Saturday, April 7, 2012

Dyeing with yarrow and it's lightfastness Värjäys siankärsämöillä ja valonkesto


Viime kesänä kokeilin värjätä myös siankärsämöllä. Siankärsämö mainitaan Jenny Deanin Wild Colour-kirjassa ja Cardonin kirjan mukaan se sisältää kestäviä flavoneja, ainakin apigeniinia ja luteoliinia. Siankärsämöä kasvaa meillä pihassa villinä (ja vähän kukkapenkissäkin) ja sitä on myös pikkutiemme varrella helposti kerättävissä.

Heinäkuun lopussa keräsin kukkivia siankärsämöitä, koko kasveja. Pilkoin ne, kaadoin kuumaa  vettä päälle, lisäksi loraus tuhkalipeää irrottamaan väriaineita paremmin ja annoin seistä yön yli. Seuraavana päivänä haudutin niitä hiljaisella tulella kaksi tuntia, tässä vaiheessa liemi oli melko tummaa. Värjäsin normaalisti aluna-viinikivipuretettua lankaa, mutta vaikka liemi oli tummaa, niin langan väristä tuli melko vaaleaa. Värjäysliemen pH oli neutraali. Tuoreita siankärsämöitä oli 1,5kg/100g lankaa. Allaolevassa lankakuvassa no 1. Ehkä kasvit olisi pitänyt kerätä kukinnan alussa tai ennen?? Tai värjätä langat uudelleen samassa liemessä seuraavana päivänä, jospa väri olisi tummentunut?

IN ENGLISH
Last summer I dyed with yarrow, Achillea millefolium. Yarrow is mentioned in Jenny Dean's book Wild Colour, and also Cardon's book says it contains flavones, at least apigenin and luteolin, which should be fast. Yarrow grows wild in our yard (and also some in the flowerbed), and by our dirt road, where it is easily available.

In the end of July I harvested flowering yarrows, the whole plants. I cut them to pieces, poured hot water over them and added a glug of wood ash lye to help release the dyestuffs. Next morning I simmered them for two hours, and at this point the bath was dark brown. I strained off the bath and dyed alum/cream of tartar mordanted wool in the bath. The pH of the dyebath was neutral. Even though the bath looked dark, the yarn turned out quite pale color, no 1 in the picture. I used 1,5kg of fresh yarrow/100g of yarn. Perhaps I should have used them earlier, before they were in full bloom??
Or simmer them another time the next day, to see if the yarn would have become darker?


Kokeilin näilläkin valonkestoa kuistilla nyt maaliskuussa, kaksi viikkoa auringossa. Ylin lankanäyte on siankärsämöstä, keskimmäinen puna-apilasta, ja alin tammikuussa persiljalla värjäämästäni langasta.
Suunnilleen taitteen kohdalla menee raja, jostä loppupää langasta oli auringossa, alkupää peitettynä.
Siankärsämö-langassa värimuutos oli hyvin lievää, eli vaikka väri oli vaalea, niin se kesti aurinkoa aika hyvin. Myöskään persijalangassa ei muutosta tapahtunut, mutta puna-apilalla (kukkiva koko kasvi 600g/100g lankaa, värjätty elokuussa) värjätty lanka haalistui todella paljon. Tiedän nyt sitten senkin, että puna-apilaa ei kannata kokeilla toista kertaa.

IN ENGLISH
I tested these yarns for lightfastness now in March, two weeks in full sunlight in our porch. The half of the yarn which is closer to the knot was covered, and the other half from where the yarn folds in the picture was in the sunlight. 
The top sample, no 1, was dyed with yarrow, and it kept the color pretty well, only a very slight change in the color. The sample no 2 was dyed with red clover (Trifolium pratense), I used the whole plant when it was in full  bloom in August, 600g of plant/100g of wool. This sample faded considerably, as you can see. So now I know that it is not a good dyeplant for me.
The third sample was from the yarn I dyed with frozen parsley in January, and it kept it's color very well, hardly any change.


9 comments:

  1. I really enjoy reading about your process. Beautiful color.

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  2. I dyed carded wool with yarrow some years ago. I got nice greenish and incorporated it into a felted piece. Without much exposure to light it soon turned to the colour of your yarn number one. I decided I didn't like it very much and never used yarrow for dyeing again.
    You may wish to have a look at the felted piece with the yarrow dyed wool at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamaladka/ in the set Natural dyed - Barvano z rastlinami (the uneven background).

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  3. Thanks:)
    I agree the color from yarrow is nothing special, except for it's fastness. I probably will not dye with it much even though there are plenty of yarrow around.
    I think many times the pale greenish yellows change quickly, I guess the flavonoids which give them are not very fast, and the faster, more dull colors are left.

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  4. Mielenkiintoisia juttuja, siankärsämöäkin voisi siis kokeilla :)

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  5. Hei Tiina, sitä voi kokeilla, vaikka väri ei olekaan kovin voimakas. Ainakin siankärsämöitä löytää yleensä helposti paljon:) Yleensä vaaleat keltaiset haalistuvat nopeammin (vaikka voi osa tummistakin olla huonoja valonkestoltaan), mutta tämä tuntui nyt ainakin kestävältä.

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  6. I have a little book in English, published by the Dryad Press in 1970. They published many very good books on traditional skills: weaving, embroidery, and dyeing. This one is by Violetta Thurstan, entitled, The Use of Vegetable Dyes.

    Do you know it? For weld, she mentions that with some plants the colour becomes much poorer if the plant is beginning to seed. Also that a tin mordant will give brighter yellows and that (with weld, anyway) if a little powdered chalk (1 ounce to 1 pound of wool) is added, the colour is richer yet.

    I'm not sure if the same would be true of Yarrow, but perhaps worth a try?

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  7. Thanks Diane, I'm not familiar with that book, thanks for the tip. I like the old books (and actually all books).
    I have read and seen that tin brightens many colors, but I don't use it myself, but I'll try yarrow earlier in the summer and also the chalk tip is interesting.:)

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  8. Hi Leena
    I have a lot of yarow but had not done any lightfastnes test so this is a very useful result. Thanks
    Helen

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  9. Hi Helen, I'm glad this was useful for you, too:)

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