and as an antidote to all that colour..

Ah, a nice bit of beige!

These are the results of my latest bit of dyeing - above, using the alder 'cones' seen soaking here. I soaked them for a week on the windowsill in what sunshine we had, then simmered the wool (BFL again) in the juice for an hour or so. It's quite a pleasant colour but I probably won't bother again. Fun experiment though!

And below, mint. I have loads of mint in the garden and use very little of it. It's a plant I like though so I thought I'd have go at dyeing this mini-skein with a handful or two of the leaves. Again it's nothing much to write home about, but I do have a nice selection of soft browns to work with now! And actually this one's quite a weird colour which has got me thinking about colour perception because it can look quite different depending on what colour it's next to.