During the second Science and Art Day for Cornerstones students I had some wonderful yellow wool yarn for students to see! Felicia was kind enough to being me some forsythia to display with it.
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| Forsythia next to the color dye it makes |
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| Golden shades between different types of yarn |
Students seemed to be shocked by the outcomes! It doesn't seem likely that boiling plants could create a dye but it does! We often don't think about how our clothing is colored, a process that is widely done with chemicals in today's commercial clothing industry. In the 1800's, some clothing was even dyed green with arsenic, making their wearers extremely sick. Today, workers coming in contact with dyes and pigments can have a variety of health issues. Though you must handle plant dyes carefully since some plants can be toxic to humans, the processing is much safer and natural. Not too long ago, plant dyes were the norm, not chemical dyes!
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| My setup on the porch with the forsythia, dyed yarn, and loom |
I also brought my loom back so that students could keep practicing weaving and perhaps get some inspiration from it. Recycled t-shirt yarn is a great medium to practice on because the yarn is thick so progress is quick and it is easy to see where you went wrong. Students made some progress and I hope to take the weaving off the loom soon!
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