I've been spinning my turmeric-dyed silk hankies, and it's been going really well. The yellow is so sunny and vibrant, even if it does still smell a little of Asian cooking.
![Indian turmeric dyed mawata silk hankies handspun spindle](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5102/5620456830_d9707ec42e.jpg)
I did mention, briefly, in my last post, that turmeric is not a very colorfast dye. In particular, it's not lightfast - something I learned firsthand after foolishly leaving my skein of yarn by the window for about a week...
![Will turmeric fade is turmeric dye light fast dyeing silk yarn with turmeric spice](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5062/5620458052_bd113f442b.jpg)
A splotch of my yarn has faded from striking bright yellow to a dingy pastel. Lucky for me, this will just add to the hand-dyed look in my knitted object - BUT, if that's not the look you're after, keep your turmeric-dyed items out of the sun, or use a different method of dyeing.
~Joyuna
What did you use for a mordant? If you used a different mordant could you/would you get a more lightfast dye result?
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I love the color!
It's possible - I put a couple glugs of lemon juice into my dye pot, the same way I do when I dye with food coloring. This was my first attempt at natural dye, and I don't know much about it.
ReplyDelete