I began experimenting with madder last year during the tail end of August, and as it turned out, it was the perfect color to work with as the weather began transitioning from summer to fall. I was very eager to dye with madder at the time because I’d seen such beautiful results from other natural dyers, so I bought a pound of dried madder root from Mountain Rose Herbs, which is a local Oregon company that sells loads of organic herbs, essential oils, teas, and other useful things.
Once the madder arrived in the mail, I went ahead and made up a dye bath in my usual way. I filled an aluminum pot half full of water, chucked in a handful of the plant material without weighing, and turned the heat on the lowest setting. I kept the stove on for several hours each day for the next day or two, turning it off whenever we slept or left the house. Once the bath seemed ready, I went ahead and added my wool and a little powdered alum to the pot because a quick scan of the internet told me that madder is an adjective dye that requires a mordant. I also read that the resulting colors would turn out richer if the plant material was left in the bath rather than strained out.
The colors that came out of that dye pot were incredible. I used a variety of different fibers, from organic merino to superwash polwarth, and I was also able to experiment with different techniques. My one regret is that I only used the same bath twice more rather than continuing to dye from it until the color was completely exhausted. As I’ve continued dyeing and learning about this process, I find myself more and more hesitant to waste color, even if there’s just a little left.
Happily, I had the foresight to dye a sweater’s quantity of organic merino rather than my usual two skeins, so I was prepared with the perfect yarn when I found the fall cardigan pattern I wanted to knit for my daughter. I can’t tell you how much of a pleasure the whole project was to make, from start to finish. I would 100% dye and knit with this yarn again, and there will be many, many more experiments with madder in my future.
It turned out so beautiful!
Thanks Heather 🙂
What a beautiful color! I just discovered you podcast and love what you are doing!
~Kristin
Thank you Kristin. 🙂
Beautiful! And so inspiring I stumbled across your podcasts on YouTube recently and really enjoy your videos. Iv done a couple of solar dying experiments but I’d love to try the stovetop method to!
I’d love to play with the solar method too. Perhaps this summer. 🙂
I just made my way over to your blog for the first time. I adore your podcast and can see that I can enjoy your blog just as much in between episodes! The skein of twist dyed black tea and madder is exquisite…I can see myself purchasing that in the future if you make it available 😉 Thank you for all you put forth with your time, creativity and originality.
I’ll keep that in mind! Thank you. 🙂
That color is gorgeous.
Thank you <3
…and did your dye pot turn out red too? I’ve had to keep one just for madder, no amount of scrubbing will get the stain out! (I’m actually starting to keep a dye pot for each colour, whenever I find a second hand pot I buy it and find it strangely easier to organise myself that way!). I’m interested to hear you put your mordant in with the dye material – I shall have to try that sometime! And like you, I struggle to throw dye baths away – if I don’t have time to use it immediately, I keep the leftovers in glass bottles in our barn (out of sunlight) and have found that works wonderfully – just don’t forget to label & date it like I did the first time!
That’s a great idea for leftover dye storage. I may try to make some space in the basement for mine. As for mordanting, I’ve been experimenting with different techniques so I don’t really have any particular way of doing things just yet. Lately I’ve been pre-mordanting everything first. And yes! Madder is the worst for dye pot stains. Ah well. 🙂
Your colors are so vivid! I’m wondering how well using an aluminum pot without any alum will do. That’s what I’d like to try.
If you save your dye bath keep it in the fridge no more than 2 weeks. It’ll go bad after that even though it may look fine
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