colors of nature

an array of natural colors in warm browns, charcoal, reds, yellows, taupe, cream and greens

This was last summer’s solar dyeing project that I had forgotten. The marked jars are tucked neatly in rows inside the wheelbarrow where I had left them last summer. Already, the spiders and critters have made a home for themselves between the crevices of the dusty jars. I can sense the jars are “calling” for me to open them and explore its contents. 

Going through each of the marked jars, I found some of them had turned moldy and smell bad. It must have been due to the hot summer weather and also to my negligence to check on the jars. Nevertheless, it was fun opening the jars to explore the contents inside and retrieve the samples. Below are pictures of the samples with captions listed in the order of plant material, followed by fabric/fiber used.

hydrangeas; silk

society garlic flowers; merino silk

black tea; silk, merino wool fabric, wool yarn

basil; silk & wool yarn

tansy or golden buttons flowers; silk & merino wool

Gaillardia (blanket flowers); silk & wool yarn

Kalanchoe flowers; silk & wool yarn

Ratibida columnifera (Mexican hat flowers); merino silk

Anthemis tinctoria (Dyers chamomile); silk, wool yarn

Rue (ruta graveolens), merino silk

this one is my favorite….

eucalyptus; silk, rusty can

tied markings in random swirl in ocher and yellows

deep contrast in yellow, browns and burnt orange, a result from iron rust, and tannin from eucalyptus

an itsy bitsy scarf for me

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“A smile is worth a thousand words, live happy, dye happiest.”