Island Day #3

So I seem to have a head cold, graciously given to my by one of my oldest friends. Because of this, the day trip I had planned to Bellaire, MI to wander on the beach on one of the lakes was postponed. Instead, I bought some tylenol cold and flu, some Emergency, and some throat lozenges and sat on the porch to do some more mordanting. And research.

I LOVE research. And since I've never used any of the commercial dyes I brought with me, I thought it might be a good idea. Of course I began with one of the more involved ones-- Madder. After 2 hours and having compiled about 10 recipes plus modifiers I was still no closer to understanding what the best course of action was. Or the weight to dye ratio (because every one was different). Even after having slept on it last night, still haven't decided. But, since all the recipes agreed that it needed to soak for 12-48 hours, it's soaking.

I also looked up the recipe for brazilwood and have it soaking right now. It's a much simpler one, I believe. I had this awesomely cool moment yesterday because all the recipes said brazilwood gives the reddest reds when it's at a ph11. So I had to change the acidity of the water.... which btw, the water here is a ph6, so really neutral. What makes things more alkaline? Washing soda is the answer! It's chemical name is sodium carbonate (also known by chemical dyers as Soda Ash). 1tsp was all that was required to make the bath a ph11 and I was so excited I called my mom. She was nonplussed. I still think it's really cool.

Other things on the immediate agenda that I found recipes for:
Osage Orange (sawdust version)
Annato Seeds
Bracken Ferns (because this is a prehistoric forest full of them)
Goldenrod (there is some early goldenrod growing along the sides of the highway, which I will totally be stopping to snag as I see fit).
Birch leaves and bark (because there are so many of them, much like the ferns)
Safflower-- I bought some at the sheep and wool fest a while back. I read that you can get a yellow bath from it, then use it again to get pink!
Cochineal
Marigolds (I have some frozen from home in the freezer)
Gladiolus (I have a bouquet of these, chopped into pieces and frozen... It was from my girlfriend. She thought they'd be pretty and useful! Amazing.)