An ancient and traditional way to dye wool using crottle. A lichen found on rocks, particularly on stone walls. It takes time as the lichen needs to be fermented in ammonia for several months and then dried before using. It gives a reliable colour and dyes a lot of wool for a small amount. No need for mordants and I just put the dried crottle in a old pair of tights and boil it with the wool. A method used to dye wool for centuries. As with all natural dye stuff the colour is soft hue that can not be obtained from artificial dye
very interesting ... what does the lichen look like? Is it the yellow common one? :)
ReplyDeleteNo it was a grey one. I think it might be Parmelia saxatilis. I was sent it from someone who lives in Co. Clare, mind you the book says I should have got red with fermentation and I had hoped I would. I think it might be a little cold for it to grow here. All the best that we have is off trees and I have some drying at the moment after fermentation
ReplyDeletecool, amazing you can get color from lichens!! :)
ReplyDeleteThey are one of the easiest dyes to use. Naturally you need to take care when harvesting and I only gather the storm blown stuff as it is slow growing and much of it needs very clean air. I sell some on my Etsy shop. This is so easy to use. Just boil it up for an hour or so strain and use the dark brown water to dye wool. Gives a really dark brown
Deletehttps://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/216432827/natural-plant-dye-for-wool-dark-brown?ref=shop_home_active_7
Great job Mary...your craftmanship is gorgeous,recovering old ways of dying !
ReplyDeleteThanks for explanations