I'm finally getting around to post the results of our Oct. 3 workshop, and my subsequent experiments on the 4th. In the meantime, I was frantically doing the last minute preparations for the East of Asheville Studio Tour that was all day the 10th & 11th. Finally, a time to sit & relax.
In a few words, on the 3rd we got green. I failed the Dyer's Test, a very humbling thing. I allowed the Ushida article to influence my thinking in the wrong direction. So here's the mistake I made: the article mentions a 20% solution, which is very different from a percentage based on the weight of goods. So I wondered about that, but went on anyway with the percent solution... Susan came & dyed some yarn, I had the little silk hankies I use for testing. My hankie that came out green is now bluish green, and the hankie I dyed with the frozen leaves that came out pale green a month ago or so is now pale aqua. Seems like the oxygenation is very slow, but still occurs. Susan brought the "pale green" yarn she had dyed in the earlier workshop, and it is now pale ice bluish.
Anyway, on Sunday I did the experiment almost exactly as the Ushida article says, with the same quantities of everything. I used 20 grams of leaves. I did get pale purple family colors. I presume pale because the plants were already starting to flower. So I am definitely encouraged to try again next year, with the proper proportions of everything... and at the first harvest, well before time to flower.
The photo shows a series of hankies done "the wrong way" on the left, and "the right way" on the right. These are over top the turquoise ones we did earlier. The turquoise one on the far left is one of the formerly green frozen leaves samples.
Submitted by Eileen Hallman
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