It's May in North Carolina so things are starting to heat up already. And I'm super excited because I'll be able to get a re-do on my solar dyeing efforts from last year. What is solar dyeing? I'm so glad you asked...grab a drink, have a seat, and read on...
I got the itch to dye my own wool a few years back when I had a go with a friend. It was using food grade dyes so everything was non-toxic. And that's an easy way to get started. (You can see the process and the results over on Episode 8 of dollbellieknits). And I was able to pair my own hand-dyed wool with some gorgeous wool from indie-dyer-extrodinnaire Jon Dunn-Ballam, owner of EasyKnits to create my version of the Bird of Fire by Sarah Wilcox. I called my shawl Water Phoenix because of the colors and my inspo while knitting.
While that was fun and inspiring, I put the notion of dyeing off to the side for two reasons. First, the yarn didn't seem to be color fast. Some of the blue came off on my hands while I was knitting it. That could have been because of having sunscreen on my hands. That seems to be something that causes an issue, as I've heard other knitters complain about the same thing happening. But I also put it to the side, because, quite frankly, I can be lazy. I didn't want to have to gather all the ingredients and stand over the stove and make sure I didn't boil the wool too hard and fast, lest it felt. Plus, I've had some bad experiences with getting food coloring in places it shouldn't be; it's why I've only made red velvet cake from scratch. ONCE. EVER.
Flash forward to Autumn 2020. I was watching another CabinBoyKnits video about natural dyeing. (If you don't know who Christopher Walker is, I highly recommend you jump over to his Youtube channel and take in some of the knowledge he is laying down. I'm telling y'all, this is quality education that he's putting out there. And it's FREE.). I started watching his videos because I enjoy his teaching style and because he dyes all his wool naturally. Although you can get some super vibrant and fabulous colors with chemical dyes, that's just not something I want to do personally and in my own home.
But this new video I was watching was about natural dyeing with plants and using the warmth and heat of the sun to do all the work. Basically, put all your ingredients in a container and let it sit out in the sun for as long as it takes for your wool to reach the color your little heart desires. I was like, whaaaat??? All natural ingredients and I don't have to do any monitoring or standing over a stove? Plus, since I had already been watching Christopher's videos, I had some avocado pits and skins in the freezer waiting for just the right opportunity. THIS. IS. MY. MOMENT.
Now, yes, it was autumn but, if you missed it at the beginning of the blog, I live in North Carolina - still plenty of heat to be had at the time of year. But after two weeks, there was still little to any color change with the wool. What had gone wrong?
There's a few things that I can think of, but I do believe the major culprit was: ME. In my best efforts to ensure that all the avocado meat had been removed, I soaked the skins and the pits in hot water. Basically, I boiled them before I used them. I think of it as re-using a tea bag; it'll still make tea, but very weak tea. And not very good.
Still, I did acheive some color - you can see my efforts and results here - and I'm not discouraged to try again. Overall, it was a fun and easy experiment. I still have a nice 100 gram skein of wool in a neutral shade and I didn't loose any money in special dyes or pots. So, if you fancy having a go, I recommend Christopher's videos and that you just do it. I'll be trying again with the same skein of wool to see if I can fix my mistake and get some more color into the wool. And if you have a go, let's see what you come up with - leave your photos and comments down below!
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