Poke Berries 2

Poke Berry before and after.
Last time I tried to dye yarn with Poke Berries I ended up burning the yarn in a few places. I wanted to dye only half of the yarn, for a variegated color. When I would this yarn it came apart in those burned places. I tied them up where they broke off. The yarn had been through a pair of boilings. At first it was deep burgundy like the robes of the wealthy cardinals in those baroque paintings. After a mordanting boil I had this girly fuchsia hue, and a brown in between the fuchsia and cream (the original yarn color, from the Lion Fisherman's Wool). I saved the cooked dye bath from the first try, and combined with with a half pound of poke berries from my fridge. I got a warm pale brown variegated with a rosier light brown. It was like a valentine heart with milk chocolate inside. I also dipped four whole skeins in which became this burnt red brown. It was like a warm red that forgot how to BE red.
The color change? I think it was since I used vinegar and mordanted the wool before I put it in the dye bath. The pre-boiled bath also affected the color I'm sure.
Having picked a few more berries, I will try a pre-mordanted version with an all-new dye bath. Same recipe! This was from the Krochmal book.