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Thursday, 28 May 2009

Naturally dyed wool and silk

We did a few batches of natural dyeing recently.  I spun the wool myself and the wool is Portland, an English rare breed.  We also dyed a few silk squares which my friend Sarah sourced for me.

This is my favourite.  Beautiful orange and the peachy shades to use up the dye.  From beetroot - whole plants chopped up.  We used alum as the mordant.

Yellows from lots and lots and lots of stinging nettles.  Mordant - alum.

The greens and blues and lilacs here are from natural food dye with alum as mordant again.

It is great fun experimenting with natural dyes and to see what colours we end up with.

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10 comments:

  1. Tammy28 May 2009 at 13:34

    VERY pretty. My fave is the green one. How long does the dyeing process take?

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  2. suzanne28 May 2009 at 14:38

    Hi Kelly

    What lovely wool. My fave's are the organges, greens, yellow's and lilac. Do tell what you are going to knit? If you ever decide to sell just give me a tinkle...The silk looks heavenly too. .

    Happy wool dyeing
    XX
    Suzanne

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  3. Linda28 May 2009 at 21:33

    Hello Kelly,

    I just love your natural dyes! I have been dyeing myself and it is so much fun!! Your colourways are so beautiful!

    Warmly

    Linda

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  4. Kelly29 May 2009 at 00:16

    Hi Tammy,
    Thanks! On average around a day or two depending on the chosen dye and the colour you want to achieve.

    Hi Suzanne, I will mostly knit up nappy covers - cosy little woollen wraps to cover cotton nappies. They work well, are snuggly and soft and look so lovely. You know, I am far from ready to sell anything. I feel I need to improve a lot more before I even consider.

    Hi Linda,
    Thank you for your kind words.
    Your naturally dyed wook is beautiful - the wool you have blogged about! It certainly is fun.

    Off on holiday tomorrow. Look forward to catching up in two weeks or so.

    Best wishes
    Kelly

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  5. Joy29 May 2009 at 02:11

    How pretty! I love the oranges. Such yummy yarn!

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  6. Jen30 May 2009 at 02:26

    Beautiful! I love the lemon yellow, as well. How fun! I was going through your posts and love the magical feel of your blog. The ascension day photos were amazing and streamer shots were brilliant! What fun and special times you are sharing! I'm so enjoying it :)

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  7. themagiconions12 June 2009 at 15:10

    Oh, my Gosh... I took a workshop yesterday on natural dying... I am officially an addict. I couldn't sleep last night for the imagining of what plants I am going to try. I just wish I didn't need to sleep at all... then I could craft ALL NIGHT!

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  8. Lisa15 June 2009 at 04:40

    Gorgeous! I love the peach.
    We tried pokeweed last summer and it was a gorgeous burgandy. I want to try the beetroot.

    Lisa :)

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  9. Anonymous20 June 2009 at 06:21

    Beautiful!
    I adore the process involved with a craft such as this.
    Have you read Elsa Beskow's childrens book, Pele's new suit? It speaks of the process of wool right from the sheep, weaving, spinning, sewing, dyeing...

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  10. Kelly20 June 2009 at 14:55

    Hi Gardenmama, Yes! Pelle's New Suit is a big favourite here. We bring it out each Spring. When we go off to the shearers to watch the shearing, then I choose fleeces and we go from there. Just wonderful all of it. Warms my heart so!

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