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From my newfound passion for bicycling comes the name for this bright yellow yarn, Maillot as in maillot jaune. Lance Armstrong, the 7 time winner of the Tour de France, has worn the color well. After 2 years in retirement, he will ride the Tour once again in 2009. Je vous souhaite bonne chance, Lance.
Natural Colors
Posted 12/17/2009 8:14 pm by Eugene Wyatt.
All color is local color using natural dyes and these natural colors are temporal too changing with the seasons. The mineral content of the well water that we use in the dye bath influences the color. Water from a well further upstate would have a mineral content different from ours; but too, water from a well nearby, yet 300' deeper, may have more or less calcium, or sulfur, etc. and all wells would render unique hues specific to themselves. Local water makes local color.
The Winter red below tends toward a bluish maroon; dyed in July, using the same extracts in the same percentages, we might come up with a dark persimmon—curious how well water changes—I wonder if the soft rain water of Spring seeps underground and enters the water table diluting its mineral composition.
Madder and Cochineal
Indigo over Logwood Purple
We dye every week in Winter; here we've found a Pacific Blue that differs in temperature (it is cooler) from the Summer color using the same dyes; this difference is due to the waters of the season.
Posted 11/7/2008 7:22 am by Eugene Wyatt.
Envy Green
Logwood Gray is a powerful dye extract; above we see it at 0.5% WOF and below at 1.5% WOF, both mixed with Osage Orange at 4% WOF (see Natural Colors for the sources of the extracts). These gray-greens are good guy-colors, girls, perfect for gift scarves. Buy skeins of Envy Green & Flannel in the Naturally Dyed Yarn Department of the Yarn Store or dye them yourselves according to instructions in the Natural Dye Workshop.
Flannel
Posted 10/30/2008 5:38 pm by Eugene Wyatt.
Hallows
This light madder was dyed (see Immersion Dyeing) by using the dye bath leftover from dyeing a dark madder, 12% WOF*. Hallows looks like it was dyed in a 4-5% WOF madder bath which could have been prepared separately—but why—when the hot pot was there and ready to dye. Even though you never know what strength of color you'll get—which is the fun of natural dyeing—using a dye bath twice is an economical and time saving way to get another hue. Madder baths need watching, they must never boil or you'll lose the color.
*% of dye extract to the weight of fiber.
Buy skeins of Hallows in the Naturally Dyed Yarn Department of the Yarn Store.
Du Vin
An indigo over-dye of madder (see Natural Dye Workshop, Indigo Blue Pt. 1, 2 & 3) Buy skeins of Du Vin in the Naturally Dyed Yarn Department of the Yarn Store.Mystery
An indigo over-dye of cochineal, you never know what you'll get. See Natural Dye Workshop, Indigo Blue Pt. 4 Buy skeins of Mystery in the Naturally Dyed Yarn Department of the Yarn Store.Posted 10/13/2008 9:00 pm by Eugene Wyatt.
Beijing Rouge
Beijing Rouge was dyed at a strength of 12% WOF (weight of fiber) meaning that when we dye 1000g (1kg or 2.2lb) of yarn (20 50g skeins) we use 120g (12% of 1000g) of madder dye extract.
What surprised me was the right-on-redness of this madder dye lot; the color didn't tend toward orange (acidic bath) nor toward fuchsia (basic bath). The water in which we dyed that day was true for red. Colors from natural dyes are influenced by the pH and mineral content of the farm's well water; acidity & hardness change with the seasons and with the amount of rainfall. Rainy season colors are different from dry season colors, as are winter colors different from summer colors using the same dyes and concentrations. Colors from natural dyes are unique and exciting, you never know exactly what color of yarn you'll get until you pull it from the dye pot.
The root of the madder plant, rubia tinctorum, is used for dyeing. Standard procedures for immersion dyeing are used with madder. Alum as a mordant gives you the best chance for a true red.
When using the powdered madder extract, first make a paste using a rubber spatula and a small amount of water as this will help put the madder into solution when the rest of the water is added and heated. Madder is sensitive to heat and can discolor: never boil when dissolving it and keep it below 180 F in the dye bath.
Yarn in Beijing Rouge is available from the Naturally Dyed department of the Yarn Store.
Yarn in Beijing Rouge is available from the Naturally Dyed department of the Yarn Store.
Posted 10/9/2008 8:16 pm by Eugene Wyatt.
Kombu
Kombu is arrived at by dyeing Osage Orange over a gray Heather Yarn which is made when the spinnery cards together undyed wool and dyed-in-the-wool black before spinning it.
Yarns to be dyed with Osage Oranges (including over dyes of Heather) must be first mordanted with Alum, then dyed according to the Immersion Dyeing procedure outlined in Natural Dye Workshop 10. Note that Osage takes quickly; you may want to pull it from the bath after 10 minutes if you're looking for a lighter hue. If it's too light reintroduce the yarn, pull it and look again in 5 minutes or so. Osage dyes dark at 4% WOF, light at 2% WOF.
Trick of the Trade: don't throw a dyebath out until it's exhausted. The Kombu pictured above was dyed in the bath left over from dyeing natural yarn with a dark Osage—using a bath twice (the 2nd color will be lighter than the first) saves and it quickly adds another hue to your color story.
Kombu is a seaweed harvested off Hokkaido and is used in Japanese & macrobiotic cuisine as an ingredient in soups & stocks.
Kombu is a seaweed harvested off Hokkaido and is used in Japanese & macrobiotic cuisine as an ingredient in soups & stocks.
Posted 10/3/2008 7:28 pm by Eugene Wyatt.
Maillot
Weld (reseda luteola) is a plant native to Europe and has been used as a dyestuff since medieval times. Vermeer is said to have glazed weld over an indigo blue to produce the once brilliant, but age darkened, greens of Girl with a Pearl Earring (ca. 1666).
Dye Weld at 3% WOF for the dark hues (as in the yarn photo above), 1% WOF for light hues after having mordanted the yarn with Alum as described in Natural Dye Workshop 9. Follow the Immersion Dyeing procedures outlined in the Natural Dye Workshop 10.
From my newfound passion for bicycling comes the name for this bright yellow yarn, Maillot as in maillot jaune. Lance Armstrong, the 7 time winner of the Tour de France, has worn the color well. After 2 years in retirement, he will ride the Tour once again in 2009. Je vous souhaite bonne chance, Lance.
Yarn in Maillot is available from the Naturally Dyed Yarn department of the Yarn Store.