Hannah Thiessen is a passionate, self-proclaimed “wool obsessive”, who has worked in the yarn manufacturing, design, and production sector for the past decade. Through her books Slow Knitting (Abrams 2017) and Seasonal Slow Knitting (Abrams 2020), Hannah explores the relationship between the crafter and end project and seeks to provide a deeper, more holistic practice for fibre aficionados at all levels. On the Knomad blog, Hannah will be exploring natural dyeing on Knomad’s non-superwash bases, providing insight on the many natural dye products, extracts, and botanicals available to us, and expanding on the potential palette of color that surrounds us daily.
It’s always amazing to me when I meet a knitter who doesn’t like to swatch–swatching is sometimes my favorite part of the entire knitting process! Setting aside time to swatch gives you a moment to get to know your new yarn intimately. For dyers, swatching is one of the many ways to determine how a […]
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Sometimes, combining undyed wool yarns with fantastic, natural color is as simple as looking in your kitchen! Many compost-ready food castings actually contain quite a bit of natural color: avocado pits and skins, coffee and black tea, and perhaps one of the most surprising–onion skins! Yellow or red, the glossy skins from an everyday onion […]
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It’s always amazing to me when I meet a knitter who doesn’t like to swatch–swatching is sometimes my favorite part of the entire knitting process! Setting aside time to swatch gives you a moment to get to know your new yarn intimately. For dyers, swatching is one of the many ways to determine how a […]
Read more
It’s always amazing to me when I meet a knitter who doesn’t like to swatch–swatching is sometimes my favorite part of the entire knitting process! Setting aside time to swatch gives you a moment to get to know your new yarn intimately. For dyers, swatching is one of the many ways to determine how a […]
Read more
Indigo is often one of the first natural dyes we have a chance to try. Set up at a fibre festival, a workshop or local art studio, a dye artist prepares the vat and materials ahead of time: all you need to do is dip! Before trying this experiment, this was the only way I […]
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It’s summertime as I write this, and in the full swing of summer it’s easy to find those dependably cheery flowers: marigolds! Marigolds are ideal for the beginning gardener. They’re hardy and survive in many different environments, from Zone 2 to Zone 11, when sown as seed on the ground, and the common orange variety […]
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Madder is perhaps one of the few very well-known natural dyes, outside of indigo. This is in part because of its worldwide use for thousands of years as the primary source of reds and oranges. The dye comes from the root of the plant, which takes several years to develop as a dye source, but […]
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Logwood is a family of trees also known as “bloodwood” in some parts of the world. Found in Mexico, Belize, Central America and Australia, logwood can be found in extract, powdered, sawdust and wood chip form from many natural dye sources. I had avoided logwood for some time because I am just not a huge […]
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Where I live in the Southeastern United States, there are a lot of old, big trees. Every spring, the world transitions into a fuzzy, watercolor-like state as the trees are bristling with tiny leaves and buds. In a few more weeks, many of our flowering trees burst into full bloom or display bright, acid-green leaves. […]
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Today, I’m going to share one of my absolute favorite natural dyes with you: Sequoia, and we’re going to apply it to some really luxurious, 100% Baby Alpaca undyed yarn from Knomad, for the ultimate in knitting, crocheting or weaving luxury. If you live in the Pacific Northwestern USA, Sequoia pinecones are the […]
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