When I was at Rosemary's house last week, she showed me some dye cards that had a picture of a plant on one side and instructions for dyeing with that plant on the reverse. One was Queen Anne's Lace, always a favorite of mine. The card said that this beautiful white flower would produce a neon yellow dye. Rosemary was intrigued, as was I, and she talked about collecting some along a bike trail, I think it was.
When I returned home this is what greeted me.
All those white flowers behind the new gardens and beyond in the field are Queen Anne's Lace.
I wonder if there are any two alike!
We picked some to send to Rosemary for dyeing.
I think I will commission my sister Gail to do a photographic collection.
Some plants of course found their way to the dye garden so I invited them to stay. I may dye some of Sarah's or Annie's fleece with Queen Anne's lace. Just for fun. As I process their fleece it seems to need something. A bit flat. I have some black alpaca I might blend in with some of their fleece too.
Most of the fleece is washed, much is carded and some is spun so it is time to move on to more fun adventures.
I don't know if this is true, but we learned that the dye for royal purple was made from the tiny purple centers of Queen Anne's lace. Maybe you could collect a bunch of them.
ReplyDelete