Better Late Than Never....Weld, Osage, and Brazilwood

So sorry that it has taken me so long to post the dye pictures. When you see how many there are, you will probably understand. Also, my husband, Kini, and I have been teaching an extra week of summer camp (We are doing wet on wet watercolor with 3 to 6 year olds.) and are also preparing to drive over 800 miles up North to visit relatives. Kini's also getting his classroom ready to start with Grade Four in a few weeks. I digress. Back to the dying.

I've got some pictures to share of weld/osage orange and brazilwood dying in my kitchen. I have a great assistant, my two year old daughter. Sometimes dad helps too to make sure she doesn't spill anything. I'll start off with the weld/osage orange pot. I had been using just osage for yellows for many years. I could get a great variety from a lemony color (first pouring of first boiling) to a golden color (second and later boilings). After a few years, the yellows seemed dull, and greens made from the osage yellows could get dull as well, especially on silk. In search for a more strong yellow, I started using weld. It's pricey, so I mix it with the osage. It gives the osage a boost, and I'm hoping that truer yellows will last longer with the weld added. Only time will tell.

The weld is the green plant material in the pot. This is American grown weld. I have recently ordered some new weld--half of the order is American and half from the UK. I'll let you know if I notice a difference. The osage is in wood shaving form. This wood was used by the Osage Tribe to make bows. The French name for the wood is actually Bois d'Arc (forgive me if I misspelled that) and literally means wood of bow. I use hefty amounts of dye. In this 20 quart pot, the dye materials are several inches deep on the bottom. I've probably used half a pound of weld and almost a pound of osage. I'll be dying several half pound skeins of alpaca, and the alpaca seems to take dye more slowly than wool, and it seems to need more dye material. I will reuse these dye materials several times. Each time I will add a bit more weld and osage just to freshen the pot.

After adding water, I will boil this mixture for at least two hours. It's better if the weld has soaked overnight. This hasn't seemed as important for the osage.

Once it has finished boiling, I will strain the mixture into a large, heavy duty, plastic bucket. I use an old cone strainer for this. These are still used for making applesauce. I picked up a couple at flea markets over the years. The metal frame fits nicely just inside the edge of the bucket. As long as I'm not leaning on it, the cone stays in place while I pour. I'm using an old T-shirt as an added filter. I will dump the stuff from the cone back into the pot. Once I am totally done with the osage and weld (about 2 or 3 dyings from now), I will use it as mulch on my azaelas.



After pouring, I will immerse some of the fibers totally. Here my daughter is helping to push the fibers under the dye. These fibers were thoroughly wetted and lightly wrung out before immersion. They really must be wet in order for the dye to penetrate. (Sort of like wet on wet watercolor painting for those of you familiar with that.)

Oftentimes, I will hang skeins from a knob on a drawer to get variegated colors. The green alpaca I dyed for the Phat Fiber July Sampler Box was a variegated green--some shades were more blue green--others more yellow green. I needed strong variations in the yellow to make that happen. This way the yarn can go from blue grass to chartruese.

I have to admit, even though the alpaca takes longer and I sometimes have to leave the yarn hanging on a drawer knob or immersed overnight, it's well worth the effort. So far, I'm very pleased with the weld/osage orange results I've had in the past couple of months. I'll look at some samples in a year or so and compare. I like to be a long range planner. I like colors that last. I think I'll stop here after the weld/osage for now. I've got to get some sleep before camp tomorrow. I'll try to post the brazilwood pictures tomorrow evening so that they are up before I head out to visit relatives for a week or so.

Happy Fibers Everybody!!!