Celebration of Spring

The April spindler's challenge theme is "Celebration." This last month I've gathered daffodils to make a dyebath; I was amazed with the result. First the merino roving was mordanted in Alum and cream of tartar. The dyebath was prepared by soaking daffodil blooms, both dried from last year and fresh. Once I'd gathered all the blooms I could get, I warmed up the dyebath. I've read that too much heat will dull yellow natural dyes, so I was careful not to let the liquid boil. To check if the dyebath was ready, I dropped in a pre-mordanted piece of yarn and picked it back out after a few minutes. The brightness and intensity of the color was astounding. Next, I strained the dyebath:



The mordanted fiber was added to the pot and left over heat for a few minutes. The pot was then removed from heat and the fiber left in until it was all cool. When rinsed, very little color ran out.

The result:



My plan is to blend this bright yellow with some white angora and spin it as thinly as possible for a lace weight yarn.

-Jayne