Late Summer's Gifts for Dyeing Wool

As we approach the end of summer and are just beginning to feel a chill in the air, there is an abundance of plants that make great dyes for your winter knitting projects. I just recently bought several skeins of natural white yarn made from a combination of merino wool, silk and alpaca. It's soft with a beautiful, natural creamy color that would make a great sweater on its own. But with all the colors available in nature, I decided to dye the yarn for making a sweater this winter combining the soft hues of nature.

Early one morning, my dog Libby and I set out to collect our dyes. As the golden rod is at its peak this time of year, I collected a large grocery bag full of the golden flower heads. We then stopped by the elderberry bushes and picked a small bag of elderberries. I had dried onion skins from yellow onions sitting on my counter that I had been collecting for a few weeks. In my mudroom, I had baskets of dried black walnut hulls and dried hickory nut hulls that I had collected last fall. So by the time I was done, I had a full basket of things to dye with. I then took my yarn and using ammonium alum and cream of tartar as mordants, prepared a pot of hot water. The mordant helps to break down the lanolin in the wool so that it will receive in the colors.

Next I "cooked" my nut hulls, plants and berries in pots over the stove for about an hour or more and then strained the pots. I was amazed at how quickly the colors came about. It was exciting to say the least to put skeins of yarn into each dye pot watching them absorb the yellows, purples and browns. After I felt the yarn had sat in the dye pots long enough, I rung them out and brought them outdoors. I had a small bowl of water and ammonia along with a jar of vinegar and rusty nails. I tested strands of each colored yarn into the solutions to either brighten the colors or to sadden them(which is what the rusty nail solution does). The elderberry was the most fun to work with as it would change from pink to green in the ammonia and from pink to blue in the rusty nail solution. I am so thrilled with the colors that I got and am looking forward to working with even more plants and nuts. I'll be sure to post pictures of my sweater when I finish it. Although next fall seems far away, we will be having a four day knitting retreat here at Hawk Circle next September. Along with a chance to be out in nature during one of the most beautiful times of the year, participants will learn how to dye wool, felt, knit and spin. It's going to be a GREAT time!