Overwintered Alder Cone Dye
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- Опубликовано: 25 май 2023
- Alder cones usually give a lovely golden brown dye, but after a winter on the tree weathering, and on an unbleached linen, will we get any colour at all?
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Wow, I never thought that these cones could produce such a splendid colour. Amazing. And a big thank you fir putting in the small explanation boxes in the corners to help folow you along.
That's such a lovely warm golden color on the wool! I can't help but imagine going out and getting those cones, and it's late winter, and everything's been basically white snow and shades of mud for ages and ages...and then here is this, this positively sunny color! I wonder if in some forgotten mythology people felt that the sun had truly soaked into such plants, that some portion of summer remained hidden inside the cones and barks and so forth. Certainly there's a hint of magic to the entire process of dyeing fibers, but in this case it really seems magical, to produce this gorgeous delicate sunshine out of "dead" brown material.
Hot tip for alternative hedgerow basket improv: if you're wearing a hoodie; put it on backwards!
Was out late last summer and discovered some blackberries and apples walking near a friend's house and with no pocket on my outfit made a very fine job of foraging by filling my hood :)
One of my all time favourite natural dyes! This spring I dyed a pair of wool pants, a silk slip and a pair of wool socks lovely deep charcoal grey with some iron added in. It also makes wonderful brown-black lake pigment :o)
Wow I love the golden color of the dye
Hello from British Columbia Canada
As children playing house outdoors we pounded those alder cones into "coffee"
I knew I planted those two alder trees in my garden for a reason, that's not counting the seedlings everywhere! That wool is a lovely honey colour.
Love your hedgebothering videos! Thank you.
Fabulous video and hope you show us the second attempt!
I read a paper a few years ago that described a late neolithic pot sherd find from southern France that found residue of oak galls and a local diatomaceous clay in the pots. I can't find the paper now, but I seem to remember that they thought the magnesium rich clay might have been used as a mordant. It might be worth a look!
Do you recall the title or author? That sounds really interesting!
Sally, I love your videos! I ALWAYS look at them as soon as I see them available. Thank you so much! : )
Great video! Another interesting thing about alders is that their leaves don't become red/yellowish in autumn like most other trees. They just sort of gradually wither and become grey. Very interesting tree.
My understanding is that "bucking" linen involved boiling in lye water, and sun drying (like you just did) repeated several times and can make linen quite close to white!
I wonder if boiling the linen and alder dye with a chunk of iron would darken/sadden the color without using an official mordant? I have heard that basketry materials were dyed by using a tannin dye and then burying the still wet material in iron rich dirt to make them very dark, by native peoples here in the Pacific Northwest of the USA?
Prehistoric textiles. Who knew? Fascinating, so thank you.
Wow that wool looks lovely! Thank you so much for you're Videos.🍀
I find that even after the cones have fallen they give good colour, when the tree is cut down, the cut parts go a bright orange. :)
How did I miss this video? Ah, well - it's been a busy few weeks for me, but now I've seen it. I had to look up Alder trees, and sadly they do not grow in my part of the US - seems to be mostly a West Coast tree, and I'm in the East. What a lovey dye it makes! Thank you for another interesting, informative video, Sally! Looking forward to more, as always.
Also, the cone water is a good disinfectant for feet. And other uses.
Like what? your comments are v interesting would love to know more uses.
This video's exactly what I needed after the day today was. I'm pleased to see further uses for the lye you made beyond soap.
Lovely colors. Always fun, to do these kind of experiments!
I always love when you post a new video. Such great info.
You do the most interesting things (that includes your swim with the cows😊)! I love burdock, though where it grows in my yard it is not wet.
Thank you for this! 💗
Pretty darn cool!😎👍👍 Thank you for the inspiration🙏🙏
Lovely, as always.
Fascinating. This is one I'd like to try on nettle thread.
Your wool came out the exact colour of cooked spaghetti!
It did didn't it!
I wonder if ochre would work as a mordant in early dyes. It was already used as a colorant (cave painting and possibly clothing and shells). Because most ochres seem to be metal compounds (as are most mordants), I wonder if it would work. Ochre isn't prevalent in my part of the world, or I would have done the experiment myself. ;)
I've done some 'dyeing' with ochre, but I think 'staining' is a better term because I don't think it chemically bonds to the fibre much even in an acidic bath like vinegar. It would be fun to try that with tannin as well though, see if enough metallic iron is leached out to give an ink conversion.
mmmm, not quite the sort of color i like. i did get a nice olivey brown/green from black walnut leaves!!!
I'm learning so much about the plants around me from your videos, thank you so much. Is there a book you would recommend for natural dyes? I'm in the UK, in case it makes a difference.
Jenny Dean writes very accessible dye books
@@SallyPointer thank you! And I've just noticed the sprang bag kits are up on your website and done a little shopping 😁
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How does the dye effect of alder cones compare with walnut husks? Also, would not a mordant increase the coloration even with a tannin based dyestuff?
It's got tonal similarities to walnut. A mordant is never a bad idea, especially if it's one that will modify shades, but I deliberately wanted to do this one without
I live in the western us, so all we have is white alder. Can i use that to do this? Which one r u useing, white or red? Sry if this is a dumb question, i am dont know much about plants/dyes.
_Alnus glutinosa_ is black alder. You can probably use your local alder species for dye.
@@ragnkja ok thxs for the reply
Hello, can alder cones be used to dye hair brown?
That's a really interesting thought. I think if you use it like a tea rinse you'd get much the same effect with the tannins slightly darkening the hair
what are good fixatives for the dye
Good question. I asked myself, if the colour is stable to the light. I guess not. Would be interesting to know if a fixative is needed.
Tannin dyes are pretty stable, but alum would be a good option,
@@SallyPointer Thanks for your answer.
What were people doing to bleech the linen in the past?
We know of various methods from recorded history, sunlight after washing being the most common, but depending on time period, could be as dramatic as sulphur fumes or as mild as saponin washing.
Thumbnail made me think Atomic Shrimp!
flax is a modern crop no? prehistoric fibers would not have been as selectively bred as the flax of today. in order to do a better experiment u should use the nettle fibers youve made videos on. also best to wash and boil in rain/lake/stream water. maybe some minerals in natureal water would have had some mordanting effect... probably very slight though. it is quite a job as u well know so best to get it done with a group i think. perhaps iron from the clay in the pots used to boil the water could have had some mordanting effect? you mention bronze age but only nobility would have had bronzeware pots id guess. maybe craftspeople would depending on the civilization...
Flax is the oldest cultivated crop we have, right at the start of the Neolithic with separate fibre and oilseed strains developing at a remarkably early date. It's a good choice for this project