- Name: Lydia Webbe
- Project: From the New World Comes: A Quest for Purple
- Location: Malagentia
- East Kingdom Wiki Link: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/wiki/Lydia_Webbe
- Website/Blog Link: https://lydiawebbe.blogspot.com/
- Category: textiles, dye
I journeyed to MudThaw for a dear friend’s elevation and the theme of the A&S was “From the New World Comes: How have the materials available from the new world inspired you and what did you create with it?”
I took the opportunity to play with some cochineal I had tucked away a few summers ago. My goal was to explore how the metals in the dye bath impact the color. All my research indicated that cream of tartar would bring a deep crimson, but iron could shift the color to purple. I used 3 very specific dye vats with various additives, 2 known and my own well water as an unknown. The result I hoped for was 3 distinct colors. I simmered it for a full 90 minutes at a very low simmer so as not to damage the fibers, then let it cool overnight and rinsed with synthrapol. The 3 dye baths looked very different before the rinse, but after drying it is much more subtle. This is where I stopped for my display at MudThaw.
After removing the yarn from the dye bath, there seemed to be a fair amount of pigment still left, so I mordanted some more wool and used the exhaust dye bath for a final round. It is a very pale mauve and though there still seemed to be a bit of pigment in the dyebath, I would not want anything more pale so I discarded the bath. My plan is to create a handwoven broken diamond twill wrap, using the subtle gradient of the original colors as the warp, and the exhaust dyed as the weft. Additional information on the process and cochineal as a dye source can be found in my recent blog entries.
Optional Additional Links: https://lydiawebbe.blogspot.com/2025/03/new-world-dye-stuff-or-quest-for-purple.html
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