Blank Natural Dyes Spreadsheet (PDF)
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How to Tie a Yarn Hank for Dyeing
from Tuesday Stitches
The yarns I'm experimenting with at this point are all pure wool:
The other worsted weight yarn I tried was Paton's Classic Wool Worsted Yarn in Winter White, but I prefer the Fishermen's Wool. It is slightly scratchier which means that it will stick to wooden needles a bit better for beginning knitters. It is currently $13.14 for 465 yards, which is 2.8 cents per yard. The Paton's is currently $7.97 for 210 yards, which is 3.8 cents per yard.
One of the things I'm looking forward to trying next is different kinds of yarn in the same dye bath, to see how they take the color differently.
The iron filings are something I had on hand for Physics experiments. It's $14.70 for a pound. I used several shakes, so about 2 tsp.
Pictures of the Finished Colors:
top
fresh mint leaves & stems
with iron powder - pot on stove
Paton's Classic Roving Aran
center
"used" mint leaves & stems
with iron powder - pot on stove
Paton's Classic Worsted Winter White
bottom
red & yellow onion skins
with vinegar - crockpot
Paton's Classic Roving Aran
top
fresh chopped beetroot
with vinegar - crockpot
Lion Brand Fishermen's Natural
center
fresh chopped beetroot
with vinegar - crockpot
Paton's Classic Roving Aran
bottom
powdered turmeric
with vinegar - crockpot
Lion Brand Fishermen's Natural
top
fresh chopped turmeric root
with vinegar - crockpot
Lion Brand Fishermen's Natural
center
whole annatto seed
with vinegar - sun jar
Lion Brand Fishermen's Natural
bottom
whole fennel seed
with vinegar - crockpot
Paton's Classic Worsted Winter White
top
fresh avocado skins & pits
with vinegar - crockpot
Paton's Classic Worsted Winter White
center
black tea bags
crockpot
Paton's Classic Roving Aran
bottom
finely ground fresh coffee
sun jar
Paton's Classic Worsted Winter White
top
"used" fresh chopped beetroot
with vinegar - crockpot
Paton's Classic Worsted Winter White
center
"used" whole frozen blueberries
with vinegar - crockpot
Paton's Classic Worsted Winter White
bottom
whole frozen blueberries
with vinegar - crockpot
Lion Brand Fishermen's Natural
side-by-side comparisons
the original dye pot color is on the right;
the results of dyeing with the "used" water and dyestuff is on the left
top
fresh chopped beetroot
center
whole frozen blueberries
bottom
fresh mint leaves & stems with iron powder
You can see that the "used" blueberry and beet pots gave a paler version of their original color, but the iron continued to strengthen the mint color as it sat and so the second hanks in the mint came out much darker. It's lovely!
side-by-side comparions
top is fresh turmeric root and bottom is powdered turmeric root
both in crockpot with vinegar;
same yarn
Pictures of the Dyeing Process:
the water in the jar after three days in the sun
fresh turmeric color
powdered turmeric
powdered turmeric color
fresh beetroot from a local farmer
beet
our January 2020 beet pot was also fresh beets but gave a very different color,
more of an orange than a red
maybe the beets were not as fresh?
red & yellow onion skins
all you need is a pot, yarn, water, and some ingredients from your kitchen
you are supposed to soak the wool first but I always forget
a bag FULL of mint from a local farm
I really just chucked it in the pot... but if I had soaked the wool it would have been better. I also could have cooked up the mint pot and then removed the plant matter and strained the color, then put the wool in...
for this I used a pot reserved for dyeing, since I added the
iron filings
coming out of the pot, you can see the very wet wool (left)
is quite a bit darker than the squeezed wool (right)
there was still a lot of color in the mint dye pot, so I decided
to do more yarn (did I remember to wet it first... nope)
it was so dark when it was done cooking, it was nearly black
the color gets lighter as it dries
half jar of fennel seed, water, white vinegar, wool yarn, crockpot
it took us quite a while to get all the seeds off
the color turned out to be quite similar to the tea
the coffee yarn when it came out of the sun jar
note the grittiness, which we had to brush off when it was dry
blueberry
I put the frozen whole blueberries in a pouch of cheesecloth
so that the yarn wouldn't get bits of skin in it
the second round of yarn -- in the "used" blueberry blueberry water -- gave a color almost exactly like our blackberry yarn from August 2019
as part of the
2019 Ancient Civilizations Camp, we dyed wool yarn with pokeberry (in a play kitchen pot that I don't use for real food)
and we also dyed wool yarn with blackberry
pokeberry (left) gives an incredible color but it's tricky to make it lightfast
blackberry is on the right
I have more notes about the dyeing processes we used in my previous post.
CreatureCast - Tyrian Purple from Casey Dunn on Vimeo
I'm excited to start experimenting with new things (new fibers, different combinations of dyestuffs, new weights... and even embroidery floss)! In the midst of all of the stress of staying safe and of preparing for a new school year, having this hobby has really brought me a lot of joy.
In case you're interested, here's how the Ancient Phoenicians made their incredible purple dye. Scientists finally figured it out! They knew what kind of snail it was but the actual process was lost for thousands of years. The snails were boiled in huge lead pots by the side of the sea, which means that the perfect recipe includes metal (like my mint) and oxygen (like indigo)...
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