This week: we have posts that are outtakes from my project journal.
———————–
October 8, 2007
Curried Wool
Yesterday morning, I found this tutorial on dyeing fabric with turmeric and I couldn’t wait to try it on some yarn. In the first dyepot, the base was two hanks of the old version of The Knittery’s merino/cashmere sock yarn; once that finished, I put in some Knit Picks merino laceweight to use more of the dyebath.
A few observations:
1. I only used 2 tbsp of turmeric in my big dutch oven and it was way more than enough. The tutorial suggests 4 tbsp, but that would be overkill.
2. The spice doesn’t dissolve in the water so–due to gravity–there is a noticeable difference between the dark saffron of the hank on the bottom of the pot and the lemony hank from the top. The lace weight came out more evenly colored, except it has a nice streak of orange in the yarn that rested on grains on the bottom of the pot.
3. The turmeric solids also remain in the yarn despite ten plain water rinses. [Thank goodness for superwash wool!] To compensate, I’ve snapped the dry hanks all morning until no more dust comes out. Next time, I’d simmer the spice to make the dyebath and then strain through a coffee filter before putting in the yarn. You could easily reuse the powder again and again once it dries in the filter.
4. The yarn does faintly smell like curry, which is just fine with me! In case of clashing aromas, I stuck with plain water rinses rather than using wool wash.
ETA: I probably did add some white vinegar to my dyebath just to be sure that the colors wouldn’t fade.
I know onion skins can also give a yellow tint to fabric and it’s also nice and natural but I have to say I’m not averse to using food dyes and Kool Aid (we can’t get Kool Aid in the UK but a nice US friend once sent me some). I haven’t as yet tried it with yarn but Iguess it would work. I guess red onion skins would give a pink/purple/red hue. I don’t think you’;d get any smell from the onion skins but I could be wrong lol ;)
have you tried tying the spice powder in a some thin fabric? the colour is beautiful… what will you knit?
What lovely colors! I am not a turmeric fan so wouldn’t even have this on hand, but maybe this would make it worth getting ;-) I bet there are all sorts of spices you could use to color. Was just thinking of all of this the other day, due to the mullberries being ripe around here and they stain fingers very easily. I bet they would work as well, but I would do the simmer and strain approach.
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
Thanks for telling us about turmeric, I am SO going to try that.
Red onion skins and alum give a gorgeous green colour. No odour.
I use jelly crystals to dye, add salt and vinegar. 1 pkt crystals to 50gm fibre or yarn.
cheers
Tazzieval
http://www.tazzieval.com/
I love the flavor of curry, the color is gorgeous – but. I don’t wear yellow well…
:(
I think it’s gorgeous. One day I will give the whole dyeing thing a try.
Truly fascinated that this yarn was dyed with a spice! Such beautiful color.
wow! that is so neat! i’ve stained many a fingernail and cutting board with tumeric but it’s nice to see a place where such staining is welcome. i really love how they all turned out! especially the lace weight!
It’s interesting to see the different shades that all resulted from the same dyepot. I think your idea of filtering the dye first might be a good way to go. Mmm, smelling that yarn would probably make me hungry!
Heh, turmeric is one of my husband’s favorite spices… he’s going to bet wondering why it seems to be disappearing so quickly though…
What about tying it up in cheescloth to contain the powder some?
Love the colour! I’m allergic to curry, so I would love to enjoy it on my feet (if we could remove the scent).
Looks like this trial was a success!
That’s so pretty! And I could use tumeric around the kids… will have to check out the bulk spices at the grocery store when I’m running errands again.
Gosh that color is gorgeous. And it would be a vast improvement for my feet to smell like curry instead of … feet.
Hmmm… I have a lot of turmeric in my kitchen cupboard… perhaps I should have a little play around with some dying… it certainly creates a very beautiful yellow colour!!!