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Anyone know if there's a weed that will give me green?
I can't find any vegetation that will give a green dye on wool. It seems that in the natural dyes only overdyeing a yellow (marigold or Weld) with Indigo or Woad will get a green, and I'm not currently growing any.
I've managed an olive type soft green with mahonia prunings but am trying to get a proper green for making (weaving/knitting whatever feels right) the green man.
I'd be grateful for any ideas

if memory serves me right, Barbara Good dyed Tom's suit green using dandeilion leaves (she made the suit from wool she spun on her loom) It turned out about the color of this text if you believe the color on the tv.

'Lincoln green' is wool dyed yellow first with weld, then dyed with blue woad.

not actually tried it.

nod nod Red, complex
have just blended a bit of bright green roving (came free with a spindle) with some brown Jacob - now looks more like the kind of colour I was imagining.

Hi Snapdragon

Bracken fern will give a light green collect 750g young fronds put into pot and simmer for 30mins then strain then add wool simmer for 30mins

Rose can make a darker earthy green 750g leaves simmer for 20mins the strain add wool and simmer for 20mins

Pittosporum makes a light green 750g leaves simmer for 20mins the strain add wool simmer for 20mins

Haven't tried this myself but its from a book called back to basics and so far everything I have tried out of it has been a reliable method


have fun

Never dyed a thing in my life (apart from my hands) but this looked interesting ...

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/naturaldyes.html

Mike

snapdragon wrote:nod nod Red, complex
have just blended a bit of bright green roving (came free with a spindle) with some brown Jacob - now looks more like the kind of colour I was imagining.

oh sorry you said about weld then owd in your OP - it was late - iwas tired

i thinkyou can get a green from ivy?

homegrown wrote:Hi Snapdragon

Bracken fern will give a light green collect 750g young fronds put into pot and simmer for 30mins then strain then add wool simmer for 30mins

Rose can make a darker earthy green 750g leaves simmer for 20mins the strain add wool and simmer for 20mins

Pittosporum makes a light green 750g leaves simmer for 20mins the strain add wool simmer for 20mins

Haven't tried this myself but its from a book called back to basics and so far everything I have tried out of it has been a reliable method


have fun

this looks cool! i have all of the above and an OH who loves to knit! any idea what kind of pitto?

this looks cool! i have all of the above and an OH who loves to knit! any idea what kind of pitto?

the book says Pittosporum (Alum) if that is any help, it also has list of other plants for other colours, if anybody wants them I'll scan the pages and email it as it might be too big to upload

red wrote: you said about weld then owd in your OP - it was late - iwas tired
i thinkyou can get a green from ivy?

not a problem thanks Red, and everyone else - have no Alum and currently no spare funds to purchase, so I got impatient, dug in the back of the pantry and came up with blue and yellow food colourings and citric acid - naughty and not natural I know, but safe and some greens resulted

where can we get the back to basics book? can you give me the authors name, publisher etc? thanks

we have Jenny Dean's book wild colour which is great. she also has a blog
http://www.jennydean.co.uk/wordpress/

Nettles were used in the war to dye stuff camouflage green. I have never tried it myself - another project waiting for the right time.

The book back to basics was produced for Readers Digest Australia for the southern hemisphere published in australia, ISBN No. 0 86449 028 3

There is a great book by John Seymour called the new guide to self sufficiency whish is written for the northern hemisphere

below is a list of his books relating to self-sufficiency

The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency (1976). London: Faber & Faber.
Bring Me My Bow (1977). London: Turnstone Books.
Keep It Simple (1977). Pant Mawr: Black Pig Press.
The Countryside Explained (1977). London: Faber & Faber. (With illustrations by Sally Seymour.)
I’m A Stranger Here Myself - the story of a Welsh farm (1978). London: Faber & Faber. (With illustrations by Sally Seymour.)
The Self-Sufficient Gardener (1978). Londoon: Dorling Kindersley
John Seymour's Gardening Book (1978). London: G.Whizzard Publications Ltd: Distributed by Deutsch,
Gardener's Delight (1978). London: Michael Joseph.
Getting It Together - a guide for new settlers (1980). London: Michael Joseph.
The Lore of the Land (1982). Weybridge: Whittet. (With illustrations by Sally Seymour.)
The Woodlander (1983). London: Sidgwick & Jackson. (With illustrations by Sally Seymour.)
The Smallholder (1983). London: Sidgwick & Jackson. (With illustrations by Sally Seymour.)
The Shepherd (1983). London: Sidgwick & Jackson. (With illustrations by Sally Seymour.)
The Forgotten Arts (1984). London: Dorling Kindersley.
Far from Paradise - the story of man's impact on the environment (1986). London: BBC Publications. (with Herbert Girardet.)
Blueprint for a Green Planet' (1987). London: Dorling Kindersley. (with Herbert Girardet.)
The Forgotten Household Crafts (1987). London: Dorling Kindersley.
England Revisited - a countryman's nostalgic journey (1988). London: Dorling Kindersley.
The Ultimate Heresy (1989). Bideford: Green Books.
Changing Lifestyles - living as though the world mattered (1991). London: Gollancz.
Rural Life - pictures from the past (1991). London: Collins & Brown
Blessed Isle - one man's Ireland (1992). London: Collins.
Seymour's Seamarks (1995). Rye: Academic Inn Books. (with illustrations by Connie Lindquist)
Retrieved from the Future (1996). London: New European,
Rye from the Water's Edge (1996). Rye: Academic Inn Books. (with illustrations by Connie Lindquist)
Playing It For Laughs - a book of doggerel (1999). San Francisco: Metanoia Press. (with illustrations by Kate Seymour)
The Forgotten Arts And Crafts (2001). London: Dorling Kindersley.
The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency (2002). London: Dorling Kindersley. (with Will Sutherland.)
The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It (2003). London: Dorling Kindersley. (with Will Sutherland.)
The Fat of the Land (2008). Carningli Books (With illustrations by Sally Seymour.)

There is also a good list of books on www.mothereathnews.com under topic modern homesteading books
Hope this helps HG