So many shades of..... beige

So we're at the season of mists (Gaiman flashback) and mellow fruitfulness (actually a maths teacher flashback there) and what am I stewing up? Rosehips! These are from rosa glauca in my garden. I'd read somewhere, and typically now I can't find the source, that rosehips will yield an orangey dye. So I tried it and got..

Looking hopeful there isn't it? But alas when it dried it was beige again. Quite pretty but just another beige when all's said and done.

The top skein in the pic above there is from the rosa glauca. I also tried rosa municipalis (that is to say rosa rugosa planted by the road by the council!) - lovely hips but although it yielded a more intense colour (the lower skein) it's still just beige! This picture doesn't show the colour very well actually. So, anyway, chalk that one up to experience.

However when I look at the pile of skeins I've dyed myself I'm pretty chuffed with the results. The cat seems to like them anyway.

And the maths teacher? Well I had a maths teacher who was from Orkney and he once said he'd always thought 'season of mists and mellow fruitfulness' was just 'poetic nonsense' (sounds better if you know what an Orkney accent sounds like!) until he went off to college on the mainland and was blown away by the autumn.

Anyway, as well as messing around with my subtle and tasteful hand-dyeing, I've been digging out brightly-coloured acrylic from my stash to practice crochet with. And look, I'm getting the hang of granny squares at last! I also did an accidental Granny triangle the other night while watching a DVD (Joss Whedon this is your fault..).