Homespun Wool and Natural Dyes
(Page 4 of 5)
January/February 1972
by Salli Rasberry
Mordanting is a chemical process which enables colors to stick to wool, rather than wash out and fade and—most of the time—you'll need to use mordant with your dyes. Of the mordants listed in DYE PLANTS AND DYEING, the ones I've found to be best, cheapest and easiest to obtain are alum and cream of tartar.
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Stay loose when dyeing. It doesn't seem to be necessary to follow instructions to the letter, and experimenting is fun and profitable. I've found that soaking the plants for three or four days will bring out their deeper colors . . . and occasionally, when batch of dye has fermented—like the pan of onion skins I forgot for a few weeks—it has produced a whole new range of colors (and some incredible smells as well!).
Most dye plants (except for onion skins, walnut hulls, oak galls and lichens, which can be kept and dried) lose a lot of their potency when stored for long periods of time so it's best to pick, card and spin wool in the winter when the plants are not doing their trip. Amass lots of skeins of yarn (which can be mordanted way before dyeing). Come spring when the plants are out in profusion, you'll be ready to get it on with the coloring.
One last thing: I've found it invaluable to keep records of my dyeing. I document what was picked, when and where, how long it was soaked and simmered, what mordant was used . . . anything important to the process . . . and keep a sample of the plant with a piece of the colored wool. This record is handy for showing others or when making a special pattern for which you wish to duplicate exact colors.
The Navaho Spindle
R.W. LANG
The Navaho spindle or spindle whorl (also known to Nelolithic Europeans and most other primitive weavers) is a simple alternative to the costly spinning wheel. It consists of a two-foot-long straight tree branch, scraped smooth and tapered from a 1/2-inch diameter butt at one end to a 1/4-inch diameter rounded point at the other. A wooden disk, 3-1/2 inches in diameter, flat on one side and convex on the other, is drilled through the center and slipped down the rod from the pointed end until it fits snugly about one quarter of the way up from the butt . . . with its flat side facing the point. This disk is the whorl.
The wool is spun into yarn on the long section of the rod above the disk, while the butt serves as a handle or rest.
If no pre-spun yarn is available for a starter length, pull and twist some wool into a soft, fairly heavy card and attach it to the spindle just above the whorl. Twine this card around the rod and let it hang loose from the pointed end. Now add more wool by twisting one end of a new piece to the free end of the card already on the spindle, and pulling the new wool out with one hand while turning the spindle with the other to twist the fibers into yarn. Continue in this fashion, stopping occasionally to pile the finished yarn into a cone against the disk, until the spindle is full.
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