no ugly color

Just wanted to display here two photos I've been taking recently, and that fill my heart with happiness. Since I've started dyeing with plants, I've become more & more aware that there is NO ugly color. Even a soft, subtle, washed, fainted, weathered, even slightly muddy or dusty color, can be very charming & interesting, on its own, or mixed with other naturally dyed (or natural, earth friendly -linen, hemp etc-) fibers.

from front to background :
avocadoe skins
italian buckthorn (berries)
onion peels
and er, I can't remember, oopsie

from front to background :
avocadoe skins exhausted bath (2 times) + iron (rusted bits)
alder cones exhausted bath (2 times) + iron (rusted bits)
onion skins (dyed last year)

I am now extremely looking forward to be using all of these delicious fibers !

dyeing whith what I had

I haven't been out for picking things for dyeing for ages, or so it seems. It's been practically four months though ! I had three exhausted dyebaths in the fridge, which took kind of lot of room (a total of 5 bottles of 1,5 liters) So I decided that, since I can't go pick natural material for dyeing anytime soon (very busy hubby), I shall use what I had. It had to be doubly interesting. First, it would give me some room back in the fridge, and also it would mean I am actually dyeing something, which I was kind of eager to.

I used 2 of the 3 dyebaths : avocadoe skins, and alder cones, both exhausted. I mordanted lots of bits & bobs yesterday afternoon, and I had other several small pieces to dye, so I ended my Sunday dyeing with avocadoe skins dyebath, and I started my new week dyeing with alder cones dyebath. It made me so happy, it was kind of silly ! Since I knew it wouldn't give much color (since they were exhausted & since I used almost exclusively cotton fibers, which don't take well), I decided to use rusted bits & pieces that I've been collecting here & there.

I let the avocadoe skin bath soak overnight, with the rusted bits in the jar, it's been rinced,  and is now almost dry. The alder dybath is still soaking. The avocado + iron (rusted bits) gave a greyish pale pinkish hue. (kind of hard to describe), and the alder promise to be more interesting. I hope I'll get to pick some alder cones before they are all gone (maybe they already are ...), it seems to be a good source of color, and the material can be stocked easily (cones won't rot or something, they're already dry !)

avocadoe skins dyed (exhausted dyebath + iron), drying

alder cones dyeing (exhausted dyebath + iron), soaking

I am really looking forward to rincing this one, letting it dry & see what it gave. In the meantime, I really shall work with what I have already, which is a lot.

All in all, I was very satisfied to be decluttering my fridge & to be dyeing again ! Here's to a satisfying start to the week !! :) Thanks for reading & stopping by !