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Natural and Synthetic Wool Dyeing.

Our process and colour.

The dyeing process can be split into natural and synthetic dyeing both of which we use. Our dyeing methods use natural energy, predominantly solar, and in the winter months a wood burning stove. All of the mordants used, which fix the colour to the wool, are also natural.

Natural or Vegetable dyeing.

This can be a fun method of getting colours into wool. We are fortunate of have a wide variety of plant matter on our own property and within the area. Most people are aware of dyeing with onion skins but virtually every plant produces one colour or another.I use leaves, bark, lichens, berries and flowers with a varying amount of success depending on the plant and time of year.The downside is that dyeing this way does use a lot of plant matter, often four times the weight of the wool you plan to dye, and it is therefore a time consuming process. In spite of this I am always trying out new plants and invariably have pots of vegetable matter soaking or boiling.Most of the naturally dyed wools we produce are the softer pastel or earthy shades of colour.

Synthetic dyeing.

Using these dyes produces strong, fast, vibrant colours. Our dyeing method is aimed not to give any one flat colour but rather a ‘rainbow’ effect of bright wool. This knitted gives wonderful varieties of shades within one product. As the wool is hand dyed it is difficult to reproduce an exact shade or pattern. This means that the wool you purchase will not be replicated and you will have a unique item.

We run workshops on Both natural and synthetic dyeing. Click here for more information on our Dyeing Workshops.

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