I just discovered your channel and I'm excited to watch more of your videos. You are very talented! I have never tired to do natural dyeing but it sounds like fun. Best wishes from a Canadian knitting podcaster!
The ammonia should be pure and nothing added to it - I’ve also heard it should be from a freshly opened bottle for optimal results. So nothing scented for sure!
So I have a question did the lichen color go brown first before it turned purple? I’m on month one and I have a very brown color, you might be answering my question now lol
I heated it - be careful to keep the temperature low with the pokeberries- I let the heat get too high and my beautiful purple turned to a rusty orange.
@@StopDropandKnitPodcastin your video you never mentioned how to actually make the dye after extracting it from the lichen. It is important to strain the lichen well. Then heat ( outdoors as not good to breath in the steam from Ammonia) slowly to no hotter than just a simmer for at least an hour… then add your fibre to dye bath, add any extra water to cover if needed.. Bring the dye bath up to just on simmer and hold for an hour at that heat… You will find your colour will be much deeper and richer… you can gently spin out excess dye and leave to dry . Do not rinse for at least a week. Each successive exhaust bath will give a different tone. I get about four. Also try and remove as much bark and dirt from the lichen before extraction…and it’s not imperative to shake the jar.. a good stir once a week or so is fine…I use a stainless steel spoon or butter knife. Cover the jar and keep in shade. It takes about 2-3months soaking in 1 part Ammonia to two parts water enough to cover approx 200gm of Lichen. To check if it is a Lichen that will give the rich purple, scratch away top layer and dab a drop of bleach on it, it should turn red.
@@StopDropandKnitPodcast thanks a lot. I watched the video and didn’t see you mention a mordant. But I was just confirming because you mentioned “dye bath”. I wasn’t sure is that meant mordant implied. Thanks for clarifying.
You’re right, I didn’t mention whether I prepared the yarn with a mordant. I’m sure you’ll get varying results depending upon using a mordant or not, but vinegar is not needed for this one.
Was that cold water you had in the dye bath? Did you heat it? Or just add warm water to it? So curious. What a great video! Thanks. Beautiful colors you got! 💜
Oh fantastic! How amazing is that?! Beautiful! Well done, Lisa
Thank you!
Omigosh! I always see lichen On the trails near me. I will def try this. Thanks so much
Yeay ❤this is so exciting!
I just discovered your channel and I'm excited to watch more of your videos. You are very talented! I have never tired to do natural dyeing but it sounds like fun. Best wishes from a Canadian knitting podcaster!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you found me and I’ll check out your podcast too! 😁
🥰
Omg I love you, Owen 😍 ....Oh oh oh feet, burning hot 😂😂😂😂😂
It’s always fun to see past Owen (footage from nearly 2 years ago!)
Thanks for the post. Does the ammonia have to be clear? I have just poured in some cloudy before I realised that it may be different. Cheers Pat nz
The ammonia should be pure and nothing added to it - I’ve also heard it should be from a freshly opened bottle for optimal results. So nothing scented for sure!
@@StopDropandKnitPodcast Thanks for the quick reply xxPat
❤
So I have a question did the lichen color go brown first before it turned purple? I’m on month one and I have a very brown color, you might be answering my question now lol
So there is still hope ❤
Was your dye bath hot or cold?
I am working on a video right now using pokeberry and 5 different dye methods.
I heated it - be careful to keep the temperature low with the pokeberries- I let the heat get too high and my beautiful purple turned to a rusty orange.
@@StopDropandKnitPodcast thank you, I did keep it low for that reason. I got 5 total different colors with the 5 ways I dyed it.
Be careful with Pokeberries as they are extremely poisonous .
@@StopDropandKnitPodcastin your video you never mentioned how to actually make the dye after extracting it from the lichen. It is important to strain the lichen well. Then heat ( outdoors as not good to breath in the steam from Ammonia) slowly to no hotter than just a simmer for at least an hour… then add your fibre to dye bath, add any extra water to cover if needed.. Bring the dye bath up to just on simmer and hold for an hour at that heat… You will find your colour will be much deeper and richer… you can gently spin out excess dye and leave to dry . Do not rinse for at least a week. Each successive exhaust bath will give a different tone. I get about four. Also try and remove as much bark and dirt from the lichen before extraction…and it’s not imperative to shake the jar.. a good stir once a week or so is fine…I use a stainless steel spoon or butter knife. Cover the jar and keep in shade. It takes about 2-3months soaking in 1 part Ammonia to two parts water enough to cover approx 200gm of Lichen. To check if it is a Lichen that will give the rich purple, scratch away top layer and dab a drop of bleach on it, it should turn red.
@@jdmosaics It is actually only the tiny black seed inside that is poisonous. Some people actually eat the berries and animals do too.
Did you have to add a mordant like vinegar? Thanks
Hi! I explain each step in the video. Lichen doesn’t require any mordants, so you can just follow what I did here!
@@StopDropandKnitPodcast thanks a lot. I watched the video and didn’t see you mention a mordant. But I was just confirming because you mentioned “dye bath”. I wasn’t sure is that meant mordant implied. Thanks for clarifying.
You’re right, I didn’t mention whether I prepared the yarn with a mordant. I’m sure you’ll get varying results depending upon using a mordant or not, but vinegar is not needed for this one.
Was that cold water you had in the dye bath? Did you heat it? Or just add warm water to it? So curious. What a great video! Thanks. Beautiful colors you got! 💜