Dandelion Dye Day

I know I was going to try the dandelion dye on No-name’s fleece, but I couldn’t wait any longer. After all, the neighbors on both sides had mowed their yards days ago. We were looking pretty shaggy.

So, I found a skein of almost-white homespun wool yarn that had been ravaged by Newton and was considered, by me, to be unsellable. Friday became D-day.

First, I went out to pick the dandelions–no stems, please, only heads. I felt like a grazing beast, hunkered over my lawn, snapping off the sappy, saffron flowers. Purposely did I wait until the employed neighbors had left for the day. I can only imagine what the retirees thought when they gazed out of their windows.

“There’s that crazy woman out there thinking she can get rid of her dandelions by taking off the heads. And what’s that she’s putting them in? A stock pot?”

Dandelion Harvest

Yes, I took the pot outside with me. Here is the harvest. Note the effect on my gardening gloves. To the pot I added enough water so that they floated easily and could be submerged with a spoon. In hindsight, I think less water would have made for a better dye.

I then cooked said mixture for approximately 1 hour. The result looked brownish and smelled like weed stew. I strained the stew to remove the solids and kept the liquid.

Meanwhile, I had been simmering my skein of mixed Corriedale handspun wool yarn in another pot along with 2 quarts water and 2 cups white vinegar, which would function as my fixative, or mordant. I let it simmer for about an hour, while the dandelion stew cooked. After draining the yarn, I put it into the dyebath and continued to cook at just below a simmer for another hour.

I’m sorry I didn’t take a picture of this stage. I was convinced that I had just invented brown yarn, not the yellow I wanted. Since it seemed I had nothing more to lose, I left the yarn in the dye overnight.

Saturday I drained the yarn, rinsed it in cold water, squeezed out the excess and hung it to dry. It was not brown, but there was a definite light-brown-ness about it.

Dandelion Yarn in its Natural Habitat

Then it dried and a tiny miracle occurred.

Today I have a shade that is more yellow than tan. It’s rather nice if you like a subdued, natural shade of dark yellow. Take a look!

“Yes,” you say, “But all that green gives a misleading color in the photo.”

You’re right, you know. (How’d you get to be so smart?)  So here are two more shots.

Dandelion Yarn on a Sleepy White Cat

One on a very obliging (and white) Gizmo,

and another on a white-ish blanket.

Dandelion Yarn on Blanket

Lessons Learned:

I probably should have removed the green hulls from the flowers for a more yellowy yellow.

Dandelion dye leaves wool smelling like cooked weeds.

Advertisement