~ Bui - an chéad dath i nGaeilge a d’fhoghlaim mé
Yellow is the most dead easy color to dye using natural materials. There are so many plants to chose from, whether you need to dye cloth or yarn or make a pigment lake. But some are better than others and almost all need a mordant, usually alum.
The exceptions are the lichen dyes. Yep, we're back to lichen. Part of the Book of Kells project is trying to reproduce a pale lavender ink extracted from lichen. Alas, unless I have a chance to visit the coast between now and when the project is due, I will have the settle for the purple and lavender lakes I've made from other plants. But that's another post. The point is, in my quest to extract purple pigment from lichen, I had a chance to experiment with other abundant lichen, one of which can dye yellow, Usnea.
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This is a very environmentally fragile lichen, so again, do not gather unless there is an abundance and use only what falls on the ground. All of mine came from fallen branches. This lichen in particular you will only find in abundance in places with low air pollution. So now I know certain places by parks streams have very clean air.
I used the same method of dye extraction as I did with "crottle"...soaking in a jar of water and ammonia, shaking daily...but the results aren't as dramatic. After a couple weeks I had a yellowish orange beige liquid. But unlike the crottle which appears to keep its color forever, it looked as if it was going to fade. So to save the dye and preserve it, I boiled it, strained the faded lichens out, and reduced it down to a dark yellow paste. Then mixed it with a couple drops of grain alcohol to preserve it and stored it in a small jar.
So when I wanted to dye a strand of yard yellow, I thought it was perfect. But I forgot how little I had. Maybe a large tablespoon. Fortunately there is a long tradition of using lichen dyes to enhance vegetable dyes and vis-a-versa. I decided to make a mixed dye bath of mullein leaves and flowers, with a pinch of alum and the lichen paste. Having dyed with mullein before, I knew it yielded a medium pastel yellow. I usually don't like pastels. But in the case of yellow I prefer it.
After bringing everything to a boil and simmering for a half hour or so, I let it sit and cool. I was quite pleased with the results, a medium rich brassy yellow. I suspect that is the lichen influence. Compare with wool just dyed with mullein.
[image to come]
Two strands of yarn were used because one will be dyed green in an exhausted woad vat. But that's yet to come....
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| yarn dyed yellow with Mullien and Usnea, with "crottle" brown yarn |
Next: Red
