Rhubarb With a Twist of Vinegar

Last year I posted about how wonderful rhubarb is for dyeing. Not only does it not require pre-mordanting the wool (the leaves contain oxalic acid which is itself a mordant), but it is easy to work with, fun to eat and makes a great tea!

Last year I boiled leaves and some stems and got this:

 

I made a lovely scarf! (See posts from 6-5-13 and 6-20-13).

This year I did things slightly differently and got quite different results. I started with about 40 sticks of rhubarb. I cut off the root ends (I didn't dig the roots) and leaf ends of the stems. I used these for tea and baking. I put the ends and leaves in water. I tore the leaves up before adding them. I covered these with water and boiled them for a little more than an hour. I steeped them over night and boiled them again the next morning and let them sit in the pot. The next day (day three) I strained off the liquid. I soaked 600 yards of freshly spun wool yarn in water for about half an hour and then added it to the dye pot. I simmered that for an hour and a half and turned off the heat and steeped it over night.  The next morning (day four) I added about a half a cup of vinegar to the pot. I let this sit again over night and then removed the yarn on day five. I washed it in wool wash and rinsed it until clear. Instead of the lovely off white tan from last year, I got something much more yellows-green!

Here is a photo showing both: