2007-04-24 - 6:37 p.m.

Still springing into dyeing: The poppies were a failure. There was color aplenty in the dyebath. The alum, recommended by the package, did not cause the color to stick in any way, shape or form to the yarn. Very sad. Afterwards, I added vinegar as well as rosehips and got a very light reddish tan so it wasn't a total waste.

The next bath was madder. I only had 0.040 lbs. of madder to work with. I soaked it overnight in the kettle with water. I simmered a full two hours and set the kettle out to boil. I took a sample set of strings which were premordanted. I tied one knot for alum, two knots for copperas (ferrous sulfate), three knots for blue vitriol (copper sulfate). I put my sample strings in while the bath simmered. With this small amount of madder, I'd only have enough for a half pound of wool. I liked the color on the alum the best. So after straining, in went 2 oz. of alum and a half ounce of cream of tartar. I simmered for an hour and set outside to cool overnight for a deeper color. I got a nice soft orange.

Not to waste my roots, I soaked the already cooked roots one more time in the exhaust of the dyebath. I soaked them for two days. I recooked them for an hour. I let them cool this afternoon. After straining, I place a skein of fuzzy mohair into the dyebath. At this point I have not added anymore mordant. I will try it first without and see what happens.

Ursula

PS The first time I cooked the roots, it smelled horribly. It reminded me of the monkey-house at the zoo. The cat objected as well.

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