I found a lovely little dye guide at Half Price Books, The Fabric & Yarn Dyer’s Handbookby Tracy Kendall, which has all sorts of recipes for dyes and printing and general fun with fiber. One of them was a recipe for dyeing with ivy, which caught my eye, there being nothing good about the English ivy that clogs part of my garden. The thought of boiling it up to get something useful was irresistible, so I set to work, using the last skein of Knit Picks Bare that was kicking around.
Take 7 ounces of chopped ivy leaves . . .

Chopping ivy leaves is harder than you might think. It’s a tough leaf that fights back.

Pour 2 cups of hot water over chopped leaves and let sit for an hour.

Strain off liquid and add to pot with yarn and enough cold water to cover.  Bring to boil and simmer for one hour.

The color in the book was a lovely greenish brown. My yarn came out sort of a pale butter yellow.  Maybe not even butter, but margarine.  Looking around the garden, I saw the perfect match:

Somehow I don’t think Decaying Hosta is a catchy colorway.  This puppy’s getting overdyed.