Dye Day 2014

     Last August, we had a fiber dyeing day at the farm. All natural dyes...Indigo, goldenrod, onion skins, pokeberry, madder root, annato, osage orange, (maybe others I may have forgotten). There is a little more to dyeing with natural materials than there is with dye powders out of a jar, but the process is enjoyable. In most cases, the plant material(think goldenrod) needs to be heated for a length of time to get the dye material from the plant into the water. Then the plant material is filtered out and the pre-mordanted yarn or fiber can then be immersed into the dye water. I know I am not going into great detail here for this post. Perhaps I will for the dye day we will have in 2015. I mainly just wanted to post some picture highlights from the dye day :)

Indigo skeins being rinsed and hung to help get the majority of the water out.

Look at those colors! Almost a rainbow...

The hang out tent for those either done with their dyeing or those who just wanted to enjoy the day with friends but not participate in the dyeing activities...

Dyed by D.G., her description as follows... Alpaca fleece, red dyed in Madder,  the peachy sort of color was in so many things, trying to get it to take ANY color, that I couldn't begin to reproduce  it. The yellow was in the Osage Orange for at least an hour.                                    
                                            

Alpaca hand combed top that was dyed with Indigo, by D.G..

A mixed basket of natural dyed alpaca in hand combed top form, by D.G.

Polworth/Silk blend - dyed in cochineal by D.G.

One participant's(G.M) dye day efforts all spread out in her kitchen to dry! See more below...

Fiber Dyeing for Wet Felting Workshop

I'm so excited to be able to offer the upcoming workshop on wet felting. 

In preparation for it, I needed to wash some suitable fiber and then after consulting
a few friends, decided it would be a good idea to offer some bright colors! 

 My friend Merian, (who generously offered to head the workshop)
 was happy to help with the dyeing. 

I myself have only dabbled in natural dyeing.
This was going to be mostly Kool-Aid dyeing!

How fun and interesting. I knew I would be learning something new...
I'd like to say that I helped, but Merian is a one woman show when she's dyeing! 

I've included pictures of the steps involved with this kind of dyeing.
It made some very vibrant colors..

First the (pre-washed) wool is soaked in warm soapy water.

Add kool-aid packets to gallon size plastic bag.(anywhere from one to 4 or more)

Add a glug of white vinegar(no photo for this), then add some water and make sure all of the powder has dissolved.

Add a couple handfuls of the wet fiber and then pour boiling water into the bag.

Seal the bag and gently turn bag to mix the contents together. Be gentle, you don't want to cause felting. Then let sit so the fiber can soak up the dye. The water will become mostly clear or slightly milky colored when the dye has been absorbed.

Next, take fiber out of bag, squeezing gently, then add to a bath of soapy water to wash out any remaining dye.

Drain and rinse, then squeeze as much liquid out of fiber as possible, remembering to be gentle.

Lay fiber out to dry!  Wonderful colors!!

The batts I've drum carded up so far for the wet felting!

Collecting Dye Plants

Living on a large farm gives me access to wild dye plants. The most prolific of those would be pokeweed and goldenrod.  So one day last fall I set out to do some collecting. My idea was to gather, bag and then freeze the plants for later use. I don't know for sure if either of them will thaw and still be useable.

Goldenrod

Not only is Goldenrod a wonderful dye plant, it is very attractive out in the fields. Note:14 July, just out bushogging the paths in the back fields and have noticed that goldenrod is just starting to get ready to bloom!

It grows in great waves out in the fields.

Pokeweed to my eye isn't the most attractive plant, but it does produce an abundance of berries to use for dyeing.  I haven't tried it yet, but am planning to do so this year.

I will hopefully get to thawing the plants out and determine if freezing worked or not. I will update this when I do!