We harvested Rabbitbrush and Big Sage near Pagosa Springs,CO on the way home from Sarah Nataani's wonderful workshop at Table Mesa this fall.  Inspired by our dye experiments with Rabbitbrush, I wanted to make MORE of that beautiful yellow! Got excited and harvested Sage to experiment with too.

It's important to use the Rabbitbrush fresh and harvested in full bloom, it seems to give the best and strongest color. I did dry some for the second batch to see what happens with the color. It was probably cheating tho - as I was so excited with this dyeing experiment that I used the dried stuff within 4 days of drying it. The Big Sage was also in full bloom - but I don't know if that makes a difference with this plant, we'll see next year when I try the spring plants.

I had plenty of rabbitbrush! So I divided my harvest into enough for two dyebaths. The yellow came out clear and strong with the fresh Rabbitbrush, a buttery, clean yellow. Even the exhaust of this dye was strong and clean.  

We had made a nice green with this plant at Sarah's by adding cave alum to the bath before adding the wool, so I tried this at home with the second (dried) Rabbitbrush bath. Added "kitchen" alum andŠ NOTHING HAPPENED. Oh darn. Well, I decided that our water must be missing something Sarah's has. After reasoning this out, I threw in an old horseshoe and a piece of lead, let the bath simmer for a while. It SEEMED to be turning greenish - but not as I had expected. So added white roving and left the dyebath overnight to "mellow", roving IN. Here's something to think about - I'd make the green dye liquor first next time, take the horseshoe out before using the dye liquor. Don't want the fleece touching the horseshoeŠ It made some really ugly stains where it touched the roving! The roving turned a beautiful olive green, Magic! The exhaust is very strong - but gave a much different green than the first bath. It is an amazing green! That one was raw fleece, the color I can only describe as "glowing". Very fashionable green for this season, I might say..!

Big Sage - made a nice yellow-green. I dyed white wool roving with the first bath, raw white fleece in the exhaust. Both came out strong and clear colors.

If you want clean fiber to spin, make a dye liquor first, strain it then use it. Yarn works Ok without straining, just shake the plant parts out.

The Dyed Yarns photo you will recognize part of Table Mesa in the background - this was our dyeing experiment at Table Mesa.

Weaving in Beauty

Debra Greer
D.D. Greer Design Studio
13075 Sunny Slope Rd
Falcon, CO 80831
(719) 499-3874 Mobile
(719) 683-4941 Fax