It’s been raining, so the cottons I mordanted in December have been hanging in the Ad Hoc Mordanting Station, taking a dip every day in either alum/washing soda or a specific mordant—milk, soy, or yoghurt. (I’ve left the pee mordant by the wayside until I find a recipe telling me how it works, cause when I tried it, I got bupkiss.)
I got bored of dipping them back and forth by about the sixth cycle, so I declared them done. They’ll need to cure for about a month before I try dyeing with them.
They’re really beautiful. The brass/tannin and copper/tannin especially, although they’re not as dark as they appear in the image at top. To recap, there are 3 different cottons, each mordanted in alum/tannin, brass/tannin, copper/tannin, alum/ws/milk, alum/ws/soy, and alum/ws/yoghurt.
About a week before I pulled the cottons in, I pulled in the silk and wool I’ve had hanging out on my porch in jars for a month. I should have waited until the Ad Hoc Mordanting Station was clear, however, because once I got the silk and wool inside and decanted and blotted and the jars washed… I realized I hadn’t anywhere to put the textiles to dry.
So, I built the Adjunct Ad Hoc Mordanting Station in my bedroom. Uh, yeah, those are rocks. And that’s a chicken coop door, btw. Gotta love the salvage yard. I bought three of these years ago, and use them all the time. They’re perfect for temporary, ad hoc use.
It’s a little silly, but out of the way, and it worked. And I love the way it looks from the bottom:
Really, I mean I love the way this looks from the bottom. Look at all the cute bits sticking out! Really, you should click on this and blow it up big so you can see how cute it is.
Is it just me? Am I weird?
Top, left to right: Silk and wool in alum, brass, and copper.
Bottom, left to right: Silk and wool in milk, soy, and yoghurt.
For more mordanting details, see my post The Importance of Being Resourceful.
curvylou 