Theophilus tells us that in fact there are "three kinds of folium, one red, another purple, and a third blue." How is it so versatile? [The source of folium] is a representative of a broad class of vegetable extracts that change color depending on the acidity of the solution: red in acid, purple when neutral, blue in alkali. Litmus, an extract of a Scandinavian lichen, is another, and so is the juice of red cabbage.
-Philip Ball, Bright Earth; Art and the Invention of Color
Red cabbage, chopped and ground with yoghurt and baking soda (left) and with vinegar (right) and left overnight.
...and on a completely unrelated note: DorkFest 2010 starts Monday!
6 comments:
that is delightfully dorky!
Dorkfest is on...sweet.
You do realize you will never get all the colour off our chopping board right? Oh wait it is DorkFest on OCDFest
The color came off immediately and totally. I was disappointed.
Psst, you want some indigo? And thank you for reminding me of the title of that book, I've been trying to remember it for days.
And since you asked, the Himalayan Papers & Books lecture AND workshop were both huge hits. All sorts of dyeing with vegetable dyes were successfully carried out.
Are you trying to out-dork everyone even before the competition begins?
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