Oh, the vintage pistachio Perles (light and medium, 320 and 368), holy fuck, do they ever taste nasty. If you’re wondering why I know what they taste like, it’s because I stick one end in my mouth to get it nice and wet, so it can be easily flattened for threading. I won’t be doing anymore of that with these particular threads. I don’t think these are nearly old enough to have employed arsenic, but who the fuck knows? Even cinnamon mouth wash isn’t getting rid of it. Yikes.
© C. Ford.
No I don’t, I know ;)
I know you do, Giliell! Every needlesmith knows. It’s a bit strange, having to explain it. Yeah, of course I suck on thread, don’t you? :D
Since the Germans started synthesizing dyes in the 20s, there aren’t too many toxic dyes.
That reminds me, I have a pretty wonderful book about various toxic substances used in manufacturing and beauty…. I need to do a blog posting on it. In 1800 it’d probably be potassium dichromate or something yum-a-licious like that.
Live and learn.
(Note to self: When the time comes to dry the lovage, use undyed thread to tie it.)
Marcus, various poisons persisted in formulas for paints and dyes well past the 1920s, particularly with greens. Anyroad, I doubt it is a poison, but whatever the hell it is, it’s unpleasant (bitter, pasty, thick, white), and somewhat numbing. I still can’t get rid of it. A blog post about the long history of poisons in paints, dyes, cosmetics and medicine would be great! If you want some authentic recipes, let me know. I have a good number of old enquire within type books, from the 1700 and 1800s, all with sections on health and cosmetics. Some of them are damn scary.
Ice Swimmer:
Good idea!
Oh gack. Hope it goes away soon.
I used to teach classes on dying and although we didn’t use any that were *poisonous* I sure would not recommend eating any… my guess is, these were dyed with cold water fiber-reactive dyes. Good to know they taste vile, I will remember never to try any!
Kestrel, so far, the others have been fine! It’s just the Pistachio greens.
Yeah, OK… even if the other colors taste fine, I’m not going to be trying any in the near future. :-D I get into enough trouble putting horsehair in my mouth.
To dry lovage, remove the stems and lay the leaves on a drying frame,
outside on a hot, sunny day.
Mr used to work in textile dyes. Every member of the family is strictly prohibited to wear new clothes without washing.
If it’s too bad just spit onto your fingers to smooth the thread.
@Giliell
I was mightily suprised when I learned that some people put on new clothes without washing. I was also suprised to learn some people do not wash tin cans and egs before opening them. Life is full of suprises.
In my case the reason was that my mother has worked at a shop and knew how those things are stored, transported and handled before they reach the customer.
Context is everything; it must be Monday because I read that very wrong.
@rq: Haha. We had a T-shirt with the Grim Reaper on it, standing over a huge black cauldron with steam coming from the top. The Grim Reaper was carrying a scythe with a colorful skein of yarn hanging from it, and the shirt said “Death and Dyeing”.
So yeah, spelled that wrong. Oops.
Okay, now you all are just gettin’ a bit unhinged.