What are the best plants for dyeing yarn?
This summer, I decided to learn to garden, mostly for the purpose of dyeing yarn! I love knitting, and throughout the summer I’ve learned so much about what to grow in your garden in order to get those natural colors for yarn dyeing. Come along with me to learn what to grow in a knitter’s garden!
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Right off the bat, I recommend that you buy The Wild Dyer by Abigail Booth. This book has been amazing. I’m a hobby yarn dyer, and had so much to learn about what plants make what colors, and how to care for them.
The first thing to think about is what you’re able to grow and how much space and time you can give to it. Don’t set up a giant garden if you’re not prepared to weed a little bit every. Single. Day.
For real. Unless you’re doing a no-dig garden, most gardens are going to need weeding and all gardens need a little bit of tending to. So, stick with what you can commit to, and don’t try planting something tropical if you live in the north!
Setting up our garden has been a three year process with our 4 little kids needing us more than garden beds and fences.
But this was the summer to finally knit the garden!
Why should you knit the garden?
Any chance to do something new and fun with knitting and yarn, I’m all about it.
How cool is it to grow something from a little seedling, harvest it, and dye yarn? Then, getting to knit some socks knowing all the hard, long work that went into that process? That’s really fulfilling.
It’s so rewarding!
Gardening is a slow living hobby, and something I wasn’t ever taught in public school, and I’d love to teach this cozy skill to my kiddos in our homeschool. I think by combining it with my love of knitting is what really peeked my interest and kept me out there weeding in the heat when I might have thrown in the towel.
Where I buy my seeds:
What to grow in a knitter’s garden
1. Carrots
The carrot tops create a really pretty dusty yellow color
2. Sunflowers
Sunflower heads produce an earthy green color
3. Cabbage
Red cabbage is going to create a cool blue color
4. Indian Corn
The husks (and even the stems) create a deep maroon color
5. Onions
Red and yellow onions both create the color brown when used with iron mordant
So there you have it!
These five simple plants are all you need to produce some wonderful colors to dye and knit with.
Every afternoon at nap time, I look forward to checking on the garden to see how things are growing. The Indian corn is especially fun to visit as it grows so super tall, and you can see the maroon on the stems form pretty quickly!
Happy gardening, happy dyeing, and of course, happy knitting!
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