Nettle dye pot

I'm finally getting these up - sorry it took so long.  

Here is the nettle colored yarn and such.  I put it next to the Hibiscus color for reference.   I softly simmered the nettles after soaking them for 24 hours.  I then strained the liquid and set in my samples.  I then left them in there overnight (starting with really hot dye) stirring it when I walked by.  The next morning (always a reason to jump out of bed - to check the color) I found a beautiful soft green.   Left is a Lopi wool yarn and the right is a sheet of wool felt. 

The mordant that I always use is Alum and cream of tartar. For 1 pound of wool I use 4 oz of Alum and 1 oz of Cream of tartar.   If you keep the same pot of mordant water you can mordant another batch of stuff with only adding 1/3 the original amount, saves time and $.  Sometimes I use after bath wash of water and ammonia - then wash it well or a jar of 1/2 vinegar 1/2 water with rusty nails in it and then use some of that liquid as an after bath wash to change the color. sometimes it can be a dramatic change sometimes just a little one. For the Nettles I found that after baths didn't change the color and I stuck with just the mordant of Alum and CoT.   I have been pulling weed out of the "dyers" garden and pulled up these huge roots (nasty spreading huge leafed weed!) with a yellow tinge and I am now soaking these - it will be my next pot.  I have to search out the plant picture on the web and see what it is...