I fell in love with both of these dye stuffs. I had used ground powered pomegranate only once before for a commission piece for a museum replica on Chinese woven silk, many moons ago. It was a fun experience and I remember working so carefully with lightening the shades each time. Using it here in Mexico with a gigantic collection of dried pomegranate rinds was more of a renewing experience. I even saved the rind from one the other day but I forgot to communicate that to my husband and it out it went to the compost. He should know me by now though! Don’t touch the decaying vegetable matter on the counter no matter what!! To be far, it wasn’t obvious like my avocado pits and various colors of onion skins that rest in jars on the window sill.
You know what else was a renewing experience? Doing all this test dyeing with not just white wool, but also two shades of grey wool. It’s been so fun to see the shades all next to each other.
The other dye stuff we used this day was annatto seeds. I love the rich bright orange bath it made. You can see the results in the above card. Dyeing with this made me miss my husband and his interesting collection/ accumulation methods. Since I moved in with him in his house 8 years ago, a lone jar of annatto seeds, collecting dust, has perched on the ancient shelf in our kitschy galley island kitchen. I’ve since snapped them up and brought them to my studio though for later use as a dye. I’m considering playing with the ph to see if I can achieve brighter colors.
