Na srečo sem na vedro napisala, da je bilo suhega lišaja okrog 240 gramov in datum začetka namoka. Tako dolgo sem odlašala barvanje z njimi iz enega samega razloga: bala sem se smradu pri kuhanju. Ko sem vedro odprla, ni bilo kakšnega posebnega močnega vonja. Bila pa je plesen, kar nekakšna goba. Nič je nisem odstranila, samo malo razkosala, dolila vodo in - hajd na delo. Lišaj sem počasi kuhala okrog tri ure. Pa nič smradu: v kuhinji je med barvanjem vladal vonj po starem, vlažnem smrekovem gozdu. Ko se je kuharija ohladila, sem tekočino precedila. To pa je bila že težja naloga in je kar precej smeti ostalo v barvilni tekočini.
For more
than two years lichen has been sitting in a well closed pail, soaking in water,
waiting on the balcony. I had collected it during my wanderings in hills in
company. I still don't know its name. It is greyish-silver in colour. After any
strong winds it lies in plenty under spruces, and it often grows on fallen
branches rotting on the ground.
Luckily I placed a
sticker on the pail saying it contained about 240 gram of dry lichen, and also
the date. I delayed dyeing with it for a single reason: I feared the smell of
cooking lichen. When I opened the pail there was no special odour. But there
was mould on the surface, a real mushroom. I did not remove it, just tore it to
pieces, poured in more water and set to work. I cooked it on low fire for about
three hours. There was no unpleasant smell in the kitchen during cooking, only an odour of an old forest of spruces. When the cookery cooled down I strained the liquid. This was a
tough task and many a piece remained in it.Nadaljevanje kot po navadi. Oprano in dobro omočeno volno sem dala v hladno kopel, počasi segrevala, tako "kuhala" približno uro in pustila čez noč, da se ohladi. Volna se je obarvala toplo rumeno. Meni na sliki sicer pokaže prej rjavo kot rumeno, ampak glavno, da je volna rumena.
Then I proceeded as usual. I placed washed and well wetted wool in the cold bath, slowly raised the temperature, "cooked" it for about one hour and allowed it to cool down overnight. The wool acquired a warm yellow colour. My monitor shows it more brown than yellow, but in real life it is much more yellow than brown, in this is what really matters.
V lonec sem dala barvat še drugo 50-gramsko štrenico in dobila rumeno z nekaj rjavega odtenka. Nato sem tekočino zlila stran.Od takšne količine lišaja sem pričakovala več rumene barve, a očitno jo je plesen oziroma goba "požrla". Škoda, da nisem prej porabila.
Another 50-gram skein went in the pot, and came out of it yellow with a bit of brown. I then discarded the dyebath.
I'd expected more yellow colour from this quantity of lichen: I assume mould - or mushroom for that sake - had eaten the colour. It's a shame I hadn't used it earlier.
Imela sem še okrog 100 g posušenega lišaja. Namočila sem ga čez noč, kuhala kot zgoraj in od prvega barvanja dobila zelo podobno barvo kot prej. Drugo in tretje barvanje sta dala še vedno lepo rumeno, vsakič malo svetlejšo, a nič rjavo.
I had another 100 grams of dried lichen. I let it soak overnight, then cooked as described above. The first dyeing gave me a colour very similar to that obtained in the dyeing session described above. The next two dyeings also gave yellows, a bit paler each time, but with no brown in it.
Na spodnji sliki je v sredini štrena volne, ki sem jo julija barvala z lučnikom na soncu. Ta barva je pa čisto taka kot v resnici, lepa nežna zelena. Štrenica je še skoraj mokra dobila novo lastnico :-)
The picture below shows a skein of wool (in the middle) I had sundyed with mullein in July. The picture shows the real colour, a lovely soft green. The skein got a new owner as soon as it was dried.
