Last Words on Madder (for the Time Being at Least)

Ever since the weather changed five weeks ago, we have been busy with our experiments in selected Indian natural dyes...The first and most extensive was done with madder, and most of the information on it is found in the last post....


The work with madder brought a few things to our attention. First and foremost was the idea that certain mordant concentrations can have a significant impact on the final colors. To me this was very important and before using any dye extensively, in the future, I promised myself to test it with different concentrations of the mordants that we use.


Secondly, all inorganic mordants have a negative effect on the wool. This effect varies from hardly perceptible in case of alum to outright damaging in case of tin, with copper and iron falling in between those two extremes. Please note that we work only with hand-spun, hand-plied  fibers, so our wool is more sensitive to this than commercially spun product.


Thirdly, cold baths do give good results, with less damage to the fibers.


In the next dozen or so posts I will publish the results. In the frame of these experiments we used a wide range of mordant concentrations, and tried to run both hot and cold baths. The ratio of dye to fiber was generally in the 1/1 to 1/1.5 range. The hot baths were generally 1 hour simmer, with an overnight rest in the the dye bath. The cold baths were left standing indoors for about one week. The indoor temps were around 10 degree Celsius...


Now back to madder. The last set of experiments, described in the previous post, left me a bit unsatisfied. I wanted to find the deeper reds and reddish-browns, and neither the 1 hour bath nor the cold bath gave us those. So we tried one final madder hot bath. This one lasted 3 to 4 hours and gave us the following results:


Madder on local Himachal Wool from the Kinnauri Valley, no mordant:
(...and i apologize for the spelling errors on some of these cards....)

A very bright, gamboge color with no negative effects on the fibers.




Madder on Alum : 1. Al 5%; 2. Al 5% + CoT 5%; 3. Al 10%; 4. Al 25%  ; 5. Al 10% + CoT 10% ; 6. Al 25% + CoT 25%; 7. Al 50%; 8. Al 50% + CoT 15%; 9. Al 15% + CoT 5%

Some people will find these alum concentrations way too high, but I would like to reiterate that the difference in hand and fiber structure is minimal, and pales in comparison to the effects of the 3 other mordants that we have used in these experiments....


As a general observation the CoT lightens the madder reds, and creates a tawny color which is constant, irrespective of the alum concentration. This tawny is only a shade or too redder than the original gamboge color offered by unmordanted wool. The cot also softens the fibers and eliminates some of the roughness created by alum. For ex.: the 50% alum + 15% CoT is slightly softer than the 5% pure alum...


In general the fiber structure and hand of all of the above samples is excellent.




Madder on copper: 1. Cu 1%; 2. Cu 1%  + 2% Citric Acid; 3. Cu 2%; 4. Cu 2%  + 4% Citric Acid; 5. Cu 4%; 6. Cu 4%  + 8% Citric Acid; 7. Cu 8%; 8. Cu 8%  + 10% Citric Acid.

Copper was the only mordant that did not show any significant changes with the different concentration levels. All concentrations produced a beautiful, vibrant, deep, rosewood red. Minimal effects on the fiber structure at 1% and 2%, becoming very pronounced at higher levels. Citric acid does not seem to have any significant effect. It is possible that the fibers are slightly softer, but that difference is insignificant and does not warrant its use in this case.




Madder on iron: 1. 1% Iron; 2. 1% Iron + 2% CoT + 1% Glauber’ Salt; 3. 2% Iron; 4. 2% Iron + 4% CoT + 2% Glauber’ Salt; 5. 4% Iron; 6. 4% Iron + 6% CoT + 4% Glauber’ Salt.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the range of copper- and bronze-tones offered by different concentrations of iron. The effects of CoT and GSalt are unfortunately damaging to the fibers and do not enhance the color nor the hand. All pure iron concentrations seem usable.




Madder on tin: 1. 2% Sn; 2. 2% Sn + 2% CoT; 3. 2% Sn + 2% Oxalic Acid; 4. 4% Sn; 5. 4% Sn + 4% CoT; 6. 4% Sn + 4% Oxalic Acid; 7. 8% Sn; 8. 8% Sn + 8% CoT; 9. 8% Sn + 8% Oxalic Acid.

 This is the time in these posting where my heart sinks. The tin colors are brilliant, light and happy. They are full of character, nuance and life. Unfortunately all the fibers are damaged. The addition of oxalic give the best visual results, but the problem with the fibers persist regardless of the concentration and other substances present....

Playing with Madder

It has been almost a month since the big snow storm and we are only now freeing ourselves of its cover. I am so happy to be able to say that spring is finally starting to break through.

While we were suffering through our own local version of a cabin fever, with overcast skies, snow and mud everywhere, we did somehow manage to do some experimentation with natural dyes.

Up to this point our work, with few minor exceptions, has been limited to undyed hand spun fibers, but I hope that natural dyeing will be our main theme for this year.

Our interest in natural dyes, began with a book on Persian carpets we read few years back, "The Root of Wild Madder" by Brian Murphy. So it is not by chance that our experiments began with one of the oldest and popular natural dyes known to man, madder.

The first dye bath was a wild mixture of different fibers, yarns and mordants. We were mainly interested in the quality of our local water in the new house, and kept the fibers in the dye for a little over an hour. Here is what it looked like, straight out of the dyebath.....

....after drying the effects of different mordants became evident.....

(1 hour bath: from left to right no mordant, 25% alum, 8% alum + 7% cot, 2% iron, 2% copper and 40% vinegar, 4% tin + 4% cot and 10% alum).

.....as well as the effects of different concentration of the same mordant, as in the example of alum below.....

(from left to right, 25% alum, 8% alum + 7% cot and 10% alum).

....and then the variations brought about by the different modifiers......

(same bath, 25% alum mordanted wool: no modifier, vinegar eyeballed, 4% copper, 4% sodium carbonate and 4% iron modifiers).

(same bath, 2% copper and 40% vinegar mordanted wool: no modifier, vinegar eyeballed,  4% sodium carbonate, 4% copper, and 4% iron modifiers).

(same bath, unmordanted wool: no modifier, vinegar eyeballed,  4% sodium carbonate, 4% copper, and 4% iron modifiers).

(same bath, 2% iron mordanted wool: no modifier, vinegar eyeballed,  4% sodium carbonate, 4% copper, and 4% iron modifiers).

......as if this palette was not enough, it also became evident that different fibers also have their say in the resultant color. In the example below, angora and merino blend is laid side by side with a sample of local Kinnauri wool of the same mordant concentrations.....

At the end of all this, and while we were fairly happy with our water and colors offered by our madder, we decided to run a couple other, less extensive experiments.

The first one was an energy efficient cold dye bath. We left the fibers standing in the cold bath for about 2 weeks, and took some fibers out every 3 or 4 days. We got the most pleasing results after about 5 days. Here they are:

(5 day cold bath, from left to right no mordant, 25% alum, 8% alum + 7% cot, 2% iron, 2% copper and 40% vinegar, 4% tin + 4% cot and 10% alum).

Even though the 5 and 10-day baths were our favorites, the color difference between 3, 5, 10 and 14-day bath durations was really minimal. This is illustrated below with the case and point of the 25% alum mordant, this difference as slight as it is, was nevertheless the most pronounced of all the mordants used...

(cold bath left to right: 3 day, 5 day, 10 day and 14 day bath).

The last experiment took us in the opposite direction. Here we dyed the same yarns, in an energy inefficient, low heat, long duration, 3-day bath. The results we got were partially predictable, but not without surprise.

In all of our experiments we used different concentrations of 4 mordants, namely alum, copper, iron and tin. In the two previous baths the mordants held their character, and often the different concentrations translated into different colors or tones. In this case everything, with the exception of tin turned into a big, brown blob. The first three groups of yarn were mordanted with alum, copper and iron (and they all came out the same color), the last is tin.

Kantha Embroidery

While in Delhi, earlier this year, we managed to meet up with our friends Khama and Mondal, Kantha style embroiderers from the Shantiniketan area of West Bengal.

Kantha embroidery is one of the many jewels in India's crown.

Here are some examples of their work.
If you want to see more please go to :
https://picasaweb.google.com/114970287555208938354/KanthaEmbroidery201102#

Colors in White

How strange it is that a week that brought us our first madder dye bath, so full of colors, ideas and possibilities, was enveloped by two remarkable snow storms. The first blanket melted within a day or two, but the second one forced us back indoors putting a temporary halt on our experiments in color. 

This is how it all started, a bit hesitant at first:

But the deeper we looked into the root of madder, the whiter it got. White was all around. White which is not really a color (or is it?), as we looked for it in vain on the color wheel, only to find it at one extreme of the gray scale, was taking over. It's presence was overwhelming, and we were forced to step back and admit, that there is more to this color business than meets the eye.

After all, it was white that brought us here in the first place. It was our search for pure cashmere wool in Ladakh that brought us through Manali four years ago. It is then that we fell in love with this beautiful valley and met the people who are such integral part of our life today, and it was also then that we decided to spin a life out of fiber. Back then, of course, we did not know that 80% of Ladakhi cashmere is of course white.

So while we keep on looking for the rainbow at the bottom of the dye pot, white, I hope the purity of white will always be with us to serve as a reminder to step back and admire the elements we are working with......

I leave you with a few more pictures of the glorious white:

Good night my colors....and sweet dreams of spring under a blanket of snow..............

The Year of the White Rabbit

Maybe it is because of the year of the rabbit, maybe it is the constant cold, but here is my second posting within a matter of days on angora, one of warmest of fibers.

Towards the end of last year we discovered that we had a serious angora supply problem. Due to past pricing schemes and not a small amount of manipulation and abuse most small farmers gave up their rabbits. We found some temporary solutions that will hold us over for a few months, but as small incertitudes persisted we gave in to Dominique's insistence that we try to establish a dedicated source for our angora wool yarns.

I will take this opportunity to introduce two other members of our group.

This is Dominique, animal lover and wife extraordinaire...

....and here is Vishavanth, whose vision of weaving, fibers, and life in general is completely aligned with ours...

Our logical next step was to visit the Kullu Valley branch of the Indian Wool and Sheep Research Institute.

As usual, finding it turned out to be a bit tricky and we had to make numerous stops to ask for directions...

....'it's just over there'.....

....and 10 minutes later....'it's just over there'.....

....and 20 minutes later, it was still...'just over there'.....

But even here in India, where time and space can be stretched to ridiculous proportions and test our nervous systems to the extreme, we arrived at that end of the road and found the Institute, located in a quiet and peaceful valley.

India is blessed with numerous research and educational institutes scattered throughout the country. They can often be of a great resource to local farmers, artisans, etc....One of the specialties of the Kullu district station is its involvement in local angora production. They conduct research, educate the local farmers, promote the raising of rabbits and provide a few breeds of angora bunnies.

Vishvanath and the self-help group he guides will take on the responsibility of raising the rabbits and processing the wool. He is not new to the profession, since his family used to raise the rabbits till market conditions made it impossible to continue. Dominique with her knowledge, experience and love of animals, will not be an idle observer either.

Dr. Sharma, at the Institute, turned out to be extremely helpful with our inquiries and totally consumed by his profession. He was kind enough to answer every question I have ever had about angora and digress to the subject of spinning, Indian sheep and local wools. Vishvanath and the self-help group will follow a week long training program and hopefully start raising their rabbits in a month or two. I hope to have more posts on their progress soon...

I know that Dominique is extremely happy with what she was able to instigate and accomplish today, but have a feeling that her mind is already on a different flock of geese, and those are pictured below:

Unfortunately the year of the goat is not till 2015, I for one hope that Dominique's vision materializes before...

Just for Fun.....

The weather is finally a bit warmer. This means that we started mordanting our yarns for this spring's knits and weaves.

We also took the time to do some spring cleaning (before it freezes again) and organize our dye stock, which includes things we found at the markets and picked locally during the last few weeks. This gave us the following idea.....

In appreciation to our supportive group of followers we have decided to hold a little contest. Pictured below you will find some of the substances we will be working with during the next few months. Can you identify them?

The highest score will win one of our checkered handspun, cashmere top scarfs, second price is a fawn colored, hand-dehaired, hand-spun cashmere scarf and third is about 100 grams of our hand-spun, white, angora-merino blend yarn, from the farm pictured a few days back.

Here are the pictures. Please consult the rules and links to the prizes below.

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Rules:
1. Only subscribers to the blog can participate and win.
2. The winner will be announced here on the 28th. of February.
3. 3 prizes will be awarded. In case of a tie (or ties), Dominique will draw the names out of a hand spun, hand knitted, naturally dyed hat.
4. In some cases I only know the Latin name, in others only the Hindi or English. In case there are doubts, or lingering questions, the proof is in the dye-pot and the behavior of each dye will be pictured with 3 or 4 different mordants and on plain wool.
5. Any blog foller can participate, with the exception of those who have visited our Manali stiudio in 2011.
6. There are no other rules so far.

Please have fun and participate, you might know more than you think. Even if you do not win, it will be a fun experience.

And finally, here are the prizes......

1. Scarf made of hand-spun, Ladakhi cashmere top, very soft and fine
 http://www.etsy.com/listing/61235863/gray-and-fawn-checkered-handspun
2. Scarf made of hand-dehaired and hand-spun Ladakhi cashmere wool. This is more of a traditional piece that can be found in areas Tibet or Ladakh, it has a higher hair content and a  bit of scratch (not much), but is pure cashmere nevertheless. The piece pictured is top, but the hand-cleaned ones look exactly the same.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/61962810/handspun-pure-cashmere-wool-handwoven
3. 100 grams of our white angora-merino two-or-three-ply hand-spun yarn. Leave it natural or dye it yourself please. No pictures yet, but the rabbits were pictured last week and the wool is getting carded. Promise it will be spun and plied before the end of the month.

Please enjoy!!!!!