Viime viikolla sain postissa pienen määrän mantsurianjalopähkinän kuoria ja muutaman siemenenkin puutarhaystävältäni Lenaselta. Nyt pääsen kokeilemaan tuleeko tuoreista kuorista voimakkaampi väri kuin kuivatuista, näin olen kuullut. Kuoria pitää kuitenkin liottaa ensin aika pitkään, joten värjäys jää talveen.
IN ENGLISH
Last week I got a small amount of fresh walnut hulls (Juglans mandshurica), and some seeds, from a gardening friend Lenanen. Now I get to experiment if fresh hulls give darker color than the dried hulls, this is what I have heard. First I have to soak the hulls for some time, so it will be winter before I can dye with them.
Minulla on itsellänikin kolme jalopähkinää kasvamassa, mutta ne ovat vielä pieniä, tosin tänä kesänä tuntui että kasvu alkoi kunnolla, joten ehkä ei kestä ihan kauhean kauaa kunnes saan omistakin puistani pähkinöitä. Kuva on alkukesältä.
IN ENGLISH
I have three Juglans trees growing in my garden, too, but they are still small. Though this past summer they seemed to start to grow properly so someday I will have walnuts from my own trees. The picture is from last June.
Laitoin likoamaan myös männyn kaarnaa kokeeksi. Meillä on metsässä yksi myrskyn kaatama mänty, jonka rungosta kaarna jo alkoi irrota ja sitä oli helppo kerätä ja hakettimella murskata pieneksi. Päälle vettä ja kidesoodaa ja sitten odotusta. Annan niiden liota varmaan kuukaudesta kahteen ennenkuin kokeilen mitä väriä niistä voisi irrota.
IN ENGLISH
I also started to soak pine bark (Pinus sylvestris), as an experiment. We had one big pine which had felled down in a storm a year ago, and bark started to come off it's trunk, and was easy to collect. I cut the bark to smaller pieces with shredder, poured water over them and added some washing soda, all I have to do now is wait. I think I'll let them soak at least for a month or maybe two before I try if there is any color in them.
Sain myös aiemmin syksyllä vaihtarina tuoretta lehtikuuseen (mahdollisesti siperianlehtikuusen) kaarnaa kaadetusta puusta, ja sepä onkin punaista heti kuoren alta. Nämäkin kuoret pääsivät emäksiseen likoon ja odotan mielenkiinnolla millaista väriä niistä irtoaisi muutaman kuukauden päästä. Oletan tuon punaisen värin tulevan tanniineista, mutta en tiedä varmaksi. Tanniinipunaiset ovat usein hiukan vaikeita saada kiinnittymään lankaan, mutta pitkä liotus voi auttaa niiden muuttumisessa sellaisiksi että ne kiinnittyvät.
IN ENGLISH
I have also gotten in a swap some fresh bark of larch (probably Larix sibirica) from a felled tree, and I was surprised to see how red it was. I put also these barks to soak in alkaline water, and I'm looking forward to see what kind of color they yield. I assume the red color is from tannins, but I don't know for sure. Red tannins from barks may be difficult to attach to yarn, but long soak may help them change so that they become soluble.
Onpa upeaa väriä lehtikuusen kaarnassa! Kiva kuulla sitten, mitä värejä noista tulee.
ReplyDeleteNoista jalopähkinöistä ei tosiaan vielä hirveästi materiaalia irtoa :-D
Juu ei, mutta pääsen kuitenkin kokeilemaan ja tuoreiden pitäisi olla väripitoisempia kuin kuivattujen:)
DeleteI will be interested to see what color the larch gives you!
ReplyDeleteMe, too:). The red looks so good, I hope some of it will attach to the yarn.
DeleteI hadn't heard of that variety of walnut but it looks like a good one to grow in your area, Leena. I have a huge Juglans regia (English or Persian walnut) in my backyard that is great for dye but we don't get any of the nuts anymore thanks to the (imported) squirrels. At least I can collect the damaged hulls. I freeze them if I need to keep them longer which doesn't seem to affect the dye. Drying isn't possible because they just mould instead.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be very interesting to see how the pine and larch barks dye!
Thanks Louisa, I wonder if our local squirrels eat walnuts when my plants become big enough.
DeleteThis looks exciting. I dyed wiht the outer shells from our first 2 walnuts this year - it is amazing how much yarn they can dye. The red bark looks really exciting.
ReplyDeleteThanks Uglemor, it is good to know that also you have the experience that fresh hulls produce a lot of dye:)
Deleteleena, these look great and the larch looks particularly exciting. i look forward to your winter experiments.
ReplyDeleteHi Velma, it does look exciting doesn't it.
Deletetervehdys pitkästä aikaa Leena, kotvanen vierähti kun tutkin mitä kaikkea mielenkiintoista olet värjäillyt vuoden aikana, jonka olin pois blogistaniasta. eipä tarvinnut pettyä, niin mielenkiintoisia postauksesi olivat. ihastelimme yhdessä isännän kanssa myös uusia lapasmallejasi, kotikuusi-malli on aivan kuin oman ikikuuseni riukuaitoineen kaikkineen. mukavaa lomaa Sinulle:))
ReplyDeleteKiitos Ilona, mukavaa että sinäkin olet taas täällä:)
Deletelucky! more fun projects.
ReplyDeleteI've found I get the best intense colours from walnut husks by using them as fresh as possible - within a day or two of gathering. Long soaking creates murkier, duller browns, not the intense browns from really fresh husks. It may be worth doing a small batch with fresh husks for comparison. The juice from green husks develops almost like hair dye.
I had good success by adding some high proof alcohol to help extract the dye from tree bark/wood. I found some soft, spongey cedarwood in the forest and got a really nice red fox/rust shade on wool.
I really enjoy you blog. Thanks!
Regards,
Trevor
Hi Trevor, thank you. I only got a very small amount of the husks and it is now too late to try them very fresh, but I will remember it next year! It is good to know that they don't necessarily need a long soak as dry husks do, I'll try them sooner than the barks:)
DeleteGood alcohol is quite expensive here, and I understand you need it quite a lot, enough to cover all the bark (is it so?), so a bottle of vodka doesn't cover much. I should have saved some of the larch barks for later experiments, but they are all now soaking in alkaline bath:(
Hi Leena,
DeleteYou are right, using alcohol is a bit of splurge, not really cost effective. Fine for experimenting/personal projects, but not for any real production quantities. Plus better uses for Vodka! ;oP I've added a cup or two of Everclear alcohol to a regular bark/wood dye pot hoping it helps extract additional pigments.
Too bad we don't have Everclear here:( Maybe I should take a small amount of larch bark from the ammonia soak and put it to alcohol anyway, for experimentation.
Deleteagree w. trevor: the sooner husks are used the clearer the browns.got a deep rich chesnut brown on silk. not unlike hair coloring!
ReplyDeleteThanks, this is so good to get new info from others:)
Delete