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Friday, July 6, 2012

Dyeing with oak leaves.

Jeg har farget ullgarn med eik for første gang.
Det er bladene av sommereik som jeg har brukt til fargingene.
Utifra det jeg hadde lest og hørt om farging med eik skulle man få brun eller grå farge på garnet, så jeg forventet absolutt ikke det resultatet som jeg satt med etter tre ulike farginger.


I have now dyed wool yarn with oak for the first time, using the leaves of the summer oak tree.
From what I had seen and read about dyeing with oak leaves, the wool yarn was supposed dye brown or grey, so I did not expect the result I got.
The photos show the results from three different dyes.




Første fargegryte jeg lagde farget garnet lilla. Mørk lilla i første dypp, og lysere lilla i andre fargedypp.
Jeg ble helt fascinert, for det var et veldig uventet resultat, og det var så vakre lillafarger.

Så plukket jeg en ny haug med blader og lagde ny fargekok.
Denne gangen fikk garnet en slags gammelrosa farge.
Igjen et uventet resultat.

Enda en gang plukket jeg flere eikeblader og kokte nytt fargebad, ettersom jeg så gjerne ville farge mer lilla garn...
Men tredje gang ble resultatet en gyllen farge, helt uten tegn til rosa eller lilla.

Veldig spesielt med tre så forskjellige fargetoner fra samme type blader, selv om alle fargene er helt nydelige.


The first dyeing pot I prepared dyed the yarn purple. A dark purple colour from the first dye, and a lighter purple from the second dye from the same pot.
I was absolutely stunned, as this was such an unexpected result, and from the beautiful colours of the yarn.

So I picked one more pile of oak leaves and made a second dye pot.
This time the yarn dyed a dirty pink colour.
In fact this was yet another unexpected result.

Once more I went off to pick more oak leves, as I really wanted one more purple dye...
The result of the third dye was a golden colour tone. These skeins got no purple or pinkish tone at all.

I find it rather unusual to achieve three such different colours from dyeing with the same kinds of leaves, however all the colours are lovely.




Etter at bildene ble tatt har jeg rukket å farge enda en gang med eikeblader. Jeg var nysgjerrig på hvilken farge garnet ville ende opp med da, og da ble resultatet igjen den gammelrosa fargen fra andre farging.

Jeg syntes dette var spennende, så jeg kommer til å farge flere ganger med eik.
Kanskje det blir andre farger når bladene plukkes senere på sesongen eller om de plukkes på andre plasser??

Når man farger med eik behøves ingen beising av garnet. Eikebladene må trekke noe lenger enn andre planter for å få ut nok farge.


After these photos were taken I did one more oak leaves dye, as I was curious about how the colour would turn out. The result of that dye was similar to the pinkish colour from the second dye.

I find this to be interesting, so I will definately dye more with oak leaves.
Perhaps leaves picked later in the year or in different places will give other different colours??

When dyeing with oak leaves there is no need for a mordant. The oak leaves need to simmer longer to extract the colour than other dye plants do.



 Post update:



The summer oak tree can be recognized by the leaves that are attatched directly to the twig.
(While the leaves of the winter oak tree have a stem).


Here's my little oak tree (more like a bush) next to my house where I picked the leaves.



I dyed with a mix of the green oak leaves and  the red/brown young newly opened leaves.



The first dye pot in the making.
The oak leaves are a mix of grown green leaves and the red/brown young newly opened leaves.
The leaves simmered for over three hours.



This is the first oak leaves dye, the one that dyed the yarn dark purple.
The yarn was rinsed in water and added to the pot. No mordant.



Oak leaves dye number 4. Two separate dyes using the same dye pot.


10 comments:

Yael said...

Gorgeous! I love those soft warm colors - everything made from this wool will be comforting the skin and the eyes!
Hilde, tell me, do you have a dye note book? Are you writing down everything and glue little yarn pieces to it so you have reference for later dyeing? I am sure you do!
Love, Yael.

A wondering star said...

Fantastisk ,Hilde!
Jeg elsker de farger du har fått frem.Igjen i samsvar med naturen.
Jeg er imponert over din forskning; som gir så bra resultater.
Du er så dyktig!:)
Ha en fin helg!
klem

Marylene said...

How interesting !
Wonderful colours.
Could it be that the harvest time is important? I mean in the morning or evening, or maybe the amount of sun hours ?
I'm definitely going to try this too :)
Have a nice day !

Hilde said...

Thanks for stopping by :)

Yael: Actually I do not keep a dye note book, and I have even been a bit sloppy in labelling my naturally dyed yarn...
I never thought of a dye note book. Why did I not think of that??? Now that you mention it it sounds like a brilliant idea!
I am definately going to start one :)

Jorunn: Tusen takk :) Riktig god helg til deg også. Klem :)

Marylene: Yes, I have come to think that harvest time in the day or in the season and sun hours matters. For these dyes I also picked quite a lot of those red/brown young leaves, and I guess that could explain the pink and the golden colours. The purple I have no idea about...
I did some more googleing, and found someone who had dyed with autumn leaves, her result was a pale yellow colour. So I think that oak leaves picked in early summer gives the best colour.
This really is interesting. And fun :)

Have a happy weeekend :)

Magia da Inês said...

❤✿•.¸•.¸¸
Passei para uma visitinha.
Seu blog é tão agradável!

♡ Bom fim de semana!
Beijinhos.
Brasil
✿•.¸¸✿⊱╮

Annuk said...

How amazing, Hilde!!! The colors are gorgeous, and it's amazing how the shades turned out... it must have been such a lovely surprise each time!
Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Kristín Hrund said...

That´s so exciting Hilde! Wow! What an interesting result! I would never have thought oak-leaves could give such a wonderful colour! I´d love it if you could post some pictures of the leaves you used so I can try to find some myself... I´m really inspired!

Hilde said...

Hi Ines, Anna and Kristin and thanks for your comments :)

Anna: Thanks :) Yes, it really was a great surprise to achieve these colours.
Have a wonderful weekend you too :)

Kristin: Yes, I'm so excited about these dye results :) I never would have thought that oak leaves would dye these colours.
I have two photos from the first dye, and I will add them to the post for you to see. Actually I only photographed the first dye... I'll be away the whole day tomorrow, but on Monday I'll take more pictures and add photos of the oak tree where I picked the leaves, and the yarn from the last dye :)
Have a lovely weekend!

Dawn of LaTouchables said...

Fascinating post! I am beginning to get interested in dying with natural substances, rather than just tea, so this pulled me right in. Thank you!

Mia said...

Jisses Amanda så stiliga färger! Nu måste jag jakte på en ek helt klart, har bara inte sett måtar i nabolaget... Tenk hvilken variasjon du fikk av farger og det av blad. Skulle være gøy til omveksling fra gult, du er helt fantastisk :)

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