Introduction to Natural Dyeing

Course Details

I cannot wait for this workshop, so much so I'm keeping a space back for myself to join in! Join Liz for an introductory workshop for people curious about dyeing with plants and other natural materials. This is a very practical workshop where you will work to extract colour from plants and use it to dye skeins of wool. Liz will be helping you dye mordanted mini skeins of superwash merino fingering weight yarn and participants will take home six 20g skeins. You will use a variety of dye sources including fresh and dried plants and high quality natural dye extracts. The exact dyes will be decided nearer the time, but may include madder, weld, logwood, onion skins, Saxon Blue, tansy, dock leaves and walnut. The key elements of the workshop include: Overview of natural dyeing process Safety considerations Choosing and preparing yarn Mordanting options Creating colour from plants and extracts The dyeing process Extending the colour range using modifiers, exhaust baths and over dyeing Finishing the dyeing process Keeping dyeing records Useful resources included Getting started – the evolution of Liz's dyeing practice Specific recipes for the dyes used on the workshop There is no preparatory work required. Please do wear old clothes and bring rubber gloves and six plastic bags, so you can take home your six damp skeins. You may also want to bring an apron. Dyeing isn’t any messier than cooking, so if you are a messy cook bring an apron to be on the safe side, as some of the dye stuffs stain very easily. We will have a lunch break around 12-1pm so please bring some food with you. Also please be aware, as with all of our workshops this will be taking place upstairs in Knit With Me which is accessed via a spiral staircase. The toilets are in the basements which are accessed, you guessed it, via a spiral staircase. A little about Liz Baltesz Liz is passionate about playing with colour, both as a natural dyer and knitter. She has been experimenting with colour in knitting since the 1980s. About 10 years ago Liz noticed that here favourite yarns were often dyed with plants, so she went on a workshop at Renaissance Dyeing and got totally hooked. Since then, she has led natural dyeing classes at Unravel Festival, Wild & Woolly in Hackney. Liz loves foraging for dye plants locally, in the marshes around Walthamstow and Hackney and Epping Forest.