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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Common reed flower dye.

På plantefargingsgrupper på Facebook er det mange dyktige og kunnskapsrike plantefargere, og i sommer har jeg sett mange som har farget garn med takrør (Phragmites australis).

Takrør vokser i store bestander langs veier, ved elver, ved bekker, på enger, på myra, langs jernbanespor... stort sett overalt kan man finne det om man ser etter.
Tidligere har takrør blitt brukt til taktekking på hus.

At takrør også var en fargeplante visste jeg ikke, men det har jeg lært nå. 
Blomstene skal gi grønn og stilker og blad skal gi gul farge. 
Lysfastheten diskuteres, men flere skal ha god erfaring med den så det høres jo bra ut. 


On Natural dyer's groups on Facebook there are many clever and skilled dyers, and this summer I have noticed that many of them have dyed yarn with flowers of common reed (Phragmites australis).

Common reed grow in large areas along roads, by rivers and lakes, on fields, on marshs, along railroad tracks... when searching for it it can be found almost everywhere.
Earlier this plant was used for roofing of houses. 

I did not know that common reed also can be used for natural dyes, that I have learned now.
The flowers give a green dye, and leaves and stems yellow.
The light fastness is debated, however several dyers claim to have good experience with it, and that sounds good.



Inspirert av alle bildene jeg har sett av garn farget med takrør har jeg også gjort en farging.
Jeg plukket med meg litt ved en sti der jeg ofte går tur, ikke så stor mengde, men nok til en forsøksfarging.
Fargingen jeg har gjort er en "latmannsfarging" med fargutkoking, beising og farging i en operasjon.
Jeg har brukt takrørblomst med et blad og litt stilk.


Inspired by all the photos I have seen of beautiful wool dyed with reed flowers I too have tried it out.
I picked plants along a path where I often go for walks, not any large amount, but enough for a test dye.
My reed flower dye is a "lazy dye"; meaning that the extraction of dye from the plant, mordanting and dyeing is all done in one operation.
The dye is made from flowers with a little bit of stem and one leaf. 



Litt takrør i bunnen av kjelen.

Placing some plant material in the bottom of the pot.




La i 100 gram garn og strødde over litt alun.

Adding 100g of wool and sprinkled with alum.




Fylte opp med takrør så det dekket garnet.

Filled up the pot with reed flowers to cover the yarn.



Og helte over vann.

And poured over water.




Deretter oppvarming til 90 grader og det hele fikk trekke i halvannen time på komfyren.
Her er garnet under oppvarming, fargen har begynt å trekke ut av plantene og feste seg til garnet.

Then the pot was put on the stove and heated up to 90 degrees C, and it all simmered for an hour and a half.
Above is the yarn during heating, the dye is coming out and it is starting to stick to the wool.




Og slik så garnet ut etter avkjøling.

And this is the wool after cooling off.



Og etter vask. / And after washing it.

Plantene fikk ligge igjen i fargegryta og jeg la i 100 gram garn til, tilsatte litt alun og farget en gang til.

The plant material was left in the pot, and I added another 100g of wool and a little more alum to the exhaust dye bath for a second dye. 



Resultatet fra farging to ble en lysere grønnlig farge, litt mer til den gulgrønne siden, men fin den også.

The second dye resulted in a lighter greenish shade with a hint of yellow. Another nice shade.





Fine farger som har gjort meg interessert i å plantefarge mer med takrør :)

The reed flower dyes turned out nicely, and I would like to to do this again :)

21 comments:

Dc said...

They are certainly lovely natural colours. I would have thought that dying the wool in with plant material, would leave the wool full of bits afterwards. Obviously not.

Vores have said...

Hej Hilde
Utroligt flotte farver garn du har fået lavet - jeg er vild med det. Ønsker dig en god tirsdag:) Knus Hanne Bente

Hilde said...

Dc; I did not chop up the plant material, so it was easy to remove it from the wool during washing.
I'm happy about how the colours turned out :)

Takk, Hanne Bente, jeg er veldig fornøyd med fargene :) Klem.

Olann - Wolle und mehr said...

What a funny hazard, Hilde :oD
Different method but similar result. But I wonder, that your green turns out without potassium carbonate. Maybe it is due to the leaves!?
I´ll retry and report.
Here is a link with further informations about reed: http://www.eberhardprinz.de/blog/?p=485

Mange hilsener
Birgit

seijastiina said...

Interesting!
Beautiful color yarns.
A wonderful dog.
Happy beautiful day to you Hilde!

RosendameGallica said...

....wonderfoll bright green, like the reed, too and the wonder of turning red into green.

Anne

Marylene said...

Oh ! What a gorgeous green ! Definitely will try this myself !
Thank you for sharing

Madelief Weideveld said...

What a wonderful green colour. Does it stay od does it fade quickly?
Madelief

Jitka Fišerová said...

WOW, very beautiful color yarns.

Unknown said...

Det ble skikkelig flotte farger, spesielt den litt mørkere grønne.

Ha en fin kveld.
Klem

Hilde said...

Birgit, it was so fun to see we both had dyed with the same plant :) Thank you for the link!

Thank you, Seijastiina, and thanks for the kind comment about my dog :)

Thank you, Anne, and thanks for visiting. Nice to see you :)

Thank you, Marylene :) The green is really amazing! I too will have to try another reed flower dye.

Thank you, Madelief :) This is my first reed flower dye, so I do not have any experience of the light fastness. However it is reported to be acceptable, and I hope it is.

Thank you, Jitka, I'm very happy with how the colours turned out :)

Takk, En helt uvanlig hverdag :) Ja, den mørkeste grønne var spesiell.
Ha en fin kveld du også. Klem :)

Annuk said...

How fascinating! You got really great colours, Hilde! :) And I see that you have a sweet helper too! :)

Ann-Sofie said...

Det blev väldigt fina färger. Plockade du vassen nu i september, eller har du plockat dem tidigare på säsongen?

earthen-magic said...

...another super filled post! ~ thank yoU! ~ always for these shares! ~ blessed be dear gentle kindred!...(O:

Hilde said...

Thank you, Anna. I do have some lovely little helpers here. Both my cat and my dog enjoy helping me around the house and garden, not at the same time though :)

Takk, Ann-Sofi :) Jeg plukket takrør nå helt i slutten av august.

Thank you, Samantha, so glad you liked the post. Brightest blessings :)

maryaustria said...

Wow, such beautiful green colors! I´m really surprised about this intense colors! Great!

Tomoko said...

Hi, Hilde,
What beautiful color yarns. It looks magical way for me!!!Thank you for sharing it.

My summer vacation is over. I had many plans with my family in August. Glad to see you again.

Have a good day.
Tomoko

Mia said...

ahhh, nu blev jag helt såld, vilken härlig färg. jag tror inte jag har sett något så vackert sen du färgade med ekblad. takrör ska jag verkligen samla i stora mängder bara jag hittar dom en kväll. den grönfärgen är ju precis mitt i blinken till mig. du alltså, vad du får till :)

Hilde said...

Thank you, Mary :)

Thank you, Tomoko :) I'm so glad to see you again! I hope you are fine.

Takk, Mia :) Ja, det ble fin farge, og om man farger med bare blomstene skal det bli en mørkere grønn farge. Spennende, jeg skal absolutt farge igjen med takrør.

Natas Nest said...

Wow, gorgeous! The first dye is my favorite, but also the second one is very nice and goes along so well with the first. A perfect pair! Wonderful to see what nice colors the reed flowers are giving.

Ali said...

Wow such amazing colours from such a humble plant Hilde - love your furry little helper too!
Ali x

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