Coreopsis Dye

Coreopsis Flowers give an amazingly bright and vibrant yellow color, that surprised me with how strong it was in concentration.

The recipe:

Mordant yarn with Alum and Tin
3oz Alum per Lb wool
1/2 oz Tin per Lb wool
2oz Cream of Tarter per Lb wool
1/2 cup salt

Dissolve alum, tin, salt and cream of tarter in enough water for yarn to move freely. Add yarn and bring to a boil. Cook a half hour and let sit for an hour. Rinse completely and hang dry.

The dye
Coreopsis is a 2:1 ration material to dyestuff. In my vat I had 5oz coreopsis flowers. I cooked them a half hour (any more and you'll kill the color from flowers). Strain them out, pressing the flowers against the bottom of the strainer to get out all the juice. Wet yarn (in this instance I was using Alpaca) and add to the pot. Bring back to a low simmer and cook for 45min. Rinse until the water runs clear and hang dry.