I slept on a cot near a stove, took long walks to gather plants in the morning, simmered batches of dyestuff in the afternoon, and at night, under the big sky full of stars, ate cheese and fruits from nearby farms.
After I produced yarns in about fifty different colors, I was challenged to make a final project of my own design. I came up with this vest.
I've been feeling a bit nostalgic, and thought I'd try doing some more natural dyeing this summer, but on a much smaller scale. I'm experimenting with dying small skeins of superwash wool yarn (approx. 30 yards/1 oz each) using the same method I use to make sun tea: put all ingredients in a glass jar with water, and leave it out in the sun.
I dissolved about an 8th of a teaspoon of alum (as mordant to fix the dye), added the vegetable matter and yarn to the jar, and topped it off with tap water.
The finished balls of yarn in the foreground were dyed in this method using turmeric (bright orange), spinach (yellow-green), blueberry (purple), and black beans (blue gray)--a small skein of undyed wool is shown for contrast. Steeping in the jars with some yarn are fennel, coffee grounds, and red cabbage.
If you are interested in trying natural dyeing for yourself, I've listed some particularly inspiring books below. The small batch dying is something I have come up with myself--some take a day, some take several days, some need more plant material added later.
There's a lot of room for experimenting and having fun! Would I get different colors if I added vinegar, sea water, or a rusty nail to the jar? What if I used cotton instead of wool? This could make a good science experiment for home-schoolers.
Books:
The Natural Colors Cookbook, by Maggie Pate
The Modern Natural Dyer, by Kristine Vejar
And visit Kristine's dye garden behind her yarn shop (A Verb for Keeping Warm) in Oakland, CA.
Yarn:
Huasco DK by Araucania, purchased from Coveted Yarn in Gloucester, MA
This superwash wool yarn is soft, and holds up to all the rough handling that goes with dyeing.
