If you Knit, Crochet, or Weave, check out some of these beautiful 100% wool yarns, all dyed this past season with native plants, and an insect! The colors are warm, the wool is soft, and I have various amounts available!
Yes, I do get carried away when fall dyeing time comes around and always end up with much more than I would ever use. So if you'd like to see what I have, please contact me at highlandlady53@embarqmail.com
Some of the skeins have been dyed with the wood and bark of Eastern Hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, collected from trees that have fallen and succumbed to the hemlock adelgid that is quickly destroying a once nobel tree of our eastern forests. Nice light browns to tan, and sometimes a hint of copper, are acheived dyeing hemlock in brass, copper, and/or iron pots.
A time consuming, yet gratifying color, comes from species of the mint family, Mentha species. I primarilly use spearmint and peppermint which spread rapidly in the garden. After slowly heating the dyepot for about 5 to 6 hours, the wool yarn takes on a nice shade of light to dark grey. I have a few skeins left that have been dyed with a mixture of mints.
Another favorite are the golds you will see in the basket of yarn in the top image. This great color is derived from the ground wood of Osage Orange, Maclura pomifera.
And did I mention an insect? Believe it or not, a small scale insect called Cochineal, lives on Opuntia cactus and produces beautiful shades of reds, purples, and lavenders. I have dyed all of my yarn in an iron pot, which resulted in some nice smoky lavenders. And fortunately, there are no bug parts in the skeins!
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