This is an easy to make, beautiful green. I am including some guidelines – create your own version for a beautiful accent to your 2013 color palette.
EMERALD
On wool yarn, mordant with potassium aluminum sulfate. You may use between 10-20% on the weight of the fiber.
-Use 5% fustic and 5% Saxon Blue. At first, this may look overwhelmingly blue. Don’t panic, we just need a little heat to bring up the fustic color. Simmer for 45 minutes and you should have a beautiful bluish green.
-You may need to adjust either or both percentages to create the color you love.
For cellulose fibers (cotton, hemp, linen) you will need to first dye with a yellow and then a couple of light dips into a regular indigo vat as Saxon Blue performs poorly on cellulose fibers. Too many indigo dips and you get an incredible, luminous Mallard green, so it’s not such a tragedy.
Mordant your cellulose fiber with aluminum acetate at 5%, rinse the fiber then create a yellow dye pot such as fustic or osage extract using 4-5% on the weight of the fiber. Once that color has developed after a 45 minute simmer then remove from the dyepot, rinse and dip in indigo until you reach the color you love.
OLIVE
One of my favorite easy colors on wool.
Mordant as above for wool and protein fibers.
5% Himalayan Rhubarb powder and 5% Saxon Blue.