Mohair Skeins with Local Materials
Scaling up from tester skeins to a full-sized project. Goal: dye three 100 gram hand-spun mohair skeins different colours using only natural materials from around the neighbourhood - giant horsetail (Equisetum telmateia) and dandelions.
Starting Materials
I started with three hand-spun skeins all roughly 100 grams apiece - one was premordanted with alum (16% Weight of Fiber) and two with iron (6% WOF). The dyes themselves came from two plants: giant horsetail (Equisetum telmateia), dandelions (whole plant - not pictured) and just dandelion flowers (pictured). Two of the vats had an addition of approximately 1 cup of dried locally-harvested dyers polypore (Phaeolus schweinitzii) - see below. The nice part of a project like is blending materials like plants and mushrooms together because the goal is to end up with colourful skeins at the end.
TLDR: Three 100 gram skeins:
Premordant iron, giant horsetail with dyers polypore mushroom - olive green
Premordant iron, dandelion (whole) - deep grey
Premordant alum, dandelion (flowers) with dyers polypore mushroom and a tablespoon of vinegar - bright yellow
Giant Horsetail - 1
The giant horsetail was harvested from the back of my friend Shona’s backyard as it slopes away into a peaceful riparian area. Here my son is helping chop it up. I try to incorporate their help at every stage of the dyeing. I did not weigh the amount of horsetail but there’s about 8 liters of rough chopped worth in the pot (i.e., 2 x 1-gallon milk jugs worth).
Giant Horsetail - 2
I decided to boost the green I got last time with about a cup of dried dyers polypore mushroom (Phaeolus schweinitzii). These are the brown chunks you can see in the photo. As P. schweinitzii usually gives a nice olive green when the fiber is premordanted with iron.
Giant Horsetail - 3
Here is the horsetail after about an hour at a simmer and left to cool. The greens in the pot have all faded to a browns and greys.
Giant Horsetail - 4 (Results)
Deep olive green
Dandelions (whole) - 1
Next came dyeing with the whole dandelion (minus the root). I collected two freezer bags worth from a backyard that was about to be mowed. The plants were rinsed off and the roots removed.
Dandelions (whole) - 2
These were then chopped up over the pot and heated at a simmer for an hour. For this pot, I did not add any of the mushroom.
Dandelions (whole) - 3
After the simmering, the fiber was added to the vat in a 1-gallon paint mesh bag. This was then re-heated to a simmer for another hour and left to cool. While simmering, I’d move the fiber around and flip it over occasionally to try for an even colour uptake.
Dandelion (whole) - 4 Results
Interestingly, the colour came out much of a grey than the last time I dyed dandelion (whole) with a premordant of iron. That colour was much more of a deep chocolate brown with grey tones. What this because I used mohair instead of wool? More testing is needed.
Dandelion (flowers) - 1
Here my daughter is chopping up the heads of the dandelion. The heads were harvested from Shona’s backyard as well as from another local side yard that was being mowed.
Dandelion (flowers) - 2
The dandelion flowers are now chopped up and are ready to be simmered. Again about a cup of dried of locally-harvested dyers polypore (Phaeolus schweinitzii) was added to ensure a bright yellow. I also added a tablespoon of vinegar to the pot which helps bring out the golden tones of the dyers polypore.
Dandelion (flowers) - 3
The vat was simmered for about an hour and the flowers mostly kept their yellow colour and left to cool. I removed some of the material to make room for the fiber. The fiber (mordanted with alum) was then added in the usual 1-gallon paint bag (to protect the fiber) and simmered again for about an hour.
Dandelion (flowers) - 4 Results
The results was a bright, cheerful yellow
Results
The colours came out ok and hopefully someone can make a fun project with them. Fun having a goal of dyeing with stuff wild growing in my neighbourhood.
