Organic Yarn Dyes

Part 1

Coming into Maker’s Lab at the beginning of this year, I thought I knew what I wanted my final project wanted to be. I was going to make a custom pair of pointe shoes. I was so sure of myself, even through the first few months of the year. But, as the year progressed, the Maker Space unfolded in front of me and my ideas multiplied. I became increasingly critical with the manufacturing process of every day objects, and whether or not they could be improved. I wanted to follow a passion of mine so that I wouldn’t lose interest in the long term project. As my love of knitting has grown exponentially throughout the year with my establishment of the knitting club and connection with my knitting peers, I decided to focus on yarn.

When I began, I wanted to go completely from sheep to sock. But, spinning wheels start at around $600, and the act of spinning is difficult and time consuming. So, I compromised with a dye process. My original thought was to create a simple dye process that was replicable and non-toxic. I turned to wilton’s food coloring and white vinegar. I ordered raw yarn and began dying mini-hanks. The yarn had good color-fastness and dyed quickly, but I was looking for an edge to my project. I brainstormed as I continued to test all the gel food colors I had. At the same time, I was doing research on mass textile dyes, and realized how harmful commercial dyes can be. Cobalt, for example, is used to dye blue jeans. Not only is it a non-renewable resource that is harvested by exploited workers, it is a carcinogenic chemical that can be hazardous to the wearer, factory workers, and ecosystems. Many of the other chemicals used in commercial dyes have a similar narrative.

Part 2

Armed with this knowledge, I set out with a question to answer. Could I provide an alternative to the harmful dyes currently in use? Once again I started from ground zero. There isn't a definitive source for plant based dyes, so I had to do extensive research, and synthesize. I found tens of sites with conflicting information. The biggest issue with plant material is the inconsistency in pigment. Depending on the ripeness when picked, the current ripeness, and the pigment, two specimens of the same plant can yield very different colors. For example, the age of roses is very important. Fresh roses produce a pink, while anything other than straight from the bush can yield a color anywhere from red to brown. Another problem I encountered were seasonal flowers. Most brightly colored flowers aren't in season until late spring, and I was too early. After searching for blue flower after blue flower, I almost resigned myself to skipping the blue spectrum entirely. Pure blue isn’t a color found in any fruits or vegetables, so I had to manipulate the dye a bit. From my research, I was realized that colors containing both red and blue, such as purple, black and some shades of green, were most easily manipulated. Acidity neutralizes the blue color molecules, rendering the shade redder, while base neutralizes the red color molecules, rendering the shade bluer. Purple cabbage is especially sensitive to alkalinity shifts, but in my first experiment, I was in for another surprise. For my acid I used white vinegar, and for my base I used baking soda. The reaction between cabbage and baking soda is heat sensitive, but my research didn’t specify if the reaction was successful at a high or low temperatures. I assumed that the reaction would be optimal at room temperature, and so I added the baking soda after removing the dye bath from the heat and allowing it to cool. Much to my surprise, this yielded green. I tried my experiment again, but adding the baking soda directly to the hot dye bath, and allowing it to cook longer. Thankfully, this produced a brilliant blue. I finished all my test swatches of plant material, particularly impressed with the yellow onion skin and turmeric. I suppose that the turmeric produced such a bright hue because it was a powder as opposed to fresh plant matter. It is much more concentrated, and doesn't contain any moisture.

Part 3

After I finished my test swatches, I still had some yarn left over, but didn’t have any more plant material. I came to the conclusion that I would then showcase dye techniques as opposed to dye composition. I wanted to tackle self striping yarn. I did some research, and constructed a pegboard for my yarn. I wound the yarn around the pegs until I had three bundles of yarn. I dyed them blue, green, and purple, and waited anxiously for it to dry. Gladly, it yielded the result I was expecting. I created a beautiful self striping yarn, and codified a technique that is quick and easy.

Overall, I learned that failure really isn’t optional. I tried plants that didn't dye, or dyed the wrong color, I spent way to many hours on my kitchen floor waiting for water to boil and for stuff to cook down, and I even made the entire Burgin smell like cabbage. But, I wouldn’t do anything differently. I loved my project. It was fun to do something that no one else had experience in, even Dave. I was exploring a new frontier in textiles, and it was pretty successful.