Pokeberry dyed self-striping yarn courtsey of Etsy.Com
***Just a reminder: Pokeberry leaves, berries and roots are highly toxic. DO NOT let children experiment with these recipes. Always wear gloves and protective clothing when working with Pokeberries.***
Pokeberry Ink:
Version #1: Pick ripe pokeberries and crush them in a bowl using a potato masher. Pick out the skins before straining the juice. Careful of the juice stains. Thicken them with gum arabic (available in health food stores) if they seem too thin.
Version #2: This is more of a recipe and is the one I have used.
--½ C. Ripe Pokeberries
--½ Tsp. Vinegar
--½ Tsp. Salt
Fill a strainer with the berries and hold it over a bowl. Using a wooden spoon, crush the berries against the strainer so that the berry juice strains into the bowl. Keep adding berries until most of their juice has been strained out and only pulp remains. Add the salt and vinegar to the berry juice. The vinegar helps the ink retain its color and the salt keeps it from getting too moldy. If the berry ink is too thick, add a tablespoon of water. Store in a baby food jar. Only make a small amount of berry ink at a time and, when not in use, keep it tightly covered.
(I've also seen recipes that used ammonia as the fixative, but I've never tried this.)
To prepare Pokeberry dye for wool:
Boil gently for 30 minutes 2 to 3 gallons of ripe pokeberries in water containing half gallon of vinegar.
Strain. To dye wool, add to the dye extract the vinegar water in which the wool was mordanted and enough clear water to make a 4 gallon dye bath.
Enter one pound of wet wool into a lukewarm pokeberry dye bath immediately after mordanting the wool; let soak for half an hour or more until the desired color of red is reached. Keep the wool pressed under the water. Do not skimp on the amount of dyestuff: too light a red results from too few berries.
Press the water from the dyed wool and hang to dry without rinsing to further set the color.
After a few days rinse the wool and dry again.
Also check out my article on Pokeberry.
Comments
Another idea to strain the pokeberries for ink or dye; an old pair of pantyhose, or a "knee-high" works really well. Your columns are awesome, Bobbi! Keep up the good, green work!
Thank you for these instructions! I have a question, was the yarn already self-striping before you dyed it? If not, how did you stripe it? Thank you!
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