Hook ‘n Spin – A true fiber addict

I just finished spinning one bobbin full of my first natural dyed fiber. A friend sent me some roving from her sheep to experiment with and since my raspberries are overproducing this year, I did. (This same post was also logged into my Yahoo group).

The one on the right is the raspberry dye and the one on the left is some of the first roving I ever bought at a store, don’t know what it is – I just loved the deep blue.

Recipe:

2 Cups of crushed raspberries
4 Cups of water
1 Cup of vinegar
1 Yard of grapevine (yes – grapevine)

I crushed the raspberries and then added the other ingredients and brought to a boil. I then strained the seeds out with a small colander. I then placed the wool in the pot, stuck it in the oven for an hour on 350 degrees and then let it sit on the stove top to cool overnight.

I gave the roving a very thorough soak in clear water and then rinsed after that for a good 10 minutes, then laid the wool out in the sun to dry.

What I ended up with was a very soft pale lavender color wool.

Now to answer what I know is your questions of WHY GRAPEVINES?

You see I put up a lot of pickles each year. If you want crisp pickles, the recipes always call for alum. An old Polish family canning technique is to substitute the grapevine (must have curliques as well as leaves) for the alum. I’ve never had a batch of pickles turn out limp yet using this method – so is there natural alum in the grapevine? I don’t know. I’m no chemist.

Alum is also one of the mordants recommended to be used to bring berries to their true color in dying. So…I figured, if grapevines are a good substitute for alum and it works for pickles, maybe I’ll try it with dying. And I’m very pleased with the color.