It's dyeing time again! As the weather has been so good the dandelions have been blooming in every sense - blooming nuisance in my garden, but I'll admit they brighten it up no end! I didn't dye with dandelions last year or not properly anyway, so this year I planned to take advantage of the proliferation of dandelions in our neck of the woods. I suspected I'd need a fair few for a decent colour and there just weren't enough in the garden so Miss Mouse and I set off on an expedition..
She looks very purposeful there, doesn't she? She was delighted at being allowed to pick flowers for once and we got loads, half a carrier-bag full. When we got home she happily helped me take the stalks off and put them into a measuring jug. When I weighed them I found that we had more than twice the weight of the yarn in dandelion heads so working on the assumption that more is more we boiled the lot up. It was a bit smelly to be honest - nothing like the boiled cabbage of last year, but a bit swampy-smelling. Thank goodness for good weather and having the kitchen door open!
So here's the ta-da!
As is often the case with natural dyeing the ta-da is a muted one - a ta-da if you like. It's a nice pale yellow, maybe slightly stronger than it shows in the photo.You want a brighter ta-da?
I finished the Boy's socks at last! Yay!
5 comments:
That's the most gorgeous colour- so fresh! Love the socks too x
thanks a lot for stopping by my (most neglected) dyeing blog. The dandelion flowers gave a lovely result, I think that's the strong sun light that makes it look paler on the photo. Have you ever tried dandelion roots ? I would like to try them.
Thank you both! I'm thinking of trying dandelion roots too as I'll have to dig them up anyway before they take over the garden completely!
I love that yellow that the dandelions have created, just gorgeous.
Thank you Scented Sweetpeas - I love it too :-).
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