NATURAL DYEING
- ruralweaver
- May 13, 2020
- 2 min read
So excited to share with you a super easy introduction to natural dyeing with cotton, wool blend and acrylic yarns.
Welcome. Like many of you I am trying to make the most of my stay at home time. With limited supplies I was pushed into a path I had long wanted to follow.
"Don't forget all the great guacamole and avocado toast you'll be able to have!"
There is a great variation of hues that will be achieved depending on cooking and soaking times, pre-washing and water temperatures. Some use mordant some do not, skins in skins out. Since I was just testing a small batch of yarns I wanted it super simple. I felt free to experiment but I will put links on the end to more sites with a variety of instructions, one of which might work better for what you are creating.
The Pits
Because of my small handful of yarn I felt comfortable using only 2 avocados. I used a rice cooker which is nice because you don't have to watch it like a pot of water. Filled water to the top of the pits and that much again. (A rice cooker reaches a boil and will stay as long as there is water or you can set the time, alternately you can use a pot on the stove.) I had it on boil for 25 minutes and on warm in the pot for another 20. Some recipes say to remove the brown skins, I didn't but they quickly came off when boiled.
Soaking
Removing the pits I poured the liquid into a clear bowl and dropped in my threads and gave it a quick swirl. After 12 hours they were rinsed and hung to dry.
The Results
You can see from the pictures below the variation in color just by fibers. However the wool blend yarn and the thicker cotton are not a true white but more of a cream.
Cotton, different weights
Wool blend on the left and acrylic on the right
I thought the acrylic would not take the dye at all but it's a pale pink. I am happy with all the variations and will be saving up more pits.
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