I was out this last weekend on Sept 23rd, hunting down some milkweed fluff for stuffing a pillow (details to come) and on the small expressway hillside where I found the milkweed, was also some still blooming goldenrod. Also, on my way home, I gathered lots of fresh black walnuts and added those to my backpack as well, but that for the next post.
The process is much the same as before, though I think I should have stayed with my normal 8 parts fresh to 1 part fiber. The colour is not as vibrant as the last batch, the three things that have changed from abatch to batch are: harvest time, simmer time and % of plant to fiber. Unfortunetly, since the season for these is nearly over, this mystery will wait till next year.
- gather and weight goldenrod flowers 1200g
- simmer covered with water for 2 hr in aluminum pot
- strain out plant matter and divide remaining fluid into two aluminum pots
- Mordent 100 g wool and two silk scarfs in 25g alum
- Add alum to both dyebaths, add 1 tsp iron to 1 pot
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- Simmer 1 hr, wring out in morning
- dry for a day
- and wash in lots of rainwater (4-5 rinses) after washing with soap (rainy weather makes for more water in my rain barrels than I can use in the garden.)
Viola, a pale sunshine yellow (just goldenrod and alum)
and a nice yellow-green. though now that I look at it on the screen, I know the colours are a little darker than they appear in the photos, but the hues are correct.
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| goldenrod with alum, modified with iron |
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