Great excitement as we paused to do some geocaching on the long drive home from NW Tasmania the other day. It was such a glorious day after all the wind we have had we just had to get out of the car and do a short walk near the Table Cape Lighthouse. But not only was the day wonderful – right near the geocache a patch of Weld was growing . This is a dye used by the Romans to make yellow (probably even earlier, but I think the references can be traced at least that far). I brought some stems home, unfortunately the flowers were only just forming so the plant is a bit young for getting the best colour and definitely no seeds for me to plant some at home. However, into the dye pot it went I brought it up to simmering point then turned off the heat and let it steep until cool (overnight). Strained the dye out the next day and added an unmordanted pre-wetted skein of handspun. I brought this up to simmering and again let it steep overnight. It’s not quite the yellow I imagin...