Brambleberries in the Rain

There is a large open area up the road from where I live that has quite a large amount of goldenrod in it. The goldenrod has been in bloom for several weeks now and I kept wanting to go get some of the flowers to use as a dye. It is best to use the flowers fresh instead of dried so I kept waiting for the right time when I would be able to get the dye bath made up immediately after picking them. I was finally able to recently and I am very pleased with the results. For the dye, I needed to gather an equal amount in weight of goldenrod flowers to the amount of yarn to be dyed. I was able to gather enough flowers to dye 8 ounces worth of yarn.

To use the goldenrod as a dye, I started out by first putting just the flowers in a pot of water and heating the water to just below a simmer. Keeping the temperature below a simmer helps make  the final color brighter and clearer. I kept the water just below a simmer for about one hour. Then I allowed it to “steep” overnight. The next day I added my wool yarn that I had already mordanted with alum to the strained dye bath. I slowly brought this to a simmer and held it there for about 45 minutes. Then once again, I allowed it to sit overnight. I was actually surprised by the result. The yarn turned out so pretty! It is such a soft lemon yellow color. Almost buttery. Now I need to figure out what to make out of it! I’m trying to get a good picture of it that really shows how nice the color is. When I do I will post it.

Tags: Natural Dyes