lots of mauves and purples. i have 50grams+/- of shikon roots ( aka murasaki) in distilled water in my balcony. they will be letting out their color slowly over the weeks enjoying the fall sunlight. then dyeing will commence.
for dyers shikon is one of the traditional dyes of japan which gives a range of mauves and purples with a pretty time consuming, laborious dyeing technology . see the dyeing of tohoku scroll until kazuno akane zome, shikon zome.
the color obtained from the roots is not only used for dyeing, but it is also used in the cosmetic industry.
in english shikon is known as purple gromwell so in case you bump into it- don't forget to say hi (^^)!
for more information about its classification go here , an invaluable resource for plant taxonomy.
i have tried my luck with shikon before and the results were not very satisfactory . i think the problem was due to the water so that's why i'm using bottled water this time.and taking the temperature too just to be on the safe side.
we shall see if the predictions hold true.
have a beautiful fall weekend!
neki desu
do you buy this stuff, or collect it?
ReplyDeleteneki--you have gromwell!! yay! tatiana ginsberg has done research on using gromwell on paper, and after talking with her i looked for seed, to no avail. lucky you--and good luck dyeing. don't forget to show us the results!
ReplyDeleteOh, mauves and purples! My favorite fall colors... I'll be keeping an eye on your progress. Happy steeping!
ReplyDelete