Tag: shellfish purple

The Quest for Light-Fast Purple, Part One

Purple! This color has spelled trouble for the natural dyer for centuries, millennia even… Tyrian purple, the famous purple used in antiquity, came from Phoenicia (around present-day Lebanon) where the coastal waters were full of snails of the Murex family, from which the dye (6,6′-dibromoindigo) was extracted. In ancient times, Tyrian purple was an immense […]

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Trip to Japan – Kyoto, Part One

It’s been a bit quiet here at the blog over the last few weeks, and that’s because we’ve been in Japan on holiday. There are so many impressions to process, but here I’ll just share the ones that have to do with yarn and dyeing. Natural dyeing seems to be quite popular in Japan! The […]

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