Ragwort...flower to garment

Ragwort in the wild...I picked a panful of flowers from my drive, ha! Who needs weedkiller! Nb: some people have a skin reaction to ragwort, but it doesn't affect humans in the same way as horses etc


Simmering the flowers, for I think about 30 minutes.



The strained liquor (this is one of the ones you really don't want to use cooking pots for, not that you ever should)



In with the yarn which has already been mordanted with alum. I simmered it about 30 minutes although it seemed to exhaust quicker than that.



Rinsing...


Dry! A very happy yellow!


Becoming part of my Cardigan of natural dyes!



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Blackberries and teasels

Some yarn dyed with blackberries...I only had about 1/4 pound so wasn't expecting much, but am v please with this subtle lavender grey (hard to capture, but pretty)



It's a bit more lilac really. Also whilst foraging blackberries, found some teasel type things, most useful for combing wool on living history



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Dyeing...

If you can only cope with one kitchen activity when you have a stinking cold, make it natural dyeing. Especially if you plan on burning stuff (cos you didn't hear it boil over due to having blocked up ears grr)



Made some pretty boring beige


Now my fave...I've been ramming a jar full of these for a pretty long time now



And it's looking so good I'm going to have a bash at drying them to see if I can reuse for a paler shade. I managed to do this a few times with madder, the only reason I eventually chucked it was that i can't have dried it thoroughly enough the last time, as it had started to mould in the jar :( well worth the trouble tho i reckon!

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