harvesting colour – oak and iron
~
As autumn approaches, I intend to shift my ‘harvesting colour’ experiments to ‘fall themes’. I want to colour wool with ripe berries, autumn leaves and acorns. I decided to begin with oak leaves. They are still green here in New Brunswick, but I associate the oak tree, strong and ‘knowing’, with the maturity of fall. I picked leaves from the Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) by our garage, a tree begun naturally, probably from an acorn buried by our squirrel population.
~
~
The dye in the pot was pale brown … I was certain the wool would be another shade of brown. Hoping for variety, I added a liter of my iron acetate (horseshoe, nail and vinegar mix) and left the wool to simmer. I forgot it on the stove, running to save it after a couple of hours. And what I pulled from the dye water was amazing, a dark brown, almost black, length of wool roving.
~
dark brown, almost black, wool, alum treated and simmered with oak leaf dye and iron acetate
~
Spun, it makes a lovely counterpoint to my yellow and light brown wools.
~
spun wool, dyed with Goldenrod (yellow), Meadowsweet (peach) and Oak leaves/iron modifier (dark brown)
~
I am almost ready for my weaving project. I have decided to arrange the bands of colour in alphabetical order so, in future, I will be able to better recall the plants used to make the dye. When I look at the woven runner, I will remember harvesting the oak leaves from our tree and the excitement of seeing the dark wool lift from the pot.
~
Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
nichepoetryandprose 
What a happy accident! The color is perfect for autumn…
LikeLike
Barbara Rodgers
September 10, 2014 at 5:05 pm
This dark brown reminds me of the strength of iron. … Oak and iron as in an iron-bound wooden trunk. Jane
LikeLike
jane tims
September 10, 2014 at 5:52 pm
Wow, what a rich dark colour! I can’t wait to see your woven runner. Wish we lived closer to one another…
LikeLike
Carol Steel
September 10, 2014 at 7:13 am
Hi … I’ll begin the runner one of these days, as soon as I finish winding my new warp. You’ll have to drop in and see it! Jane
LikeLike
jane tims
September 10, 2014 at 5:55 pm