I'm very interested in everything related to dyeing wool. I've read a ton of articles on this topic, seen thousands of pictures, and a couple of years ago, I experimented with natural dyeing myself. Let me share a few of my experiences and start with the leaves of the European copper beech (Fagus sylvatica f. purpurea).
I collected 117 grams of leaves (which I found in the park after a strong wind) and soaked them in cold water (1.5 liters).
Now, I prepare the yarn—50 g / 140 m, superwash, made of 80% wool and 20% polyamide. I wash it and soak it in 0.5 liters of water with 50 g of citric acid.
The yarn and leaves will stay soaked overnight.
On the next step, I add 2 tablespoons of 25% acetic acid to the leaves and simmer them on low heat for a little over an hour. By the end of boiling, the water turns a very pleasant pink color!
Now, I just need to wait for the dye to cool down.
The dye has cooled down to 35–40 °C / 95–104 °F, so I put in the pre-wrung yarn. Of course, to get an even color, the dye needs to be strained, but I actually want tonal gradients. That’s why I place the yarn at the bottom, cover it with leaves, and put it on very low heat (I have an electric stove, so I set it to 3 out of 9). The yarn is superwash, so it can even be boiled, but I want to slowly heat it and try to maintain a high temperature for about an hour without bringing it to a boil.
Important observation: drops of dye that accidentally fell from the spoon I used to stir the leaves turned from pink to blue-green after a few hours. I try not to open the pot lid unnecessarily.
After one and a half hours of heating, I turn off the pot and leave it until morning.
In the morning I check the yarn.
The water is still pink, just like the yarn. Note the difference in colors between the plant (cotton tie) and protein (the yarn itself) fibers. After rinsing, the color should completely fade from the cotton.
I rinse the yarn in running lukewarm water and soak it for half an hour in a fixative (I use DEKA L).
And here is the final result: I got an even light brown-pink color with barely noticeable green gradients.
