October 16th, 2013

I have been wanting to combine two things I love: nature and knitting.  I decided to try dying some yarn with a natural dye.  We had a patch of goldenrod that had to be cut down, so as it was cut, I collected a pot ½ full of the blooming flowers.  I added warm water and left it to soak overnight.  I don’t think the soaking brought out any colour, but it did cause all of the bugs to fly out!  The next morning, I simmered the flowers for three hours and added a mordant (helps the colour stick) of 4 Tbsps. alum and 1 Tbsp. cream of tartar.    I turned the temperature down and added the 100% undyed wool to the pot in a nylon stocking (to keep bits of flower out of it).  I let it sit in the hot water for an hour.  For safety, always have a grown-up help you, boil it outdoors, and wear gloves and an apron so you don’t dye yourself or your clothes.  I then rinsed it in cool water, let it dry, and knitted it into this scarf.  What do you think?