Mason Jar dyeing and dyeing with herbs and plants

I finished off my mason jar dye with a dip in the water bath canner. It turned out great.

 After that success I decided to try something new. I did a little research and decided to try dyeing with some of the plants that grow on my property. So I went and collected some Black-eyed Susans. I already had some dried rose petals, lavender, mint and lemon juice on hand.

First I mordanted my superwash wool. I used a combination of alum and cream of tarter about 2 tsp of each for 1 oz of fiber.

This I heated for about 90 minutes at 90 degrees celsius. While that was going I prepared my dye bath. I used about 2 quarts of water with 4 good handfuls of the flowers or herbs I was using. Then I heated them to simmering for about 30 minutes.

 Then I strained the herbs and flowers out and put the fiber in I set it on the stove for about 30 minutes on a low simmer.

Here is how they came out.

The lighter one is Black-eyed Susans , the other is a rose-lavender-mint blend with a touch of lemon juice.