At the risk of getting a bit repetitive here - I've done some more dyeing. Well, the onion skin collection bag in the cupboard was full to overflowing, so something had to be done. And yes, I know I've been complaining about having too much yellow in the yarn stash, but I guess that's the whole thing about natural dyeing - you work with what's available, when it's available.I washed the skins first (local, organic onions - covered in good Devon soil) and gently simmered them for about an hour before leaving them to cool - then forgot all about them! Being in the outside workshop they were out of sight and rather out of mind.
When I did finally remember them several days later, I gave them another quick boil as strange things were beginning to happen on the surface of the 'stew' and, although mould might add some interesting new dimension to the dyebath, it wasn't an experiment I wanted to engage in at the time.
Finally I got round to using the dyebath. And this is where I have a confession to make. My natural dyekit that I bought when I first started dyeing had a range of mordants in it, including tin and chrome. Having clued up a bit since then, I now know that some consider these not so environmentally friendly as other mordants and generally more hazardous to work with. But they are sitting there in the workshop and, given that I have to dispose of them some way, I thought perhaps the best option would be to use them up a little at a time and resolve not to buy any more. So the Bluefaced Leicester wool I used here was mordanted with (from top to bottom) tin (with cream of tartar), chrome and iron.
The tin-mordanted wool has turned out a very bright yellow and, although a lovely colour, will almost certainly get overdyed at some point.
The chrome-mordanted wool was a total disappointment. Not only was it streaky but the wool felt hard to touch. Obviously I got something wrong here, although I don't think it would have been using too much chrome as I was erring on the side of caution. The colour's OK but I can't help feeling that I can get that sort of yellow with a hundred and one other dyestuffs and a pinch of iron.
The iron-mordanted wool actually turned out a lovely deep, khaki green (the picture doesn't do it justice) which I was happy with.
As for the tin and chrome mordant water, I ended up diluting it considerably and emptying it on a piece of ground at the bottom of the garden where it's all gravelled over.
