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Osage Orange
Posted 10/9/2008 8:16pm 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.