Saturday, August 24, 2013

Natural yarn dyeing

Yesterday I took a natural yarn dyeing workshop, hosted by the Twist Festival and given by Swans Island dyer Jackie Ottino-Graf. It was an all day workshop in Saint-Andre-Avellin, QC. And it was amazing!

As a beginner dyer I learned so much about using natural products. I also learned that if you want to replicate your work, then you have to be good at math, take notes and measure! Kind of like baking.

We worked on 6 dye baths to get a rainbow sample - red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.




There was also a little bit of free experimentation with the green and tried out cochineal.






The class was quite large (about 15 people), so Jackie was the one doing most of the dyeing, while we all looked on. We learnt how to get an extract from wood chips, and how adding modifiers can change the results of your colours.





Jackie was a great teacher, and I'm hoping to be able to take more classes with her in the future.