First-time dyer! Goldenrod!

[BunnieBard]

I live in Illinois and we've got some prairie fields around here... which are FILLED with goldenrod this year. (No idea why, must've been the heat/rain combo?) I thought to myself, "surely the color goldenrod is named after the dye made from the plant"... and five minutes and google later, I was out picking!   



I really just grabbed the cotton yarn I had on hand-- and made a quick potholder-- but I am so impressed with how bright and brilliant gold this color came out!! Even if I couldn't get lighter/darker shades, this color is gorgeous. I don't know if... you people in the board talk about this type of thing often and find it everyday... but for me, a long-time crocheter and first-time dyer, this is amazing! 

ALSO: A question for anyone who does natural dying... I kind of overestimated the amount of dye in my pot and added too much mordant (which was alum). Is this a bad thing...? Should I just dilute/heat my dye some to dissolve it all?

[Antidigger]

I think you've got a bit of gradation in that pot holder, the bottom left corner is definitely darker. But I think natural dying is really great.

[Belladune]

Beautiful color! 
I would dilute your dye pot.  I'm not sure what alum will do to cotton, if anything, but the concentration of your mordant is important to the handle of your finished product. 

[OspreyWife]

That is really pretty! Love the gradient you got in the yarn

[Knittingjo]

I've read that too much Allum can change the feel of wool. I have on occasion pulled wool out of a pot, thinking it felt more scratchy than before it went in, but I may have had the water temp too high and slightly felted it.

[Ruby Copperhead]

Wow, you got that color on cotton? That's amazing! I've never got good results on plant fibres with just mordant. Goldenrod must be awesome for this! Don't know if too much alum will damage cotton, but I've had fibre damage on wool with it before. So I'd rather dilute it.