The latest darling in my dye pot is acorn natural dye. The acorns produced the perfect pewter gray shade for dyeing wool yarn. Gray is the perfect neutral shade. It pairs with almost any color, and can be used for baby gifts, toy elephants and dolphins. Gray is perfect for both men's and women's clothing and outerwear. Needless to say, I am quite happy with my latest experiments and glad to share my method with you. Preparing the Acorn Natural Dye Acorn natural dye is a fall dye that does … [Read more...]
Harvesting Natural Dye Plants
Fall is the perfect time to harvest natural dye plants and store for later use. While not all dye plants store well after being cut or gathered, quite a few will yield color just as well later, as they will fresh. You may have grown some of the plants on this list in your natural dye flower garden. If the plant contains the dye in it's roots, fall is the time for harvesting. Each dye plant has it's own specific way to harvest natural dye. When the plant, flower or nut are also food for the … [Read more...]
Naturally Dyeing Homestead Wool from Your Flock
I recently gave a demonstration on naturally dyeing homestead wool, during a gathering of homesteaders. You can completely change the look of your yarn in an afternoon. Choose the fleece or yarn you wish to dye, gather your raw materials, a few tools of the trade and simple, safe ingredients. The conference attendees were very interested in all aspects of self sufficient living and I was happy to see so many people interested in making natural dyes from plant sources. During the course … [Read more...]
Black Walnut Hulls For Dye and Natural Medicine
Black Walnut trees have stood next to our home for over 35 years. Other than dents in the roof, twisting my ankle on an unseen ball, and a source of enjoyment for my kids, I never saw much use for them. Now I am kicking myself for all the wasted black walnut harvests we could have been enjoying. I recently decided to collect some black walnuts in order to make a natural dye for our line of yarn. While researching how to make the dye, I came upon many other interesting articles and ideas. Did … [Read more...]
Pokeberry Dye for Wool and Yarns
Pokeberry dye is made from the berries of the pokeweed plant. Pokeweed is considered a perennial herb plant. The stalk is thick and often droops over under it's own weight and the weight of the berries. The pokeberries grow on stems similar to a bunch of grapes. Don't mistake them for edible grapes, however. The pokeweed plant has varying levels of toxicity depending on the part of the plant used. Although the pokeweed is toxic to humans, people have enjoyed eating pokeweed salit for many … [Read more...]
