Silk Scarf, dyed using Osage Orange
Dyeing using natural dyes is just an unpredictable adventure. Here is an amazing piece. I was dyeing a pair of bamboo custom socks for a friend in Oklahoma Food Cooperative, and had this osage orange dye made up so I thought I would test the results on silk and had a chiffon scarf that I could use. The socks came out buttery, khaki and sort of lighter than I would have preferred. (One can never be very unhappy with bamboo socks because they are just incredibly soft and comfy.) But the scarf came out a rich yellow. Actually, this outdoors pic doesn't show how bright and golden the color is. Its darker yellow than lemons, and has subtle shading. It reminds me that no two fibers will strike color the same. Protein fibers always give more pow. And though it is fussy and hard to work with, causing lots of waste and errors that cannot be corrected because the silk is delicate... it remains my favorite medium because there is always a surprise.
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