Blue

Woad and indigo

I spent my day off Thursday playing about with woad I grew this year and an indigo vat.

Indigo vat giving deep blue

I LOVE blue, quite a few of my current makes have blues or stripes, sometimes both which always makes me laugh when I suddenly realise I am surrounding myself with a particular colour. A few years ago it was avocado pink.

Indigo is pretty magical to work with and I have a few books dedicated to the history and art of indigo, and it is an art, I am a novice compared to indigo masters who have built a lifetime of skills to work with this plant. So for me dabbling with indigo is a newish challenge and has become dyeing just for me not for selling except for a few skeins and a few shirts over the years.

So far on indigo journey;

I wanted a blue linen shirt so I dyed one last year with the fructose method.

Three years ago I wanted blue sock so I dyed some sock yarn which I am yet to knit up!

This Summer I decided an Autumnal tank top was on the horizon so I decided to dye my own.

Each time I use a different method so I can learn as I go and problem solve. I followed a simple recipe, measured and poured and waited. Ph is key, so a few checks and adjustments and finally my vat was ready. Ph of 10-11.5 is crucial for this method and it took two adjustments to get it over 9 and then the change in colour happened and I knew it was ready to work with.

I am pretty happy with my blue wool and have already cast on for my tank top, I popped in some linen swatches too to see what would happen over a previously dyed avocado swatch.

Woad salt extraction

A few leaves, pure salt, sea salt is good or any salt that has no added anti caking ingredients and time is all you need.

I dyed a yellow swatch of linen and a piece of mordanted silk.

The yellow turned a lovely green and the silk a grey blue.

A fun method but not for bigger dye sessions.

I am not an indigo expert so won’t give you recipes, there is lots of info out there so delve in and enjoy the ride.