Red cabbage creates a fugitive dye but it is a very pretty one. I’m going to dye a few different types of yarn and will mordant them afterwards with iron, and then see how they fare.

If the color mores to the yarn as well as it did to my skin, I’ll be a happy dyer.

My family is very patient with me and my smelly concoctions. Most herb-y dye plants smell like tea when I cook them. This does not smell like tea.

I could live in that green. The dye in the pot looks purple, but we shall see.

I mordanted my yarn with alum and cream of tartar; it looks like I’ll be in the purple range.

I did add some salt (I hear that it helps with fastness) and some baking soda, which gave me a nice blue-green. This is KnitPicks Gloss, a blend of wool and silk.

This is Knitpicks Wool of the Andes worsted weight yarn. The color is duller but I like it. Yes, and the lighting is different. Consistency has never been my strong suit. That’s why I like to use natural dyes. Different every time.