Indigo vol. 1

Foto: košenilliga värvitud lõng, mis on indigoga üle värvitud
Photo: yarn dyed with cochineal, overdyed with indigo

Sel suvel jõudsin indigot vaid nuusutada ehk siis 3-4 värvimist teha. Ei olnud ühegi tulemusega päris rahul. Mis parata - indigoga värvimine nõuab kogemust. Kui pole seda endal ega ka kedagi, kellelt õppida, tuleb ise kõik vead läbi teha. Indigo teema on nii lai, et tuleb mitu postitust. Värvimisest ja probleemidest kirjutan järgmistel kordadel.

Esmalt natuke teooriat. Indigo on sinine pigment, mida sisaldavad mitmed taimed, tuntumad on Euroopas kasvav sinerõigas (Isatis tinctoria), Jaapani indigo (Polygonum tinctorum) ja enim pigmendi saamiseks kasutatav Indigofera tinctoria. Enamasti värvitakse juba taimest eraldatud pigmendiga, kuid võib ka ise värskete taimedega värvida. Leenal tuli Jaapani indigoga värvimine kenasti välja. Peab arvestama, et tegemist on sooja armastavate taimedega, mistõttu nad vajavad kasvuhoonet, muidu pigmenti eriti ei teki.

Indigo kui pigment on selles mõttes eriline, et ta ei lahustu vees. Ei kuumas, ei külmas - seniks, kuni seal on hapnikku. Ja seniks, kuni keskkond on neutraalne või happeline. Keskkond värvipotis peab olema hapnikuvaba ja (tugevalt) aluseline. Kui indigo sellisesse keskkonda panna, kaotab ta hapnikumolekuli ja sinine indigo muutub nn. "valgeks" indigoks (värvilt küll pigem rohekaskollaseks). "Valge" indigo kujul kinnitub pigment lõngale. Kui lõng peale seda potist välja õhu kätte tõsta, võtab "valge" indigo õhust endale hapnikumolekuli tagasi ning muutub tagasi siniseks indigoks ja potis roheliseks muutunud lõng muutub sinu silme ees siniseks.

Nagu fotodeltki näha, on indigo ideaalne igasuguste koledat (või ka ilusat) tooni lõngade ülevärvimiseks.

Fotod: Lõngad enne...
Photos: Yarns before...

... ja pärast indigoga värvimist.
...and after dyeing with indigo.


This summer I had a chance to dye with indigo only 3 or 4 times. I wasn't satisfied with the results but what to do - dyeing with indigo asks for experience. I don't have any and I don't have anybody to learn from (IRL), so I have to make all the mistakes myselt. I will write about the dyeing in detail later, as I plan to make several posts about indigo.

Little theory first. Indigo is a blue pigment that is obtained from several plants like woad (Isatis tinctoria), japanese indigo (Polygonum tinctorum) and Indigofera tinctoria. Most dyers use the purified pigment, but if you wish you can grow your own plants. Leena had quite a success with japanese indigo. But take into consideration that these plants need warmth in order to produce enough pigment.

Indigo is special, because you can't dissolve this pigment in the water. Not, if the water has any oxygene in it or if the pH is acidic or neutral. The environment in the vat has to be anoxic and (strongly) alkaline. If you put indigo in this kind of environment, it loses oxygene molecules and turnes into so called indigo "white". Then, if you put the yarn in the vat, the indigo "white" molecules attach to the yarn. And by lifting the yarn into air, indigo "white" molecules take back the lost oxygene molecules from the air and the yarn, that turned green in the vat, now turns blue in the air in front of your eyes.

As you can see from my pictures, indigo is just wonderful for overdyeing dull (or beautiful) coloured yarn.