Dear Jan,
Next year when my neighbor looks askance at my lawn where the goldfinches are happily feasting on dandelion seed heads, I’ll have to be sure and show him one of my other purchases at the alpaca festival I was at over the weekend. This 100% alpaca yarn from Wild River Ranch Alpacas was dyed with dandelions - the flower, the leaves/stems, and the roots. I think the proprietor said she used cream of tartar for the mordant. She also uses a copper mordant and gets deeper golds.
How can you resent dandelions when presented with this kind of evidence of their value (if goldfinches weren’t enough)?
Love,
Ellen
Jan and Ellen are identical twins who have always had an innate fashion sense. Crafting is an integral part of their lives and they stay stitched together sharing their love of knitting, family and community.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:18 am
Your last sentence is poetic, in an ee cummings kind of way. And I love that yarn, too.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:44 am
You already know how that yarn and its colours have smitten me :^) not only is it ‘just dandy’.. it’s also ‘quite peachy!’.
We don’t have the pleasure of having goldfinches feasting on the dandelion seed heads but I’ve always liked dandelions. Not many in this yard but I’ve not done anything to keep them from living here… this whole neighbourhood shows a woeful lack of them.
Folks can be weird about the damnedest things.
Has the yarn told you what it wants to be? :^)
November 10th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
I, for one, have always had a little “thing” for dandelions. Their roots and greens are good for us, and their little yellow heads are quite cheerful. Sure, they can bugger-up a perfectly good lawn, but… sometimes I think I can forgive them for that.
Gorgeous yarn. I want to nuzzle it!
November 10th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Oooh. I’ve been thinking about natural dyeing. Dandelions, huh? Hmm….wonder if my new neighbors would kill me for actively cultivating some…. =)
November 10th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Now that’s awesome. I love those colors! I keep thinking I need to go back to the institute next summer to take the natural dyeing class, and this is just one more reason!
November 15th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
In case you can’t hear what that yarn wants to be, I can hear it saying it wants to be my Christmas present. Just saying.