Red! Maroon! Plum! Peach! Flame Orange! Pink!  Madder’s allure is its versatility, potency and longevity. Come explore the processes that allow the transfer of color from the roots of this hearty (and easy to grow) perennial onto a range of fibers.  We will explore means of direct dyeing, dyeing with mordants, color shifting using pH and mordant after-baths to achieve a range of color tones. Madder is equally effective on fibers from plants as it is from animals, so we will be working with cotton, linen, wool and silk yarns. You will leave this class with a deeper understanding of the plant, how to grow and process it, how to harvest and store it and, of course, how to dye with it. This is a survey of madder’s potential, so we’ll be creating many small skeins of many different colors.  We will not be bulk dyeing any single color or fiber type. Concepts will be explained from the ground up (pun intended).