New World Dye Stuff: or a quest for purple

I'm going to make the trek down from Mid Maine to NJ for a dear friend's elevation. I've never been down to Settmour Swamp and unlikely to go often. But the A&S theme for the event struck me:

"From the New World Comes"

How have the materials available from the new world inspired you and what did you create with it? 

I picked up this jar of whole cochineal insects a summer or 2 ago and have been itching to see what color I can get out of them. Cochineal live on the cacti found in tropical and subtropical Americas. It is the source for Carmine. I had originally planned to use this dye yarn that I would weave into fabric to make a skjoldehamm hood. I shared that with a nearby weaving Laurel who said "That's a new world dye, why would you use that?" I answered:  "I'm looking for purple!" And here is a theme that my curiosity will fit into beautifully. 

From talking to the person I sourced these from, I knew I needed to pulverize them to as fine a powder as I was capable to get as much potency from them as possible. From years of  researching natural dyes, I also knew that I could manipulate the metal content of the water to shift the color around. I have been using synthetic pigments and citric acid to achieve consistent results on wool for over 10 years. Natural dyes have been something I read about constantly, but rarely have the patience for their unpredictable nature.  

All the instructions I read looked like they were aiming for a brilliant red. I was looking for purple. I'm always looking for purple 😁 And finally, as with my lichen dye, the magic ingredient seemed to be iron. Most of the sources also agreed that using a mordant would give a longer lasting and more vibrant saturation. Given that chemistry plays so heavily into this process, I worked really hard to control the variables in these 3 vats as best I could. 

I used the recommended 5% weight of fabric/fiber ratio to measure out my bugs and started crushing them in a mortar and pestle. Immediately I was in love with the fuchsia dust that was forming.  I crushed and crushed until I had a full 30g of bug dust. I need to mention that the first time I opened the jar of bugs and poured them into my hand, I was shocked at how badly they smelled. Fortunately once that initial shock dissipated, I didn't have any issue working with them either grinding or boiling down for dyestock. 

I combined the crushed powder with distilled water and simmered for 15 minutes, cooled and strained through a paper coffee filter. The internet said I should do this 2-3 times until the water stopped having pigment... I repeated the process 6 times and was still getting a rich dye stock. I stopped and have let the powder dry to use for another extraction in the future (and as part of my display). I also took 600 grams of Peruvian Highland wool and simmered it with a couple tablespoons of alum to mordant. I really love that most of this is food safe. Carmine has been used to color our foods for centuries and alum is often used to add crunch to pickles. This is where I stopped for the night. 

 

Fast forward to the end of a crazy day of mundane work and finally picking up my car after a ton of work (still need to get it aligned, but that's happening tomorrow). My darling spouse wanted to have a solid block of time crafting for his own, so we ate dinner quickly and disappeared to our various spaces: him to his wood shop, me to the kitchen. 

For this project, I planned 3 dye vats: 1) control: 2 cups of dye stock, 200 grams of mordanted yarn, distilled water; 2) variable A: 2 cups dye stock, 200 grams of mordanted yarn, 1/2 tsp of iron, distilled water; variable B: 2 cups dye stock, 200 grams of mordanted yarn, my well water (exact mineral content unknown).

My goal here was really to see what the metals do to the color. I am relieved to say that I was right, I have 3 distinct different colors. It is still simmering on the heat and I will continue to cook it for a full 90 minutes at a low simmer so as not to damage the fibers. I will let it cool over night and rinse with synthropol. Then it's time to hang to dry! I can't wait to see what happens after the rinse. I'm loving the colors in the dyepots, but fear that as with most natural dye I will lose a lot in the rinse. Pictures to follow as things dry!

Sources: 

https://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/cochineal.html?lnav=dyes.html

https://www.britannica.com/technology/cochineal

https://myramadecolor.com/2020/12/06/how-to-mordant-alum/

https://botanicalcolors.com/cochineal-insect-instructions/?srsltid=AfmBOoqg_q3VfGd-mCC7GPw56uM00IT_W4plmTQXK3oFXn_l8FibhNui

Walker, EJW, 1993, Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean, p 231