Rust

I found this piece of rusty metal on the footpath outside our flat.

I'm not sure what it was used for or where it came from. But I picked it up and put it in my pocket.  I quite often find odd buttons on the pavement that have worked their way loose, I take them home and put them in my jars.  I think 'that will come in handy one day' and I hoard.  And that is just what I did with this piece of metal.  Inspired by my weaving without a conventional loom class, I decided that I would weave around it, using different yarns.

I wanted to see if I could make the yarn take on the rust, to fuse it together.  Here is my experiment in step by step pictures:

The metal was submerged in water for a week.  I had thought that some of the threads would take on the rust more than others, so the final outcome would be rings of colour.  However this didn't happen, in particular areas the rust penetrated the yarn more, with the warp taking the colour on more that the weft.

 

I wonder if this is because the warp is unlikely to be coated, as it is usually covered.  Although you can see from the back the warp hasn't taken it up uniformly.

The scientist in me, wants to repeat this experiment, using different variables; mordants, acid or alkaline solutions, using the warp as weft.  But, alas, I have no other random pieces of found metal.  I shall have to keep my eyes firmly fixed on the ground, and maybe I'll make another discovery.