Solar dyeing.

I decide to use the left over dye from the Native Daphne and the Golden native in a solar dyeing experiment.  I didn't heat the dye....just popped the strained liquid into a jar with a length of natural merino tops and put them in the sun.  I will leave them until the end of the week and then take a look.  The jar with the pale dye is the Native Daphne.  The last lot I did was also pale, but the colour was fast.  The darker dye is turning the wool a nice olive green....although the colour in the jar looks rather muddy.

I'll be heading out to the Gum Tree Garden Studio on Saturday to collect more leaves for dyeing and drop off some landscaping material.  Crows Nest Festival will be in full swing when I'm there so I  will certainly be checking out the fibre craft and painting exhibits.  The worm races could be fun  too........
You can find out more at http://www.crowsnestfestival.com.au/

I'll start dyeing as soon as I get back........using recipes this time.  Leena at http://riihivilla.blogspot.com/  will be one of  my plant dyeing gurus.  All her posts have an english version at the end, so there is no need to use the Google translator.  Pop over and take a look.

Happy dyeing
Joan