My Icelandic sweater - Dyed with Rhubarb root

I finished knitting my Icelandic sweater.  Knitting it didn't take that long, less than a week.  It was finishing it off that was a bit fiddly as I have never done one that is cut up in the middle.  Like a cardigan.  I actually only knitted one Icelandic sweater before and that was many years ago.  So I'm no expert.  They are usually knitted from rope roving which we call Plötulopi.  It's not spun and it pulls apart very easily.  But you can also just as easily twist it back together.

There are fashions in these sweaters as in everything else and today they are usually knitted with a pattern only around the shoulders rather than at the front of the arms and the bottom of the sweater as well.  The fit is also tighter.  Although I have to say that some of the older patterns are beginning to look quite good to me.  I used a pattern called Héla that available free on the internet, but I adapted it to suit my needs.   I made the sweater longer and changed the rib to a proper rib and I added a steek.  That was new to me.  I found really good instructions for that at the excellent See Eunny knit website.

I made the pattern myself.  It's just flowers and hearts and something.  I wanted to make it girly because I thought it suited the colours.  The sweaters are usually made from naturally coloured wool, so this is a nice change.  I really enjoyed dying from Rhubarb root.  I got very nice colours and there is something really soft and gentle about the colours that is completely different from synthetics.  I also loved to be able to knit with colours that I made myself.

I know my husband wants a sweater so I may start to knit him one soon.  His will not be girly at all and I don't think I'll use my natural dyed wool for his sweater.  It'll be quite traditional with natural sheep colours.  I know that he wants a light background colour and probably brown tones rather than gray.  Now I just need to find a nice pattern.  Since his is going to be in the round it'll take much less time.  I should we able to finish it in one week.

I like to have something to knit or crochet although I only do it sporadically.  I have been crocheting a pattern for a hat from the 40's and am looking forward to putting that together.  I love 40's hats.  I bought one in a charity shop that I absolutely love.  It's black and I use it when I go to funerals.  I used to wear hats all the time in the early 90's, but I guess that went out of fashion.  The one I'm crocheting now, I'm doing it in a shiny red yarn and it could look good.  Or just terribly silly.

I love blog awards

Topcat of Titania's Dreamy Delights awarded me with a blog award. Thank you for that :) Getting an award is just really nice.

The rules of the Versatile Blogger Award are:

1 – Make a post and link it back to the person who gave you the award

(and include their website address)

2 – Share 7 random things about yourself

3 – Award 7 recently discovered bloggers with this award and

contact them to let them know they have won.

The hardest part is to nominate 7 blogs.  There are so many to choose from, but the good thing is that I get to choose someone who hasn't been nominated and I decided to nominate a few blogs from far away. Many of these I can follow by using Google Translate and although I know the translations are sometimes quite approximate (to be kind) I wouldn't be able to understand anything at all if not for those translator. Thank you all international soap makers who delight me regularly with your wonderful blogs.

Happy Tiny Bubbles - Finish blog: http://happytinybubbles.blogspot.com/
Les savons de Lavandine - French blog: http://lessavonsdelavandine.blogspot.com/
Grön Sape - Norwegian blog: http://gronnsaape.blogspot.com/
Delicate Matter - Russian blog: http://tmateria.blogspot.com/ I had a problem posting a comment to her, so I don't know if she'll see that.
Gioia Made Soap - English language: http://gioiasoap.blogspot.com/ Also problem to post comments here, but...what can you do?
Sapo Onis - Spanish language (I don't know from which country) http://sapo-onis.blogspot.com/
Monchi Soap - Japanese blog: http://monchisoap.blog102.fc2.com/ I just have a hard time posting a comment on that site so I don't know if she'll see that.

The seven random things about myself:

1.  I have two Bichon Frise dogs.  They are Perla, the mother, and Táta, the daughter.  Perla is my sweetest darling, she is most beautiful, well mannered and dainty.  Like me, she is a fussy eater.  Táta is very boisterous and she'll eat anything that crosses her mouth and as a result she is a bit chubby.  She's constantly ona diet, but it's hard because she'll eat the bird food and the goldfish food (and her mothers food if she can).  She loves to get wet.  And she loves absolutely EVERYONE.

2.  I like to wear white.  Specifically White Levi's 501's, White Jockey T-shirts and White Keds.  I got really bored with all the black clad women here in the dark North.  I mean, I know black is sophisticated, but when EVERYBODY dresses in black ALL THE TIME it just gets depressing.  So I rebelled.  I wear my whites when I garden, so sometimes, technically, I wear brown also!

3.  I'm 5 foot 10 (177.5 cm) like Princess Diane.  I wanted to be small and blond with curly hair and brown eyes when I was little.  I added: A smaller nose and bigger boobs to that list when I got to be a teenager.  Now I'm just really happy with the way I am "warts and all" so to speak.  I even made peace with my straight hair.

4.  I love American Country music.

5.  I sip cod fish oil from the bottle every morning.

6.  I work out with a good friend of mine 3 times a week.  We lift weights, go to spinning classes, do Yoga and Pilates.  My favorite form of exercise is Pilates, by far.  I think it's because it's easy and it doesn't have to cost anything (have I mentioned that I'm a closet cheapskate).  I used to do it at home, on the floor, every day for an hour.  Boy did I look good then :)

7.  I am a HUGE fan of Terry Pratchet.  He writes fantastic social commentary books in the form of Fantasy literature.  Best known are his Discworld series.  My favorite characters are DEATH and the  Wiches, particularly Granny Weatherwax.  I plan to be like her when I get old.

Was that too much information, perhaps?  Oh, well!
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Lupine soap - looking for lime green, but no such luck!

It isn't often that I'm lost for words.  Some members of my family would say that is impossible.  I talk a lot.  I just seem to deal with things verbally.  But now I feel stunned.  I just don't know what to say.  I probably shouldn't even mention it.  I mean I'm sure to offend someone if I admit to wanting to take a baseball bat and give my husband a good whack on the head.  Don't get me wrong, I love him dearly.  But what is it with men that makes them live life in a way that can only be described as:  Suicide by lifestyle?  So there!  Now I've said it.  I feel better all ready.  (And he is slowly regaining his health and way to frail to be able to take a whack on the head.  So I just give him a kiss every now and again.  It measurably improves his oxygen saturation.)

I did make a soap while he was in the hospital.  I woke up in the middle of the night and got this strong urge to visit him.  Which I did.  I have learned always to listen to such urges.  When I got back home I was still wide awake and decided to make a soap using the leftover Lupine decoction I had from dyeing earlier.

Lupine is an alien in Icelandic nature.  It was originally imported as a soil improving plant, because it has the ability to bind nitrogen in the soil.  Unfortunately it is a thug, colonizing large areas of land and in the process it eradicates the more delicate native species.  Instead of 20 species cohabiting, we now have this one.  Very showy, but a poor substitute for the local Flora.  But since it gives a very lovely lime green when used as a dye plant I've sort of semi-forgiven it.  And at least by picking the flowers, I can prevent it from setting seed and spreading even further.  So that is a satisfying, if quiet, revenge.

Lupine flowers make the most wonderful dye.  One would think that they would produce a blue or a purple, but they give the most wonderful lime green colours to both protein (wool, silk) and cellulose (cotton) fibers.  Naturally, I wondered if I could get the ever elusive green colour in soap by using Lupine decoction.  It would have been so much fun.  But it didn't work.  Instead I got this quite soft yellow.  Not bad, but not green.  I fully intend to try it again and use lower temperatures next time to see if that makes any difference.  Since I made this soap in the middle of the night and was quite tired, I didn't bother to wait for anything to cool down much, so I soaped this one at unusually high temperature (130F instead of the more usual 90F) and that may have had an effect on the colour.  I'm also pretty sure that the temperature is the reason it seized on me, but I did get it into the mold alright, in spite of that.

Lupine soap

Olive oil 40% 200g / 7oz
Coconut oil 30% 150g / 5.3oz
Grapeseed oil 10% 50g / 1.8oz
Rapeseed oil 10% 50g / 1.8oz
Cocoa butter 10% 50g / 1.8oz

Water 33% 165g / 5.8oz (this was water that I had simmered Lupine flowers in for an hour)
Lye 70g / 2.5 oz

I added some lavender and Cubea Litsea EO for scent and that smells lovely.  Lupine doesn't have any scent itself.

I was thinking as I made this soap, tired at five o'clock in the morning how amazingly relaxing it is to make soap.  I realized that I now relax by making something, creating something rather than trying to relax by laying down on a couch like I used to.  And what a wonderful way to relax.  And have fun at the same time.  Naturally.

Rhubarb hair colour - and that is the last of the Rhubarb recipes

My Rhubarb talk went really well.  The venue was this folk museum that has some of the oldest houses in Reykjavik and it looks like a small village in the olden days, complete with animals and people in the national costume.  The weather was incredibly nice and the turnout was good.  People had to squeeze to get into the room.

I gave them all the recipes that I've posted and then a few others.  I was a little surprised that people were surprised that you could do something other than just jam and pie.  So the ice cream, soup, drinks and muffins recipes were all enthusiastically received.  But I did save the best for last and I think that really, really surprised them:  Hair colour from Rhurbarb!

I was a bit surprised myself when I found them and I have to admit that I haven't tried them, but I just had to share them anyway.  And please let me know if you dare to try.  And, no.  The photo's are just for fun and in no way reflect the outcome of the recipes.

This recipe is for lightening hair and originally comes from a book called "Natural Beauty" by Aldo Facetti, but I found it on Ehow

1 oz. (30 g) rhubarb root, finely chopped or powdered
1 pt (1/2 liter) cider vinegar
2/3 oz. (20 g) chamomile flowers
2/3 oz. (20 g) marigold flowers
Juice from two fresh lemons, squeezed and strained
2 oz. (50 g) acacia honey
2 oz. (50 g) 95 percent proof liqueur
Thick conditioner

Boil the root in the vinegar for 10 min.
Add the flower petals and simmer under lid for 5 more min. and then let cool.
Strain and add the lemon juice, honey and liqueur.
Add enough conditioner to make this into a creamy consistency.
Apply to hair and cover with sower cap.
Rinse with cool water and let hair air dry.

Here is the recipe for dark hair. I found it on Harmony Green blog where there are also a number of other recipes for herbal hair dyes.

3 tbsp Rhubarb root, mashed
2 cups water
Kaolin clay to thicken

Simmer the mashed root until half of the water has evaporated.
Add enough clay to make into a paste.
Wash hair and divide into sections.  Apply the paste to every sections like any other hair dye.
Leave for 15 min and check the colour by rinsing and drying a strand.  Leave for additional 15 min. and keep checking until the colour is dark enough.  After 1 hour the root will not give any more colour.
To make hair even darker, repeat after 2 days.

I am pretty sure that the blond recipe works because all the ingredients are tried and tested hair lighteners and it also contains honey and conditioner so it shouldn't be too harsh.  I hae to admit that I am a bit intrigued by the other because there the root is supposed to mae the hair quite dark.  Now I know that in acidic environment the rhubarb root colour will turn yellow and that in an alkaline the root will turn a lovely mahogany brown.  I guess the clay must be alkaline.

I might have to try this out to satisfy my curiosity.  But not yet because I am putting finishing touches to my Icelandic sweater.  It is very pretty in it's summer colours from Rhubarb and I look forward to wearing it.  But I guess that is the subject of the next post.  And then I'll have to start to think about something else!

Rhubarb to dye for

When I started to look into natural colours to use in soaps I was inevitably led to websites about dying fibers with natural materials like plants and bugs.  I was fascinated because I had always thought that the only colours you could get from nature were dull beiges and browns and maybe some greens.  And that didn't appeal to me.  I like rainbow colours, vibrant and clear.  So I was pleasantly surprised to see the exciting pink that the Cochineal bug gives and the deep purple of Logwood, not to mention the fabulous blue of Indigo.

I have been collecting bits and pieces of dye stuff for just over a year.  I came across a website that sold some natural dyes and I ordered some like Madder, Alkanet and Logwood which I tried to uses in soap, mostly successfully.  But I also ordered some mordant even if I had no clue what it was.  I only knew that it was used in the dyeing process, but didn't really understand it's function.  Then I started to notice books about dyeing and I bought some.  In my Icelandic book about medicinal plants and also in general books about the Flora of Iceland there is always the mention of how each plant was used in the past, either for food, medicine, dyeing or other practical purposes.  I found all this absolutely fascinating stuff!  It's hard to explain, but I find it somehow comforting to learn how to make things that usually come out of factories.

When I was a kid, we were taught a lot in school.  We had cooking and baking lessons and handiwork lessons where we learned to knit and crochet and sew and embroider.  Or rather the girls did, the boys learned woodworking and such which I would also have liked, had I known that it was possible for females to do macho things like that.  But I didn't know about sexism then and now I am very thankful for what I learned at this early age.  I remember when I moved to the States and heard my American friends talk about baking "from scratch".  I had no clue what they were on about.  Scratch?  What was that!  Some ingredient?  Equipment?  I couldn't believe it when I found out that it was possible to buy something in a box, add water and eggs and call it baking.  Hmm.  Where's the fun in that!

So anyway, back to natural colour.  I wrote a post about my first dyeing experience using Dandelion  - Taraxacum officinale) and this cold spring I have been busy dying with some plants that are in season as well as some of the dye stuff that I have bought.  I have now dyed from Cochineal, Alkanet, Comfrey, Rumex, Lupin, some Lichen and now Rheus (Rhubarb to you and me).  And this post is about my Rhubarb colours.

When I was asked to do this little talk about Rhubarb I wanted to show a lot of different ways to use the Rhubarb.  One of them is obviously to use it to dye yarn and fabric.  And what colours!  Beautiful soft yellows, through orange to corals to green (with the help of some copper).  I can't wait to finish my sweater.  The Icelandic sweaters are usually made in the natural sheep colours of greys, browns, white and black which I really like, but knitting one using my own home dyed yarn is just so cool!  I've almost knit enough to be ready to knit the pattern.  I just need to make one up.  I want it to be a flowery, girly untraditional something.  I have to see what I can come up with.

It is possible to use both the leaves and the root of Rhubarb to dye animal fibers.  I don't know how cotton receives the dye.  I need to find out.  But wool and silk take the colour quite well.  The dyebath is made beforehand by simmering the chopped dye stuff (either the root or the leaves) for 30-45 minutes and strain it and let it cool.  The leaves give a geenish yellow, but the root gives the most lovely range of colours in the photo.

The wonderful thing about Rhubarb is that there is no need for a mordant.  That means that there is no pre-treatment required.  All one needs to do is to wash the fiber to get it thoroughly clean and wet.  Squeeze out excess moisture and put it into the cold dyebath.  Then the whole thing is heated up to about 80C (very, very slowly if one is dyeing wool.  It should take at least an hour) that temperatur held of 30 minutes and then let cool down over night.  The fiber is then rinsed and dried.

I have a few books about dyeing.  I own everything that has been published about it in Icelandic that I have been able to get hold of, some of the old stuff has been typed up and photocopied.  But out of everything that I have seen on the subject there is one woman that stands out to me as the most generous and reliable source of knowledge.  I have two of her books and love them both.  Jenny Dean has a blog that I recommend to everyone and her newly republished book, Wild Color, is not only beautiful but also invaluable to those who want to learn to dye with natural colours.  I can only humbly thank her and all the other women who have written books and article and blogs about dyeing and shared their knowledge with me.

Rhubarb soap

As soon as I started to chop the Rhubarb root I knew that it would give colour to soap.  That strong yellow colour is even stronger that that of Rumex so there was no doubt in my mind.  And chances were that it would produce a pink, like the Rumex does.  So I chopped some root and poured olive oil over it and let it sit for a week or two.

Since I had all this Rhubarb infused water also left over from dyeing I decided to use that also for the lye.  so this is a double coloured soap.  The Rhubarb is in the water phase and in the oil phase.  And it produced a lovely pink that is still deciding whether to go to the blue or yellow end of the spectrum.

I made a recipe based on what ingredients I have right now, but it turned out to be remarkably like the Sorrel shampoo bar that I made some time ago.  It will probably be a great shampoo bar although I hadn't really thought specifically about making it that.  At least I look forward to take it to the gym.

Rhubarb soap

Olive oil 47%           280g / 10oz (out of this 40g was Rhubarb root infused)
Coconut oil 25%     150g / 5.3oz
Rapeseed oil 17%     100g / 3.5oz
Cocoa butter 8%       50g / 1.8oz
Castor oil 3%             20g / 0.7oz

Water 33%              200g / 7oz (this was water that I had simmered root pieces in for about an hour)
Lye   83g / 2.9 oz

When I stirred the lye into the soap, the whole thing turned this magical blue pink colour that I recognize so well.  The colour then turned a more tomato red as the ph dropped.  I didn't wrap my soap in a blanket to insulate, I never do (maybe I need to try that) so it gelled in the middle.  I kind of like that, but some people prefer to see the soap a solid colour throughout.  The gelled soap is darker than the ungelled.  The soap is still curing, but it is very soft.  I used Geranium, lavender and a touch of lemongrass in the absence of a natural Rhurbarb fragrance. Although I wonder: Does Rhubarb have a smell?  I don't really think so, it's more of a taste isn't it?

I couldn't resist taking the photo outside with my apple tree blossoms.  I bought the tree almost ten years ago and I knew it had pink flowers, but I've never really seen them properly until now.  The spring has been so cold that the caterpillars haven't  gotten to the flowers and now the tree is just covered in these sweet scented beautiful flowers.  Oh, I love it.  Finally something good came from this cold weather.

As I was snapping the photo balancing the soaps on this pressed glass dish (in the shape of an apple) that I bought because it was a neat retro looking yellow (turned out to be dirt), one of the soaps fell to the ground and got dirt on it (the bottom one) I wiped it as best I could and continued to try to get the apple blossoms into a good position and then of course another soap fell and I could hear the plop! of it diving into the goldfish pond.  The fish have been pouting for a few days because my husband put some cleaning stuff in the pond (quite harmless) but they didn't like it one bit and have protested by going on a hunger strike.  They are now in an even more of a huff, poor darlings, but at least they are clean!
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How to drink Rhubarb

Rhubarb is great to drink.  The tartness of it makes a refreshing taste for summer heat in combination with a touch of sugar og honey for sweetening, lemon juice and even a touch of Ginger for a more spicy version.  I find that it is really easy to just trow it in a pot and improvise, but here are a few recipes that I am going to give in my talk about Rhubarb.

I have posted this recipe before, but it is the only one that I've posted without having made it myself. My excuse is that I wanted to try it, but it takes a long time to be ready so I thought I'd post it so that I didn't loose the recipe. Unfortunately I can't remember where I got it from. But here is is, a little boozy treat for those who like that sort of thing. I have to say that the taste of this isn't really all that much Rhubarb, but rather a sweet something that I can't put my hand on. But it still might make an interesting gift.

Rhubarb liquor
This recipe is for about 6 dl. and takes about 4 weeks to do.

5 dl / 2 cups Rhubarb pieces
4 dl / 1 3/4 cup vodka
1 vanilla pod
1,5 -2 dl (3/4 cup more or less) simple syrup

Put the Rhubarb into a jar. Pour the vodka into the jar, put a lid on and shake for a few minutes.
Let this stand for about 2 weeks and shake every now and again. Add the vanilla pod.
After about 4 week you sieve the booze, add the simple syrup and stir well. Taste and add more syrup as you like.  Let this stand for about a month to let the flavours mellow.

I didn't find that it mellows that much, but I did let a piece of vanilla pod stay in the bottle and I think I probably shouldn't have.  There might just be a tad too much vanilla taste.

Rhubarb syrup is great to make because it can be made into drinks and to make pink lemonade.  I like this recipe which I got at Miss Print blog.  The syrup can also be used in cocktails if one wants to.  The recipe for syrup is something like this:

1 cup rhubarb (washed and dried) cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup sugar

Put all ingredients into a saucepan and stir. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Once mixture has boiled, turn down the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the rhubarb is soft and the red colour has bled in.  Sieve the mixture and pour into a bottle and let it cool.  This should keep for a few weeks in the fridge.

The recipe can be tweaked a bit.  I like to add some lemon juice and occationally a piece of ginger to make it slightly more interesting.  Use as sauce on ice cream, as a drink concentrate and mix with still or sparkling water.  Pour into lemonade to make it pink.  Or slosh some vodka into it to make a boozy drink.

I am now in the process of making a third recipe.  The name is lovely, so I had to try it: Rhubarb champagne and I found it on an Australian site: Just like my nan made

Rhubarb champagne

2lb rhubarb
1 sliced lemon
8 pints of cold water
1 lb sugar
1 dessert spoon of vinegar

Wash rhubarb and cut up roughly, add sugar, finely sliced lemon, vinegar & water.  Let stand for 24 hours, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.  Sieve and pour into plastic bottle and close them.  Used soft drinks bottles are ideal.  Let stand for a few days.  This will start to ferment and becomes alchoholic after 2 weeks.  Before that it is a fizzy sweet drink, probably a bit like my Ginger ale.

This needs to be put in the fridge to stop fermentation.  Do that when you like the taste.

I can't wait to try this one, it sounds really interesting and I'll be sure to add my verdict to this post.
But on to other things Rhubarb...

UPDATE:  I really like the "champagne".  It tastes quite sophisticated and unlike any other rhubarb drink I've tasted.  The name isn't that far off.
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Everything Rhubarb and some Chocolate too.

I love Rhubarb.  I love the colour and I love the taste.  When I was little we used to pick slender stalks and dip them in the sugar bowl and eat them like candy.  My mom also used to make rhubarb compot which we ate hot with cold milk as desert.  And it seems that the only jam that was ever available back then was Rhubarb jam, the only Rhubarb thing that I don't really like.  I've made it a bit of a hobby to find unusual recipes with Rhubarb and I've posted some here like the delicious Rhubarb soup and the fantastic Rhubarb ice cream.

I got a phone call the other day from a woman I've never met and she asked me to participate in the Day of the Rhubarb which is being held in a kind of Folk museum in the City.  Apparently she got my name from the Gardening Society as someone who is an expert on using Rhubarb.  Oh!  Ok!  I can be that!

So I've been up to my eyeballs in Rhubarb ever since that phone call, wiping the dust off my various Rhubarb recipes and looking for new ones, making stuff from the recipes to snap photos and even creating one, this Rhubarb and Chocolate chip muffins.  Well, at least adjusting a recipe to fit me needs.  In my 20 minute talk I want to show how incredibly versatile Rhubarb is and give people recipes for every part of the plant.

I didn't have a photo of my Rhubarb syrup, so I made some so that I could snap a picture.  When making syrup, there is always the problem of what to do with the mash that is left from sieving.  This time I adjusted a muffin recipe and came up with this:

Rhubarb and Chocolate Muffins.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp salt 

3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1/2 cup melted butter 

1/2 cup rhubarb mash plus almost the same amount to put on top

1/4 cup milk

3 eggs 

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Start by turning the oven on to 200C / 400F and line some muffin forms.  This recipe is perfect for 12 muffins. 

Mix the sugar, melted butter, rhubarb mash, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth.  Combine the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder and stir it into the wet mix.  Don't over mix this, a few lumps are fine.  Add the chocolate chips.
Fill the muffin form and put a small dollop of rhubarb mash on top and a chocolate chip.  Sprinkle with some sugar.  Bake for about 20-30 minutes, check with a toothpick.

They were really nice and I was very happy that I didn't have to throw away food.  Although I could have put it on the compost heap, but this is so much better.

The speaking thing is on June 30th and I have reserved the rest of the month to everything Rhubarb.  Dyeing yarn and hair, insect poison, and, yes!  There is Rhubarb soap.  Might be two different ones.  And it's all coming soon to a ...
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Liquid gold - Dandelion honey

Those dandelions are everywhere and I've had a nagging thought that last year I wanted to make something from them, but was too late to collect the flowers.  And couldn't remember what it was.  That happens to me a lot and it's got nothing to do with age.  It's just the way I am.  Feeling rather frustrated that I hadn't written anything down, I kept scouting for the best places to pick the flowers and pray for some sun so that I could pick them fully open.  The weather this spring has been really dismal, but things are looking up.  We saw double digits yesterday - 13C.  This is what I've been reduced to. By now I'm grateful if the temperature climbs above 10C (that's about 50F) and ecstatic if the sun peeps from behind a cloud.

Then it came to me.  Dandelion honey!  I read about it somewhere (didn't write it down) and I knew that I had to try that.  It just sounded so jummy to me.  The only trouble was that I imagined that it would require so many flowers that it would take forever to collect them.  But when I was collecting the flowers to make a dye from them the other day I knew that it takes no time at all.  And it's pleasurable, too.

I had to look for a recipe again, since I hadn't written anything down.  Always write things down.  I know this.  But I still don't!  Thankfully, I found this really good recipe with step by step photos on a German blog: Heilkraeuter.  The recipe is very easy, but it takes some time to make mostly because it needs to simmer for a long while.

Dandelion honey

3 handfuls of Dandelion flowers
1 liter water / That's just over a quart
1 kilo sugar / 35 oz sugar
Juice and rind of 1 lemon (the original recipe give 1/2, but I like lemons so I used it all)

Wash the flowers quickly and gently in cold water.  Pour the water over the flowers and let it stand for about 2 hours (or longer, it's no biggie).  Bring to boil and then turn of the heat and let cool slowly overnight.
Sieve the flowers from the water and discard (or even better, put on the compost heap).  In a saucepan, pour the sugar into the flower water and bring to the boil.  Lower the heat to a simmer and simmer until it reaches a syrup stage (110 C / 230 F).  This took me 3 hours, but the time may vary depending on the temperature.  Pour into sterilized jars.
Use the syrup as you would use honey.

I made another batch that I heated a little less, maybe slightly over 100C / 210F, to make a more runny honey.  The first one can be used as a spread on bread, the second is better for my yoghurt.

It tastes remarkably like honey, sweet and flowery with a hint of lemon.  And it's vegan.

This German recipe uses the flowers whole, with the green sepals.  I have seen some recipes that say you should only use the yellow petals and therefore you need to spend a lot of time pulling away all the green stuff, because it is bitter.  This isn't true.  I tasted it and I have also tasted both batches that I made and they are very far from bitter.  The sepals taste nothing like the leaves.  So I wouldn't recommend that anyone wastes time on that.  But have a go at making the honey, it's really good.
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Dandelion dye

Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) are such a welcome sight when they appear.  That wonderful sunny yellow is one of the first signs of summer up here in the north.  This year we are having the coldest spring for a long time.  But the dandelions don't mind.  They cheerfully flower absolutely everywhere.  Of course many people dislike this weed, but I don't.  It's very easy to get rid of should one want to.  Just dig it out.  Although it is a very useful plant so it's good to have around.  But perhaps not in the lawn.

Some people eat it in salads, the leaves that is.  I've never done that, probably because it's best to pick them young and in May when they start to flower it can be pretty cold and therefore I am not in the mood to go on foraging trips.

The dandelion is a medicinal plant.  There is a clue in the name.  If a plant is called Something officinale it is a plant that is known for it's medicinal properties.  Dandelion leaves are nutritious and a good diuretic. The root of the plant is considered a good detoxifier and a tonic for the liver.  But that isn't what I was going to say at all.  What this is all about is dying.

It had to happen sooner or later.  With my interest in the medicinal properties of plants and in using them to colour and scent soaps and oils as well as to pretty up my garden, I had develop an interest in dyeing with plants sooner or later.  I have been collecting supplies for that for quite some time.  I have lots of foreign dyestuff like Logwood, Madder, Alkanet, Annatto, Indigo and the vibrantly pink Cochineal - Dactylopius coccus.  I have been reading about it for over a year and have some fantastic books about dying with plants.  And I have read them all, again and again.  And then I finally did it.  I couldn't resist those lovely yellow flowers and picked quite a few flowers that were fully open in a rare moment of sunshine in this cold spring weather.

Dying isn't at all complicated.  Most of the time you need about equal amounts of plant material to yarn (or whatever you want to dye).  You put the plants into a pot with some water and simmer or boil it for about an hour and then strain it.  This will work for most plants.  Then you pour the dye solution into a pot and fill it up with water and put the yarn (or whatever) into the pot.  This is then simmered for an hour or so and often you let it cool in the pot.  Then you rinse and dry.  And that is it.  Apart from the mordanting and modifying.  Mordants are important.  Without them the dye will not attach itself to the fibers.  The most common mordants are metal salts, like aluminium, iron and copper and they do affect the colour.  As will changing the PH balance.  So there is a lot to play with.  And it can get complicated, but mostly it's easy and fun.

I used Icelandic wool called Lopi, which is hardly spun and pulls apart really easily.  It also felts really easily, so I didn't exactly make things too easy for me.  I used this wool because I thought it would be fun to use local plants to dye and then knit me an Icelandic sweater using many different colours.  I haven't had a sweater since my last one fell apart, but they are nice to own and most people have them to use in summer.  Because it's cold in summer.  Lopi is what is used in the sweaters, so I had to use that.  But it was quite a challenge to dye it because of the felting.  But I managed to wind it into two small balls.

The colour was a very light yellow, not a touch of the brassy colour of the flowers, but a surprisingly light, greeny yellow, quite delicate and pretty.  So now I have started this journey.  I haven't given up soap but if I am to ever finish that sweater I have a busy time ahead of me gathering flowers.
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Heavenly duo - Vanilla and Neroli

I love vanilla scent and I have used up all my vanilla soap so I had to make another one.  This time I thought I should combine it with some flowery scent (Neroli is my favorite) because Vanilla can be a tad too sweet on it's own.

For those lovely scents I thought I should try Madder root again.  I have used it a few times and of course the challenge with Madder is to get the blueish red dyes to appear.  Apparently Madder has five different dyes ranging from yellow through warm red and brown to blueish red.  The dyes are sensitive to PH, blue reds appearing in an alkaline environment and the warm reds in acidic solutions.

Since Madder root is water soluble I decided to give it a long time in the caustic soda to try to extract the maximum amount of dye.  I have read that one should rinse the root in cold water to wash away the more yellow dyes, so I did that.  I also decided that I would add it quickly to the lye solution while it was still quite hot to see what effect heat had on the Madder, hoping that it would extract more colour.  I let the madder sit overnight and soaped at room temperature.  When I combined the lye and the oils the Madder showed it's lovely blue reds, but very quickly turned to peachy coral.  I think that colour is fashionable right now, so I didn't mind.  Madder seems to want to be warm coloured in soaps and that's the way it is.

The idea was to take a part of the Madder coloured soap and add Vanilla to it and that part would turn brown and cover the Madder colour.  I had also planned to attempt a fancy swirl, and use a cardboard separator in the middle and all.

The reality was that I had started to make the soap without setting up the molds first and it took a while to line them and cut the cardboard and then the soap started to seize.  So much for my ambitious plans.  I used Neroli essential oil with a touch of Benzoin, ylang ylang and a small splash of Cubea Litsea.  I was a bit surprised since I was soaping at room temperature, but soaping is unpredictable and I think that is what makes it so fascinating for me.

But it smells devinely and I love the feel of it on my skin.  I used the last of my Almond oil, so I need to order some more.  It is really nice in soap.

The recipe I used this time is:

Coconut oil 25% 125g / 4.4oz
Olive oil 20% 100g / 3.5oz
Almond oil 20% 100g / 3.5oz
Rapeseed oil 20% 100g / 3.5oz
Cocoa butter 15% 75g / 2.6oz


Water 30% 150g / 5.3oz infused with dried and chopped madder root which is then strained
Lye 70g / 2.5oz

My fascination with natural colour has taken me a step further and I am now in the process of using plants to dye wool and a tiny bit of silk, just to see what colours I can get. I'm having loads fun and have learned a lot, some of which may be helpful in colouring soap. I have for example learned that when extracting dye from roots, heat will bring out more of the yellow tints.  So next time I used Madder I will use less heat and see if I can coax it to a slightly pinker shade.
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