Steam setting your hand dyed yarn is a great, easy way to finish your freshly dyed fibre. Heat setting dyed yarn ensures the dye pigment fully bonds to the wool fibres. Any of the Knomad yarns will steam set beautifully, but today we are using MARSHMALLOW DK which is wonderfully soft and squishy.

SUPPLIES:

• Undyed yarn like MARSHMALLOW DK 100% superwash merino wool, or any other Knomad yarn
• Steamer rack or basket
...

READ MORE

When I started dyeing, I slowly gathered up the tools that I needed over the course of a few months. Now, a few years later, I have a list of tools that I would deem essential and others that are nice to have but not necessary. Today on the blog we are going to talk about all of the tools that you need to get started dyeing! Let’s build a dyer’s toolkit together.

The Essentials:

Dye pot...

READ MORE

Food coloring is a great introduction to dyeing your own yarn. Food coloring is nontoxic and kitchen safe, easy to acquire, and dyes up the most beautiful color! I started out dyeing with food coloring because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to fully commit a set of kitchen utensils to dyeing, so I wanted to test out how it all worked in a safe and easy way first. Needless to say, I was immediately hooked on dyeing overall and food coloring...

READ MORE

We tend to think of Red as a primary color, grouped with Blue and Yellow. But in the dyeing world, the primary pigment closest to the primary color red is actually magenta! Red dye is always made up of several colors, so it cannot be considered a primary pigment by definition. Technical matters aside, red is a hugely important color! The color of lipstick, poppies, tomatoes and chili peppers, I cannot imagine...

READ MORE

I have a well-documented love affair with the color pink. My childhood bedroom was painted a light bubble gum pink, at my request. I started dyeing my hair pink in 2016, even getting married with pink hair in 2019. I recently visited the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California for my birthday. We stayed in a blue-colored room but spent plenty of time enjoying the color pink at the...

READ MORE

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 fan of purple! However, as I worked my way through so many natural, wood-based...

READ MORE

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. It’s always one of my favorite parts of each season, but I also love an...

READ MORE

Purple is one of my favorite colors to work with! I primarily use my dyed yarn for embroidery work, but I do crochet and knit for fun on occasion too. When I am making things just for fun, I always find myself drawn towards shades of purple. Figuring out which purple is best can sometimes be a challenge. Some shades of purple lean more red or warm-toned and others are more blue or cool-toned. Purple can also be a tough color to...

READ MORE

  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 source of this dye--if you happen to live near redwoods that are not protected within a national park, you...

READ MORE

  Better for the Earth, and better for you — we know you care about choosing sustainable yarns. Knomad is an independent brand, but our strong relationship with our partner mill in Arequipa, Perú gives us the ability to create a collection of bare yarn with an eye on sustainability.    READ MORE