alum yarn as it was a bit brighter. That's what I used for this kid silk yarn & hankie- alum. 

I think cream of tartar would have a place here with cranberries as well as it acts as a brightener. 

What do you think? Have you dyed with cranberries? 

This would be a great activity to try with your children as well. If your concerned about heat or alum (for those that have wondered- alum is also used in our water supply for cleansing purposes. BUT WITH THAT SAID- YOU SHOULD STILL ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FOOD COOKING POTS AND UTENSILS SEPERATE FROM ALL YOUR DYE POTS AND UTENSILS. 

For another experiment- not something I've tried yet- try soaking the cranberries for a few days to extract color- add a natural fiber of any form & let sit in the sun in your home or outside. I wonder if you'll get some dye action this way? If you try it, let me know. 

If you've dyed with cranberries or if you have any questions- leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you!