Thursday, July 11, 2013

8 tips on how to declutter and let go of sentimental items

8 tips on how to declutter and let go of sentimental items

I realize this has nothing to do with dye, but for me right this second, it's really pertinent.

Northern Bedstraw Dye

Northern Bedstraw
Galium boreale

Description: Bedstraw is a member of the madder family, Rubiaceae.  Like Common Madder, the roots of the bedstraws can be used to make a red dye.  Northern bedstraw has four slender leaves in whorls around the stem, and the tiny white flower clusters are sweetly fragrant.  My bedstraw grows along the country gravel road at the end of our driveway, seeming to prefer the Southern side of the road.  See my Guide to Harvesting Bedstraw for plant pictures and how to harvest the roots.

Results: Pictured from left to right are wool with no mordant, wool with Alum mordant, wool with Iron mordant, cotton with Alum mordant, and cotton with Iron mordant.  For color reference, the background is a white Bounty paper towel.



Plant prep: Reference the guide linked above for cleaning the roots.

Dye process (the process below was based on several tips I have picked up to get the reddest results possible):
  1. Add 2 cups of water and an antacid to your non-reactive metal pot.  (I used a regular strength Tums)  This keeps the dye from becoming acidic and leaning toward the orange end of the red spectrum.
  2. Add the clean bedstraw roots, either fresh or dried, to the dye pot.  I would guess that I used about 1/3 c. roots if I had chopped them into little pieces, however I left mine whole.
  3. Put the pot on the burner and heat it but do not boil, leaving it on the heat for one hour.
  4. Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool completely.
  5. Add your pre-wetted fiber to the dye pot and heat it again, still not allowing it to boil. Because the roots are still in the pot and could stick in your yarn, you might want to first contain the roots in cheesecloth.
  6. Leave the roots and fiber on the heat for another hour, then remove the pot from the heat.
  7. Allow the contents to cool and sit overnight.  (once cooled, I had moved the contents of the pot to a plastic container so that I could use my pot for more dye-making the remainder of the evening)
  8. The next morning, rinse out your fiber with warm water and allow to dry.

Notes: In using some bedstraw root for experimenting with a fermentation vat, I noticed that the color seems to darken over time.  I had added only one long root to a jar of water, and after about 4 days the water was quite red.  I would guess that extending the length of time between the first heating and adding your fiber by a day or two might yield even darker reds and/or allow one to use fewer roots for dye.  I have not tested this - it's just a theory.
I also remember reading that dried bedstraw root yields a truer red than fresh, but again this is something that I have not tested.  I am, however, in the process of drying some roots to try using later this winter when I have more wool spun.

Harvesting Northern Bedstraw

When I first discovered that we had bedstraw growing along our driveway, I was ecstatic.  Something about finding a plant in the wild instead of having to purchase seeds online makes it so much more rewarding for me, and to have found one of our few natural sources of red was truly exciting!

I had previously found another type of bedstraw, Galium aparine (commonly known as cleavers, clivers, or sticky Willy) in our woods and quickly discovered that the roots were quite unpleasant to try to get to.  The stems and leaves are covered in tiny hooked hairs, and the plants that I found had stems that were so tiny near the base of the plant that they often broke before I was able to follow them to the ground.  I assume this is by design, as it would allow the plant to break free and stick to a passerby, spreading its seed.  At any rate, it makes for a miserable day of root-collecting.

The bedstraw along our driveway, however, is Galium boreale (Northern bedstraw) and I have found it to be much more suitable for collection.  Knowing nothing about bedstraw root collection, I had pulled out a sample while I was attempting to establish exactly what kind of bedstraw it was.  Pulling the plant up by the base of the stem (my go-to method of getting at roots because I'm relatively lazy), I retrieved about a 3/4" piece of root.  Just looking at it I could see how red it was, and I positively squealed with delight when I got it home and put it in a jar of boiling hot water.  After 5 minutes, the water had picked up a very noticeable red tint and gave me more confidence that I might get some dye-worthy results.  I was concerned, however, that I was going to need to decimate my entire patch of bedstraw to get enough root material for even a trial batch.

As it turns out, attempting to pull the plant out of even the softest soils yields very little root and they’re quite tiny to begin with.  So I grabbed my garden trowel and a bucket, and the following is what I learned about finding and harvesting Northern bedstraw:

 
Galium boreale, in bloom


Don't bother searching for the plant by the shape of the leaves unless you're on foot and know there is bedstraw in the area.  Instead, get in your vehicle or (better yet) have someone drive you around country roads and look for the flower clusters.  After I figured out what the bedstraw flowers looked like, I realized that it grows everywhere around here.  Once you know where the bedstraw is growing, it's easier to look for it by the leaves if you need to.  In Western Minnesota, the bedstraw has been blooming since at least mid-June.  As of today (July 9), there are still some visible flower clusters but the heavy blooming period appears to be over.

 
 
 Above - the flowers from a distance (yellow arrows)
Below - bedstraw plants growing amongst the tall grasses on a roadside
 
 

After selecting a patch of bedstraw to harvest, look around the plants and try to find areas where you can see quite a few of them growing closely together.  Pick a likely spot and use your trowel to lift out a manageable clump of dirt.  Dig down at least 4-5" until you have a feel for how deep the roots are in your area.  The next part is completely counter-intuitive, but I have found that it's far easier for me to find the roots this way.



Turn the dirt clump upside down, so that the grass and stems are sitting in the palm of your hand and the dirt is on top.  The roots are quite easy to distinguish due to their reddish color, and I've found that they don't break nearly as often when I'm harvesting "from the ground up".  The yellow arrows in the picture above all indicate the same visible bedstraw root - note the reddish color.  The blue and red arrows call out two other roots in the dirt clump that I'm holding.

Begin gently manipulating the dirt mass, letting loosened dirt and unwanted plant matter fall back into the hole you had dug.  (Ideally, you don't want to leave large holes in the ground that can injure unsuspecting animals or people.)  Tease the dirt away from the bedstraw roots you find, and drop any pieces into a collection container.  As you get better at identifying the roots, you'll find that not only will you be able to find all the roots of the plants you had seen growing out of the ground, you'll also find more roots that didn't have a visible stem above the ground.



Above - A sense of scale for both plant and root.  That is a woman's hand in the picture.
Below - This flaming yellow and orange root was impossible to miss, but rarely will you find roots that color.  More commonly they appear as the root that the red arrow is calling out.

 
While you're out in the field, don't worry about picking the stem off from the root or cleaning them.  Concentrate on finding enough material to take home.  As you finish up your first dirt clump, dig out another similar clump from the edge of the hole, in the direction of the nearest visible bedstraw (or toward any bedstraw roots that you can see in the hole).  Depending on the number of plants growing in the area, you might be able to harvest enough roots in one or two locations without decimating the whole plant population.  I harvested an area about the size of a dinner plate and found that to yield plenty of roots for my dye samples.  I might have even been able to dye a small project with the quantity that I got.

Once you've collected the material that you need, the timing of the next step will depend a bit on the type of soil you were digging in.  If it was muddy and sticky, wait a few days for it to dry out some and become more crumbly.  The more soil that you can brush off without damaging the roots, the less you'll have to try to wash off later.  On the other end of the spectrum, roots that have been allowed to dry out completely become very brittle and tend to break while you're attempting to clean them.  Having now dealt with those type of roots, I would much rather clean slightly muddy ones.

Lay out some newspaper and then something on top that's a light, solid color (my standby - paper towels).  Begin going through the material you had previously collected, removing as much dirt from the bedstraw roots as you can with your fingers.  Be gentle, teasing the roots from the dirt with your fingertips.  The color comes from the outer part of the root, so don't start scouring them with a toothbrush or anything traumatic like that.  Put the cleaned roots into a jar or bowl, and cut off any of the stems that are still attached - I cut them off where the color changes between the root and stem.  Compost the unwanted plant matter and the soil.

I washed my roots prior to using them for dye, as I didn't want the muddy water dirtying my yarn.  To wash, add some cold water to the roots and let them sit for a short time, perhaps 5 minutes.  Agitate them gently, allowing the water movement to knock off more of the dirt.  They don't need to pass a white glove test, just swirl them around until you are satisfied that there isn't too much dirt left.  Pour off the dirty water, either through a screen or a piece of cheesecloth works well.

At this point, you can do one of two things - either use the roots for dye right away, or dry them for use later.  (you're on your own with that right now, I've not tried drying the roots yet.  I don't have that kind of patience!)  I definitely wouldn't put them into a sealed container until they were completely dry, or you run the risk of mold.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Dandelion Dye (head and roots)

Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale
Common Dandelion

Description: Yellow flowering plant with deeply notched, sawtooth leaves that can be found in lawns and along roadsides pretty much anywhere in the Midwest (as well as the rest of the United States).  I harvested all of my dandelions from my own yard.

Results: The dandelion head results are on the left and the root results are on the right.  From left to right of the flower head results are wool with no mordant, wool with Alum mordant, cotton with no mordant, and cotton with Alum mordant.  Left to right of the root results are wool with no mordant (and iron afterbath), wool with Alum mordant, cotton with no mordant (and iron afterbath), and cotton with Alum mordant.
For color reference, the background is a white Bounty paper towel.



Plant prep: I picked an ice cream pail full of just the yellow flower heads in early May.  Prior to adding to the dye pot, I plucked off any remaining long stems and discarded those (longer than 1/2").
I washed the roots in cold water to remove as much dirt as I could, then sliced them thinly.  I found that cutting the small roots lengthwise was far easier than trying to cut a bunch of tiny slices.

Dye process:  For both the dandelion heads and the roots, I added the material to my dye pot and enough water that it would easily move around.  I boiled the material for an hour, then added my prewetted fiber and boiled another hour.  After the second hour, I rinsed the yarn in hot water.  For the unmordanted wool and cotton that was dyed with the root, I added the dyed yarn to an iron solution that I had previously made with rusty nails and vinegar water and boiled for 10 minutes.  After removing the yarn from this iron afterbath, I again rinsed with hot water.

Notes:  I hadn't planned to use the iron solution, however the unmordanted root dye results were so weak that I felt I had nothing to lose.  I'm actually quite pleased with how the iron afterbath colored the yarn, and in the future I would probably just use fiber that had already been pre-mordanted with iron.

Turmeric Dye

Turmeric (the cooking spice)

Having cooked with Turmeric before, I noticed that not a lot of the spice was needed to add color to a dish.  So I decided to try it out in the dye pot and was very pleased with the results.

Results: Pictured from left to right are wool with no mordant, wool with Alum mordant, cotton with no mordant, and cotton with Alum mordant.  For color reference, the background is a white Bounty paper towel.



Dye process: Added 1/2 teaspoon of ground turmeric to 1 cup of water.  Brought to a boil and then simmered for 1 hour.  I added my pre-wetted yarns to the pot and let it simmer for another hour.  I extracted my yarn and rinsed it while it was still hot, and it took quite a bit of rinsing to get the extra residue off from the yarn.

Notes:  I definitely used way too much turmeric and not enough water.  Next time I would probably try 1/4 teaspoon in about 4 cups of water.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Peony Flower Dye (Magenta and White)

Peony
Paeonia lactiflora

Description: The peony has glossy, dark green leaves and forms a shrublike mass of multiple plants.  The blooms are impossible to miss - the fist-sized flowers large enough to cause many of the stems to droop to the ground.  The flowers come in a range of colors including white, pink (many different shades), red, and yellow.  In the case of my peonies, they came from my own yard where they were planted quite randomly by a previous owner.

Results: Pictured from left to right are wool with no mordant, wool with Alum mordant, wool with Iron mordant, cotton with Alum mordant, and cotton with Iron mordant.  For color reference, the background is a white Bounty paper towel.  In the left picture are the White peony results and in the right picture are the Magenta results.  The most significant difference is that the Iron mordant cotton dyed with white peony had a blue-grey tint to it.

 


Plant prep: I collected my flowers in mid-June.  The white flowers I cut off about 3" down the stem, selecting flowers which were fully open and not so old that they were dropping their petals.  These flowers I processed as they were, leaving the stems and flower heads intact.
The magenta flowers I cut off in the same way, however I selected flowers that were just beginning to drop their petals.  For these blooms I used only the colorful petals, pulling them in clumps off from the flowerhead.

Dye process: Basic Recipe

Notes: I found it interesting that there was little different in the colors yielded by the flowers, despite the strong difference in their blooming color.  If I dye with peony again I would definitely leave the flowers intact as the slippery, tissue-thin petals are a nightmare to retrieve once cooked.  I recommend not letting the yarn mingle with the flowers due to the hassle created by attempting to extract the soggy petals from the fiber.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Shepherd's Purse Dye

Shepherd's Purse
Capsella bursa-pastoris

Description: This weed is very abundant near our home, growing along the edges of the tilled fields and in unmowed areas around our property.  The stem of the plant rises from a rosette that somewhat resembles dandelion leaves, and the upper third or half of the stem bears the little heart-shaped "purse" seed pods.  The flowers are white and grow in clusters at the top of the main stem and often from several other side stems.

Results: Pictured from left to right are wool with no mordant, wool with Alum mordant, wool with Iron mordant, cotton with Alum mordant, and cotton with Iron mordant.  For color reference, the background is a white Bounty paper towel.



Plant prep: I collected my Shepherd's Purse in mid-June, the plants about 2 feet tall at the time and the seed pods VERY abundant.  I wasn't able to use them right away so they actually sat in my garage for nearly a week while I was out of town.  I used every part of the plant that grows above the ground, cutting it into lengths that would easily fit in the dye pot.

Dye process: The Basic Recipe

Notes:  This particular dye success was very exciting to me.  To be able to get such a nuisance weed to yield these kinds of color was something akin to magic.  I can definitely see making more of this dye, especially using wool with an alum mordant.

The Basic Recipe

For all of my dye trials, unless otherwise noted, I have followed this basic recipe:

  1. Place the plant materials in a non-reactive metal pot and add enough hot water to nearly cover it all.
  2. Put the pot on the burner and bring to a very low boil, then cover and simmer for one hour.
  3. At the end of the hour, prewet your yarn in hot water and add to the dye pot.  If your materials have not boiled down enough to leave room in the pot, remove some or all of them. (almost all plant materials boil down significantly to leave room for the yarn.)
  4. Simmer the pot with the yarn for another hour, then turn off the heat.
  5. Leave the yarn sit in the pot overnight, or at least until the water is cold.
  6. Rinse the yarn in warm water and let it dry.
Keep in mind that I've been dyeing only very small amounts of yarn.  Your results may differ if your ratio of plant material to yarn is vastly different.  My intent is to see how many different plants I can use and get color from, as well as how various mordants affect the final color.

I am using both wool and cotton yarn, and I have some that was premordanted in Alum and some that was premordanted in Iron.  Additionally, I have also used a non-mordanted wool control and in some cases non-mordanted cotton (up until I misplaced my skein of cotton yarn.  Oh the joys of a messy house!)

Saturday, June 22, 2013

I figure that since I've begun attempting to extract color from native plants that may or may not have been previously documented, I should put that information out there for others.  Hopefully this can serve as a reference to others who might be looking to harvest color from their own backyard.