# My first dye job: Dyed with black walnuts from my yard



## amoamarone (Feb 21, 2015)

I decided to dye this cheviot wool, originally white. I put the whole black walnuts with their husks in a large canning pot, added water and let them soak outside for almost a week.

I simmered them for 30 minutes, let it sit over night and lifted the canning tray with walnuts out of the liquid. I should have then strained this because lots of bits remained in the dye bath, unknown to me. Rookie mistake.

I heated the dye bath and then added the wool and let sit until cool, removed, rinsed several times (added a bit of white vinegar to the last rinse) and dried. I thought it would be darker, but am pleased that it came out this color since I have several other dark brown yarns. Maybe I'll use them together once I have time to spin this!

I put some coarse New Zealand BFL that was an ugly gold color into the dye bath (after straining it). I am going to leave it longer to see if the color becomes more saturated. A good experiment, especially since I don't love this wool. 

Once it is dry, I need to shake, pick, and card out the vm. It is partly dry and I am happy to say that much of the gunk is just falling out. Lucky for me!


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

What a lovely color. And it looks like you have a lot. Very nice so congrats on your first time turning out so well.


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## BirchPoint (Feb 12, 2016)

Beautiful color. I tried the same thing, but my wool turned out even lighter. Here I was, afraid after forgetting it for a few weeks, that I would end up with dark, dark brown wool. Not. I like yours better....


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## desireeross (Jun 2, 2013)

Gorgeous colour


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## FiberQueen (Aug 23, 2012)

I love the color.


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## luree (Feb 21, 2014)

Pretty. Your hard work paid off .


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## Silverpeep (May 3, 2016)

Very nice color!


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## bethshangirl (Jan 23, 2013)

Caramel! Beautiful colour...


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## crafterwantabe (Feb 26, 2013)

Looks great!


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## amoamarone (Feb 21, 2015)

Dances with Wool said:


> That is a beautiful shade. Reminds me of caramel


Thank you! Love your user name!


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## inc1961 (Jul 15, 2015)

You could achieve a deeper/richer colour with mordant wool. Alum comes to mind but there are many.


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## Babalou (Jun 3, 2012)

The color is really pretty. Like you, I would have thought it would be darker.


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## spins2knit (Jul 29, 2013)

That is a wonderful color. It will accent your darker browns beautifully.


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

Lovely, a good result for just winging it. Looks good enough to eat!


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## Maginel (Mar 1, 2015)

Good fortune that you have the tree and many more dye pots if you wish. The roving is lovely, you will enjoy the spinning of it.


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## amoamarone (Feb 21, 2015)

inc1961 said:


> You could achieve a deeper/richer colour with mordant wool. Alum comes to mind but there are many.


Interesting. I was told I didn't need to mordant the wool because of the tannins in the black walnuts. Then I did some reading and it says deeper colors may be achieved if you mordant the wool. Another source suggested mordanting part of the wool to get different colors. I think I'll try that too. So much to learn!


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## Spooly (Oct 22, 2011)

Love the color. It will work well with the darker browns. Thanks for sharing your adventure.


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## not enough yarn (May 29, 2012)

Very pretty color.


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## sockyarn (Jan 26, 2011)

Lovely cinnamon color. What did you use as the mordent?


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## Spindoctor (Sep 6, 2016)

Pulverizing the black walnut husks would extract more dye. Pre-mordanting the wool will also give you more fixed colors. The color you have is lovely. If you want a much darker color, iron as a mordant will give dark colors. I love natural dyes because you are never quite sure what you will get--the ultimate "dye lot"! May I suggest The Modern Natural Dyer by Vejar. There are lots of books on natural dyeing. Once I was on vacation and dyeing silk. A friend called and asked what I was doing--I said "dyeing". There was silence on the other end and he finally said "I hope that is with a Y".


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## amoamarone (Feb 21, 2015)

sockyarn said:


> Lovely cinnamon color. What did you use as the mordent?


I didn't use mordant because the tannins in the walnuts do that without adding anything.


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## amoamarone (Feb 21, 2015)

Spindoctor said:


> Pulverizing the black walnut husks would extract more dye. Pre-mordanting the wool will also give you more fixed colors. The color you have is lovely. If you want a much darker color, iron as a mordant will give dark colors. I love natural dyes because you are never quite sure what you will get--the ultimate "dye lot"! May I suggest The Modern Natural Dyer by Vejar. There are lots of books on natural dyeing. Once I was on vacation and dyeing silk. A friend called and asked what I was doing--I said "dyeing". There was silence on the other end and he finally said "I hope that is with a Y".


Thanks so much for the information. So much to know and so many helpful people here. I'm glad you were dyeing and not dying! Made me laugh!


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## Goodshepfarm (Jul 20, 2014)

Love the color!


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## Ettenna (May 3, 2013)

Beautiful color - curious how resistant to washing and light the color will be.


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## sbeth53 (Mar 29, 2011)

Lovely result...the color is beautiful.


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## Spindoctor (Sep 6, 2016)

Black walnut is light and wash fast.


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## joelbears (Mar 4, 2011)

Black walnut was my first dye too. I picked up the scraps the squirrels threw away from the bottom of the tree. My wool came out that same color. I did not use mordant as the tannin's made it color fast. Sure miss the old days.


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## amoamarone (Feb 21, 2015)

Ettenna said:


> Beautiful color - curious how resistant to washing and light the color will be.


It probably won't be washed that often, but I have no idea what to expect!


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## amoamarone (Feb 21, 2015)

Spindoctor said:


> Black walnut is light and wash fast.


Good to know! Thank you!


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