not another yarn blog (spinning, weaving, and natural dyeing)

had some fun dyeing locks and letting them drip dry while watering the garden

Need some help finding better ways to photograph them for the etsy shop.  Any ideas?

Lovely colors! What did you use?

Catherine Carney wrote:Lovely colors! What did you use?

Thanks
I used the Ashford Wool Dyes.  Although not natural dyes, these acid dyes have a strict manufacturing method that prevents waste from entering the local water and when properly exhausted, I can simply pour the dye bath directly on the plants (the locks above are watering the freshly planted strawberries in my keyhole garden as they dip dry).  With natural dyes, I have to be much more careful with the wastewater because of potential toxins in the plants and mordants.  But I do like the colour of natural dyes best.

The sheep that provided this wool are called Pender and Not-a-goat.


This is wool that I was saving to have processed at the local fibre mill, but sadly that closed last year and I'm left with a big pile of wool from last year's sheering.  This years sheering should be later this week.  That's a lot of wool.  On top of that, the new normal means I'm not working so I need to find a way to transform this wonderful pile of wool into money for food (and to pay the sheerer) quickly.  I suspect you will be seeing a lot more colour here in the coming weeks.

Thank you! I'll have to look at the Ashford dye line. And loved the names of your sheep--though I'm one to talk given my senior rams are named Moo and Rambo....

I too have a backlog of fleeces, and am in the process of shearing. While many of my fleeces are natural colored (Shetlands), I do have a number of light greys that are almost white and have some dye experiments planned for lockdown. Typically my dyeing is either natural sources and relatively safe (alum, onion skins, that sort of thing), or food coloring, though I do keep dedicated dyepots that are used for nothing else (safety first, after all)....

You're not the first person who's mentioned concerns about dye toxicity. I know that tin and chrome are quite toxic and I won't use them as mordants. Oxalic acid is naturally occurring (rhubarb leaves I think?), but still a problem in large enough amounts. Do you have any recommendations for references I should check regarding natural dye/mordant safety? Thanks in advance!

Dyes and safety are a huge topic.  It's very much give and take.  So I have several measures to decide if I want to use the substance on the farm.


How does it affect my body?

With MCSS (multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome) I'm probably more responsive to chemicals than most people.  So my first test of anything I use in my crafting is "does it harm my body?"

For example, many food dyes give me blisters on my mouth (if in food) and on my skin if touched in diluted form.  So even though they are not officially toxic, I don't like the idea of using them.  Same with Koolaid dyeing - spinning the dyed wool hurts my skin and can cause some massive blisters.  

Many plants contain substances that hurt my hands when working with the dyed wool.  And many plants like rhubarb and peach bark can cause a gas that will kill a person and make me feel queezy to be near unless I can dye outside (which I don't have the set up for yet due to fire restrictions here).

Although we are not supposed to, I don't generally use gloves when acid dyeing.  Once the dye is in the vinegar solution, it doesn't affect my skin except to make it colourful.  Nor does the smell bother me as the dyes are heating.  


How was the dyestuff sourced?

Plants are easy enough to gather ethically (in a way that doesn't hurt people or plants) on my own property.  I like working with weeds and invasive species best as I get colour and dye from the same plant!  

The mordants are more difficult.  Iron I can make from rusty nails and vinegar water.  But that's a colour modifier as much as a mordant and saddens the colour (not always a bad thing).  I'm not sure where alum comes from, but I keep meaning to look it up.  

Indigo dyeing is another big can of worms that I'm learning about.  I have enough left to do several batches, but I don't know when/if I'll be getting more.

Of the acid dyes I've looked into, the Ashford ones had the best certification.  However, I did have the opportunity to talk with the Ashford family about where they source their materials and their values.  All the family and workers seem to share this value, but Elizabeth Ashford especially, is passionate about sourcing all their ingredients (dye, wood, etc) in a way that does minimal damage to the earth, is renewable, and kind to people.  The company is now going into the third generation of ownership, they understand how important renewable resources are to the earth and their business.  This impressed me and was the start of my turning point to accept acid dyes as something I can use in my crafting.


How will I dispose of the wastewater?

This is a huge thing for me.  I have a garden and a septic tank.  Just about anything not poo, pee, water, or soap can put the tank out of balance.  A lot of metals used in natural dyeing are biocides which will destroy the invisible beasties that make the septic tank work.

Likewise, many plants can produce herbicides and other biocides when boiled for dye.  Alum is used in the garden, but often not at the concentrations we use in dyeing.  I'll try and find my dye book that talks about using the correct amount of alum for exhausting the water so it doesn't harm the plants/soil/life when disposing of it.  

Most importantly, I test even "safe" dye plants by pouring a patch of the cooled wastewater on the grass.  If the grass dies (which it usually does) then I know I cannot use that water directly on my garden.  

With the acid dyes, when properly exhausted, there is no dye left in the water as it is all affixed to the fibre.  It's just a mild vinegar and water solution which I'm happy to put directly on my garden.


Does it give me the results I want?

This is something that is more user error than anything else.

With acid dyes, I can get a dye that is lightfast, washfast, and most importantly, doesn't hurt my skin when working with the wool because all the chemicals are inactive.  

With natural dyes, the results vary.  I wash my dyed fibre vigorously after dyeing (because I would rather have the dye come out now than in the finished fabric).  However, sometimes the texture of the wool changes (onion skins did this) and sometimes there are chemicals (albeit natural ones) left on the fibre that can cause it to hurt my skin.  

But I do continue to experiment with natural dyes as I think they are another excellent element to fibre arts.  When possible, I like to work with the natural wool colour, but Pender and Not-a-goat both grow an ugly yellow-white fleece, so dyeing is a good way to add value to these locks.

Thank you for such a comprehensive and in-depth response!

It's interesting when you look at plant compounds and chemical sensitivity. I wonder how many of us have sensitivity of one form or another to things and miss them because they're subtle and we're constantly inundated with various toxins from natural and man made sources.

Quercetin--the dye components in onions as well as other plants and some oaks--is also supposed to have some antiviral effects. I want to say that indigotin also has some antimicrobial effects, but it's been a while since I looked it up. Peach pits and other stone fruits pits and bark can contain cyanide precursors, so no surprise given your sensitivity that being around a dyebath of them makes you feel ill.

I haven't looked up alum sources, either, but there are some plants commonly called alumroot (also known as coral bells, genus Heuchera) that evidently are/were a source of alum. Here's one reference: https://waysofthewhorl.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/natural-dyeing-take-one-alum-mordanting-with-heuchera-plants/  Unfortunately coral bells/alum root don't grow well in my heavy clays, so I doubt I'll ever have enough with which to experiment....Rhubarb roots are also supposed to be a mordant (along with the leaves) as well as a dye, but again it's a plant that doesn't do particularly well in my heavy soil.

I tend to dye with weeds when I can, and even then never intentionally eradicate a patch unless they're something horribly invasive (field bindweed comes to mind) or introduced. One other thing as I think about "weed dyeing:" many weeds are host plants for various butterflies, so if we're going to be responsible we need to take their life cycle into account. I love the butter yellows that common milkweed gives on wool, for example, but I won't collect it in any quantity because I'd rather have it as food for monarch caterpillars.

Your comment on dyestuffs sometimes changing wool texture is interesting. I hadn't noticed that with onion skins on my wools, but I'm not always the most observant person. I do know that I've managed to make a couple of skeins of wool quite sticky by overdoing alum. You live and learn....And failed attempts can always go in the boxes for the barn cats.

My wastewater from my yarn washing and dyebaths gets put around non-edible trees here. Septic tanks are finicky enough beasts that I'd rather not put anything down the drains to upset mine!

Catherine Carney wrote:It's interesting when you look at plant compounds and chemical sensitivity. I wonder how many of us have sensitivity of one form or another to things and miss them because they're subtle and we're constantly inundated with various toxins from natural and man made sources.

That's a really good point.  When we are dyeing we are super-concentrating these chemicals (both natural and synthetic), minerals, and other substances.  So I think it makes sense that I would be more sensitive to these plants when dyeing than when just working with them in the garden.  

In a sense, you are the canary in the coal mine in regards to these (and other) chemicals, and it would make sense for the rest of us to take a good hard look at how, when, and why we use them. Just because we don't react immediately or strongly doesn't mean that they don't effect us.

I'm thrilled with how today's batch of cotswold locks turned out

While I was waiting for the sheep shearer to come, I decided to wash some alpaca locks in the garden.  The nice thing about washing alpaca is that it doesn't need hot water.  Just a hose will do!

Below is a photo of it drying above the keyhole garden and watering my strawberries.



Sheering was different this year.  Due to the New Normal, the sheerer has implemented a 6-yard policy.  No one is to go within 6-yards of him so I had to have everything ready ahead of time.  As sheerers are so few around here, and good ones even harder to find, it's very important that we keep him healthy.  He sanitized everything including the fence before interacting with the sheep. It was very strange for me not to participate in sheering and even worse for the sheep because the sheerer wore a mask and sheep are very focused on recognizing humans by their face.  

I had a very poor wool harvest this year for three main reasons.
- we had a bit of nutritional issues last spring and had to wait a few weeks to get the minerals we needed
- last year they didn't get to go to their summer pasture
- I have a bit of a genetic issue with some of my more Icelandic sheep in that they rue (lose their wool) early in the spring and it felts on their backs.  

But the Cotswold sheep did the best and the white ones made some amazing fleeces that are beyond my dreams!  That plus the massive pile of wool I was going to send to the mill, and I'll have lots to do and hope to fill up my etsy shop this spring so I might start making enough money for the supplies to make the farmstand.

i spent the last couple of days working on my etsy shop, especially the photos, and now it is time to make more stuff to sell.   cannot decide if I want to do more dyeing or maybe start catching carding batts or both.  do many decisions.

R, how do you wash the locks?

Carla Burke wrote:R, how do you wash the locks?

Normally I wash at home with biodegradable soap called orvas paste as it's the only thing that will get the grease out without hurting my skin.  (remembering to wear gloves is not something I seem capable of learning).  I first sort the wool and give it a gentle pick over, then divide the wool into small amount and put them in net bags.  I make sure the water is very hot so I do not need much soap.  If I can, I save the wastewater for use on the garden as the orvas paste is only mildly a biocide and it's great for the roses.

However, most of the locks I have for sale now were washed in the local fibre mill because I was having water supply issues that year.  

Thank you! I've been pondering how to wash my goat's angora, because it's incredibly fine-textured, so I feared losing much of it, in the wash water.  Using a bag makes an awful lot of sense. Do you think a baby-mild,  liquid castile soap, like Dr Bronner's would work? This goat wool from my does doesn't seem nearly as waxy/oily as the buck's. I think his might need something stronger - possibly even the Dr Bronner's Sal-Suds... hmmm.... much to think about!

Goat doesn't have a lot of lanolin so it won't need much soap.

The more soap you use, the more time and water needed to rinse it away.  When I'm washing alpaca, I often don't use soap at all as the goal is to get rid of a lot of the dirt and dust.  For my white alpaca, I use a pinch of orvas paste.

I haven't had much luck with Dr. B, but your water will be different than mine, so try small batches to see how it works.

r ranson wrote:Goat doesn't have a lot of lanolin so it won't need much soap.

The more soap you use, the more time and water needed to rinse it away.  When I'm washing alpaca, I often don't use soap at all as the goal is to get rid of a lot of the dirt and dust.  For my white alpaca, I use a pinch of orvas paste.

I haven't had much luck with Dr. B, but your water will be different than mine, so try small batches to see how it works.

Thank you! Good to know! We're on a deep well, but have a softener, so I'll have to experiment. Have you ever had animal dandruff to deal with? There's very little, in the does', but poor Kola was a bit of a mess. I've no idea how to get it out, unless it comes out readily, in thre washing & carding process.

I find the dandruff (scruff) is very hard to get out but if you can shake it out before washing, that would be best.  Is there anything you can do for prevention wise?  Maybe check the mineral balance or if there's a parasite bothering the skin? Maybe give some extra tree branches?  Some animals are just scruffy, but sometimes diet or environment can help.

For the next season, that's my plan. But, for this season... I have a feeling his fleece is a loss. :'(

Carla Burke wrote:For the next season, that's my plan. But, for this season... I have a feeling his fleece is a loss. :'(

Try washing a small amount before giving up on it.

inspiration