In the dyepot.

Well out of it and drying now.

Three dyebath self striping yarn.

 Longwool locks acid dyed blue.

8 oz of Tansy in four successive dyebaths, I will spin all of this together to highlight the variety in the color.

Tansy dyepot

I collected and dried some tansy from my yard this fall. Wednesday, I decided get moving on dyeing for the year. After some cleaning on the dye porch/studio - more on that later - I got the dyepot going. Yesterday, while waiting to pick the oldest up from work, I did the first bits of dyeing for the year.

 The first batch in the dyebath, I let the wool (Blue faced Leicester) sit over night.

 Dripping from the pot!

 Yes, I use a salad spinner to get the excess water out of my wool.

The dyed wool next to an equal amount of the same wool ready for the dyepot. This wool is mordanted in alum and rinsed before dying.

I reclaim all rinse water and reuse it in a dye season. This reduces the impact of the alum on the environment. At the end of the year I allow the water to evaporate off, so I am not adding alum - which is fairly safe anyway but care is always good - to my area's groundwater. The leftover plant material is composted for my gardens.

Those of you who read my personal blog will know that due to medical issues with my parents I have been very busy and stressed and I want to thank everyone for their patience, thoughts, and prayers. ~Julia