Rethinking Lifestyle

Since getting my own wool spun into yarn several years ago, I have experimented with natural dyes from local materials. Although chemical dyes may produce more vibrant colour, I choose to work with plants and other natural materials I find around my farm. I find natural hues bring a connection to the seasons and land – as well as comfort that it is not polluting soil and water.

While I am not an expert in dying by any means, I have found some interesting colours and inspiration while dying my own yarn. Many plants, veggies, or fruits can be used, such as onions, avocado, black beans, coffee, and beets. I have found some of the best colours close to home. Golden rods make amazing yellow. Black beans turn my wool beautiful grey blue. And red onion skins create a gold colour sometimes ranging to hunter green. Onion skins offer a good start to dying because they reliably produce strong colour. If you keep onions over the winter, in spring, you’ll have a ton of onion skins to experiment with. There are also some common local flowers that make excellent dyes such as Yarrow, Golden Rod, Zinnia, Black Eyed Susan, and Marigold.

Sometimes the colour turns out differently than expected. When I was making sauerkraut one day, I was amazed by the bright purple colour of the red cabbage juice. Thinking it would make an excellent dye, I tried it, and was surprised that the colour came out as very light lilac rather than the pink I expected. Beets turned out to be another surprise. Although bright pink in their cooking water, they dyed my wool a chocolate tan colour.

Many factors affect final colour. Mordanting with alum and cream of tarter can make the colour more definite and long-lasting. You can find instructions for mordanting online. Also experimenting with the PH of the dye bath using vinegar and baking soda change the final colour. Adding iron will affect the shade as well. I have found it is wise to dye a little bit of fibre first to find out what colour you will end up with before making a big batch.

To start, you will need some basic tools like a large pot, a wooden spoon, and a heat source. A propane burner outside works well. Some people do solar dying and that involves leaving the fibre in the dye bath in a sunny spot. Although solar dying is easy, I find simmering the fibre in the dye liquid yields quicker, more consistent results. Detailed instructions to dying can be found in various places online.

The downside of using natural dyes is that not all natural dyes are very colour-fast, especially when exposed to a lot of sunlight. My son’s toque, which was originally an orange colour from onion skins, is now a light yellow two years after dying it. I am careful to keep my sweater, dyed with black beans, in a drawer away from sunlight when I am not wearing it. When you see the beauty of natural colours, the changeability may not bother you. When an item has lost some of its vibrancy, you could dye it again, or embrace the lighter colour for the beauty of what it is.

Changing our preference from unnaturally bright colours to enjoying natures’ beauty brings unexpected joy, variety and creativity. If you are interested in experimenting with natural dyes, don’t be afraid to jump right in and start with material close to home.