Hollyhock dyed yarn

I have been wanting to dye yarn with plants and berries for several years now, after receiving a book about it as a gift. The color result from Hollyhock flowers intrigued me. 

Picture from Harvesting Color: How to find plants and make natural dyes

Sadly the last couple of summers my hollyhock flower stayed dormant. 
However, this summer while visiting my mother-in-law and her vast garden, I found to my delight a hundred dried, dark purple Hollyhock flowers.  I soaked these in water overnight, resulting in a most gorgeous deep purple (not close to what the book showed, but I stayed optimistic)

As I did not know where to find Alum, I made a rusty-nail mordant and soaked my yarn in 3Tbsp of the mordant and 2 Tbsp of vinegar for 30mins.  Then added my yarn to my dye pot. 

Kept on heat for 2hrs & let sit for another 2 hrs before rinsing & drying. 

End result is not what the book claims, but it's still beautiful.