Last week I assisted my mom in a natural dying and spinning class. We had twelve ambitious students who seemed to really enjoy learning to dye...color that is.
There are numerous books with natural dye recipes. "The first time I pulled the wool out of the dye pot I was hooked. I finally got the colors that I was seeing in nature," my mom told the class. It is spectacular to be able to take plants, roots, fruits, flowers, and even bugs, put them into a pot, and make color. Being with color is so much better than being without!
As a kid I remember going through my mom's studio and seeing the dyed tufts of raw wool. "We feed them blueberries to get blue wool, and grapes to get purple," my mom joked. In it's raw form, wool does look like it came from a colored sheep. But the truth is, there area a lot of variables that can change the final color. With each pot the ratio of dye stuff to wool makes the wool lighter or darker. Then there's the water itself and the type of mordant which tints the color, or leans it into different hues.
Needless to say, the final reveal can be quite exciting. Our class continued to stir their dye pots while they learned to spin, and also practiced patience while they (the pots not the students) brewed. When the time finally came to take the wool out, the colors were vibrant! Bright! Sparkling! Luscious! The most breathtaking to me was the marigold -- which makes yellow.
My mom and I decided we had to do a pot of our own. We used alum mordant and three pounds of marigolds to one pound of wool.
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| My mom and I getting the marigolds ready |
Who knew those little marigolds had a secret power? Check back to see what I make with this electric yellow!
