It's 91 degrees but a real feel temperature of 101. So you know what that means? Get out your wool and avocados and get a solar dye pot going!
Yeah, this North Carolina heat is brutal and good for nothing...but harnessing the power of the sun to do good things. And I'm no fool. Our house is piled on with solar panels and it was one of the compelling reasons we chose this property. So I'm not ignorant of the eco-friendly energy the sun can produce. What better way for a fiber-lover to put that energy to good use than to dye some wool?
I attempted this process last year, after watching Christopher (aka Cabin Boy Knits ) prepare several solar dye pots using plants. I chose avocados as my plant, hoping to produce a pretty pink color. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. You can read about or watch my failure, and I encourage you to do so if you are interested in trying this out for yourself. Please, learn from my mistakes!
Believing I had determined why I barely got any color on my wool, I patiently waited for summer to roll around again. And in North Carolina, I didn't have to wait long. So I prepared another dye pot, changing only the mistakes I made the last time. I was starting to feel like a scientist, carefully manipulating my variables to maintain the validity of my research project 🔬
After three weeks I popped the top of the container to see my results.
Again....meh. There definitely was more color than the first time but none of the pinks that I expected based on the beautiful photos of others' efforts in dyeing with avocados. What had gone wrong?
It appears that the one variable that I didn't consider as a factor was my water. I have a well, and again, what could be more eco-friendly than using the power of the sun, food scraps and water from a well to create a natural dye for natural fibers? But it may be the culprit in the lack of pinks on my yarn.
The effects of the pH of my water was brought to my attention by
Michael Shawn on his
Good Morning AF podcast. Michael had just taken a dyeing class and specifically mentioned dyeing with avocados and how the pH of the water would make the dye pot more or less pink (Grab you some coffee and have a
good morning with Michael and Elizabeth 😁 ). Apparently acidic water will mute the pinks you get from avocado skins.
So I hopped it on over to my local Walmart and grabbed a pH test kit for aquariums. The results we definitive. My well water is acidic AF. And I had put vinegar in my dye pot to boot!
Long story short, I still have things to learn about dyeing wool. I have always had tremendous respect for the indie dyers that I admire. But my awe and wonder has just gone through the roof. There are so many, seemingly inconsequential, variables that one must take into consideration in order to get the desired effect and color.
But I'm not giving up yet. Trying to figure out how I can make this happen, using what I have on hand, and in the most eco-friendly way I can, it like putting together a 1000 piece puzzle. It's daunting at first but once you start making some progress, you can see the picture coming together and get excited about the anticipated completed project!
So, I'll be back for round three. Hopefully the third time will be the charm. Because I'm also hoping that fall gets here sooner rather than later. It's hot, y'all! And Fall has always been my favorite time of year. It's just the right season to start pulling out hand-knit accessories. So fingers crossed, I'll be wearing an avocado-dyed shawlette by October 🍁
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