Tuesday, July 27, 2010

OMG I got Orchil





Well yesterday was full of surprizes....just as I was cleaning up the natural dye room, and emptying some fairly gross mushroom vats etc...I was just about to throw out a jar when I noticed it was fuschia coloured...Oh the joy, yes, I finally got some orchil and it was not even stirred at all..Of course, I am always trying different lichens to see if they give orchil, but to no avail, so I had basically become very slovenly about labeling etc...and wouldn't you know it, the one I didn't label was the jar of orchil...so ecstatic!!!!!!!!! it was a jar I had put lichen and ammonia in and then left for many months...not touched. and it was so lovely...so I sort of remembered where I got it and returned there yesterday to experiment again...
in the meantime, I had carrot tops on the go...thus the first picture, which is silk/merino, with alum and COT , dyed then put in an after dip of iron, and ammonia...so now I have some lovely tri coloured natural dyed skeins....also dyed with some other fungus, which came out a lovely grey brown, which is not usually a colour I would call lovely, but it truly is...I will post more pics of the finished product today...but the dye room is kicking up again and I apparently am on a roll...of oourse having l9 days vacation in the middle of summer certainly helps. So off to open somemore of those mysterious yet smelly jars. lol

Thursday, July 1, 2010