This is handspun merino wool yarn that I used for my sample dyeing. I gathered lots of black walnuts and left them covered with water in a black 5 gallon bucket which was left out in the sun for about a month. Wednesday, I scooped out a bunch of the dark brown water and heated it up. It smelled horrendous! I will definitely need an outdoor set-up for dyeing.
I brought the nasty concoction to a boil and not being able to stand the smell anymore, took the pot to the back room, dropped a snippet of yarn in, and clamped down the lid. After spraying air freshener everywhere and lighting several candles the house still smelled bad and I was grateful for once for my allergies.
Last night I opened the pot and fished out the yarn. Very little color came out in the rinse and it was a pretty rusty brown. The picture shows it being much darker, richer red than it is. I'll have to try to get a more true picture another day. Today, I am subjecting my family to more of the same in order to dye a bunch more merino -this time in unspun fiber. This will then be combined with some golden tan angora and dark chocolate mohair and spun into yarn. The project I have in mind for this is a lacy lap blanket using a pattern adjusted from a pre-civil war doily pattern. It is the November Knit along for one of the groups I'm on in ravelry.
Here's the pattern and pictures of what it'll look like:
http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2007/08/hemlock-ring-blanket.html
I'm not sure if black walnuts grow in southern England to be sure this counts for my challenge, but it at least gets me started in natural dyeing.
Ok, I hear the pot boiling, it's time to add the fiber
-Jayne
No comments:
Post a Comment