sandalwood, logwood and fustic

Oh boy, am I in trouble… one try and I am hooked.

Wood-dyed shetland

My first real session of dyeing with plants and it was pure magic! Some natural shetland yarn recycled from a jumper added into a dyebath made from soaked woodchips…

From back to front: logwood; logwood over sandalwod; sandalwood over fustic; sandalwood; logwood over fustic

Favourites- logwood over sandalwood; logwood

So I definitely want to be using materials found much closer to home- eucalypts, acacias and all our other wonderful Australian plants, as well as weeds and other exotics found around here- and investigating natural mordants like rhubarb and sorrel…. but, for a beginner, these woods were great to start on because they are so dramatic and the colour transfer happens pretty much instantly. Elizabethan colours. Wow.

For anyone interested, the Victorian Handweavers and Spinners Guild has a natural dying group that get together on the third Thursday of the month. You just need to be a member- they also have an awesome library and lots of other stuff going on if you need more incentives to join ; )

I’ll keep you updated on what these little balls are turned into! Now, off camping to the Grampians : )