Dull Oregon Grape II

For more information on how I got to the root shaving stage, please see the Dull Oregon Grape I entry. Please note - all materials here come from three root balls which were removed for a garden expansion. Always harvest respectively.

Spurred on by my first attempt, I wanted to move from test-sized skeins to a lager sized skein for a friend’s weaving project. Here you can see the three earlier skeins - yellow in the foreground (no mordant), slightly greener on the left (alum) and more tan (iron). She was wanting the yellow so I skeined up some white wool and did not use a mordant.

Shavings

After sawing off the roots, I spent about an hour shaving them and came up with about four cups of shavings.

Shavings by weight

All told, I had 145.9 grams of shavings. The bright yellow is the inner bark of the roots. I haven’t yet tried shaving the branches.

Simmering away

I simmered the plant material for about an hour and I watched the temperature closely to ensure it didn’t boil at all. I was concerned maybe I didn’t get a clear yellow last time because the temperature might have been high.

One skein (43 grams)/340% WOF

The wool was unmordanted based on how the test skeins came out (the non-mordanted skein came out the most yellowy). I then placed the fiber into a mesh paint bag and simmered for about two hours then left to cool for five or six hours. The smell was interesting - noticeably waxy smell.

Final product

The skein came out a pale-ish greenish-yellow. I wouldn’t call it a bright yellow which is what I thought I would get. I may overdye it to try and get some different colours.

Overall

I enjoyed using plant material that would have otherwise have been chipped and composted. I may try one one more dye pot and see what happens if I leave it for a longer time period (a week maybe?). Could I get a brighter yellow?