How to dye yarn with Avocado

[@pip-woollycwtches]

Thank you i learnt a lot. Amazing the difference between the water and snow. I’m off to collect everyone’s avocados 🥑 😉

[@MikiCrespo]

Excellent 🥑🥑🥑 thanks so much for sharing 🥑

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Maria, thanks for watching.

[@guineverecassidy4855]

Those are some of my most favorite colors. It amazing that an avacado holds within it that color possibility.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Guinevere, the Avocado 🥑 is pretty amazing.

[@toomiepal]

Great episode and wonderful to see the beautiful colors you get with avocado! Interesting that you don't need a mordant with the pits and skins. Best wishes for more winter.

[@karenz7059]

What a great fade/gradient all 3 made. Love the colours

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Karen, thanks, I will have to find a pattern that works well with the colours. Cheers

[@MelliaBoomBot]

Ive only learnt about dyeing with avocado today and it is lovely. I prefered the shade after using the iron. incredible thank you

[@cabinboyknits1816]

MBB, I am glad you enjoyed it. Have a great wknd.

[@sunnyw4148]

Avocado is one of my favorite dye sources. I don't have enough room to put in the fridge so I just wash the pit and put them in a bag on the counter. No skins. I recently dyed with some that are probably two years old and the color was great. Will need to play with water source. Thanks again for lots of fun tips

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Sunny, thanks for watching.

[@cwdresmker]

Fantastic tutorial! My local Mexican restaurant always saves me pits & skins. I need to experiment a bit more with types of water.

[@britdowson8324]

Totally enjoyed this. Thanks

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Thanks Brit. Cheers

[@britdowson8324]

Do you keep the rusty nails in the jar and keep topping it up?

[@mamiearmaly1133]

I'm not a dyer but enjoy watching your dying episodes. I find them very interesting, so thank you!

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Mamie, thank you so much. I enjoy making them.😊

[@kimanderson2771]

Great colors! And I love the science/effects of the different waters and the iron. Thank you :)

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Kim, thank you.

[@elvirakammerscheid6340]

I'm from Germany and I really enjoy looking at your experiments, there are many things that are new to me. I like your ideas very much and I feel inspired to implement them. I hesitated for a long time to put the avocads in the water that I had collected over a year. At the moment, wool is still pulling a little in the dye water. I'll take it out tomorrow. Thanks for encouraging me. Keep it up!

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Elvira, you have not idea how happy your comment made me feel. Best of luck with the dyeing. If you have any questions, please do to hesitate to ask away. Cheers and best wishes from the Cabin 🇨🇦

[@elvirakammerscheid6340]

@@cabinboyknits1816 Hello there! I'm happy about your nice answer and I actually have a question for you. Today I boiled ivy with the ultimate goal of getting green wool fleece to spin. As far as I know, I have to add iron to it. Should I add the iron directly to the dye liquor or add it later? It's 200gr. Fleece. The color of the avocado coloring has turned out very nice and has remained soft. I'm curious about spinning. warm greetings to you!

[@weereeree8553]

Christopher, what an educational and astonishing avocado dye experience! I thank you a lot for this, not at least because you are so inspiring and helping in my owen botanical dye adventure... and yes!: its always a good time with you in your vlogs and tutorials, which I value a lot... and share and discuss e.g. with one of my gardening friends or in a spinning group with countrywomen ;-), which is some sort of strange fun... Greetings from Germany, Werner

[@kim-marietomlinson3782]

Thank you for your advise and help/ I have a pan of advocados warming but my dye looks quite brown (Not Has avocados sadly.) You give me confidence to mess around with the process and look at is as fun.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Kim-Marie, you are very welcome.

[@BudderBean]

My 2 favourite things yarn 🧶 and avocado 🥑! Thank you so much for uploading this ! You got yourself a new friend 🇨🇦

[@cabinboyknits1816]

With a name like the Knotty Canuck, I feel privileged. Thank you for watching. 😊

[@stephanieschmiedeknecht5330]

Does this work with muslin and/or silk??? I am new to this world of dyeing ... love your videos!

[@mydailyfiber]

I have a million acorns and pinecones. I would be so happy to find more uses for these with wool and my crafts. Do you do anything with those? I'm baffled. Great video. I love the 3 colors!! Beautiful. Thank you. 😊

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Michelle, acorns are great to dye with. You can also use them as a mordant. Check out my episode on how to dyeing with Oak kzbin.info/www/bejne/paGchKebfsalbc0 I have not used pinecones in a dye bath. Thank you for your questions.

[@sheilamurphy9079]

Gorgeous colors!

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Thank you Sheila.

[@arlettem.garcia6831]

Wow! That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing 😊. Learned something new today!

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Arlette, i am glad you got something out of it. Cheers

[@Battymefibers]

You explain everything so well. Great idea to use 2 water sources. Is it the PH that's different? Love your podcasts!!

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Cynthia, thank you 😊

[@nammyg7052]

This was so interesting. The colours are beautiful. I really enjoyed it

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@dollbellieknits]

I love your videos, Christopher! I learn something new every. time. Did you pre-mordant the yarn? You should teach some master classes at the cabin. I would totally sleep in a tent for that and that's a big deal for me. I've only slept outside in a tent once and let me tell you, there was a lot of crying involved in that! 😭🤣😬 Great camera work, Jamie!

[@cabinboyknits1816]

dollbellieknits, i did not pre-mordant the yarn. The pit and skin has enough tannin in them. They are both the dye and the mordant. Post covid i will definitely have more dye classes at the Cabin. Are you ok with howling coyotes and screeching owls. 🦉 😱😉😊

[@dollbellieknits]

@@cabinboyknits1816 I'm okay with them if they're ok with me, cuz I'm telling you - I'll give em a run for their money!

[@pacrossett]

Loved this! Thanks.

[@CurlySeams]

Really enjoyed your tutorial. I’m tempted to try . Couple of questions... what do you use to wash the yarn after it comes out the dye pot ? And how colour fast is natural dye? Thanks so much. Tracey

[@catrionabaird3756]

Really interesting Chris! Love all 3 of the colours...especially together.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Trina, thanks.

[@conniemackay3096]

What a great video. Very educational.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Connie, thank you for watching.

[@beritblackie3168]

Totally love it! Thank you! I’m brand new to this & im learning so much from you. Sadly we don’t get a lot of snow here in the south of England 😉

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Thank you Berit. Some of my family is from England. I am looking forward to visiting again soon.

[@roseolive8]

I love the colours you made. My question is what colours you could expect if you only used the pits or only used the skins

[@zepma11]

That was fantastic, thanks for showing this, I’m super excited about the iron!

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Thanks Melanie.

[@mariedeyo7399]

Nice video👍Walnut Skins make such a dark color also. I like to dye with foodcoloring or with easter egg color, Onionskins, blueberries, rutabeka, nettle or birch. Calendula and peonies and curcuma work also. 🌻🙂 thank you for sharing, take care. 🙋🏼‍♀️

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Marie, thank you for sharing. It looks like you have so many great plants to dye with. 😊

[@mariedeyo7399]

@@cabinboyknits1816 just plants that anybody can get and most of it are old old sorces of colors that have been used already by grandma's and great grandma's to dye easter eggs or sheepwool. I startet working with a spinningweel 2 years ago and I wantet to dye my wool. So I just read up on it what I could find and just tried out. I try to teach my self things, like Spinning. 🙂 and watch others on KZbin. There is always something to lern.

[@karenfarmilo3067]

Thanks Christopher for sharing the process. Always amazed at the finished colours!

[@carolbulmer8253]

Another great podcast! I recommended you to Lindsay of the Wooden Nest Podcast. She is a Botanical indie dyer as well.

[@valeriecalderon2993]

Thank you Christopher; I will be dying some of my Lincoln Longwool yarn. I am a shepherdess with a small flock of sheep. I have 1 white Lincoln Longwool, 2 grey Romney, and 1 white Romney. I also have 2 angora bunnies- 1 black and 1 brown. I eventually want to mix their fiber with my wool. I hope to see more videos of dying with natural material. Cheers!

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Valerie, your farm sounds fantastic. Lincoln longwool and Romney are wonderful sheep. Thank you for watching 😊

[@KateColors]

Thank you. I just bought some yarn to dye because I am really having a hard time finding a certain peach color I want to make a sweater withl I had seen some hand-dyed yarn at a yarn crawl a few years back and the woman said it was a "mistake"--her dyeing with avocado! I LOVED the color and I've been in search for it since! So, this is a very timely video for me! I'll let you know how it turns out! I have to go learn about our town water and will definitely have to try ocean water--I'm on Cape Cod! I have a feeling this will be another gift my love of the ocean will give me. 💝 Thank you! --KateColors

[@spinningprodigy4330]

i use tap water when i dye the cochineal. wonder if that why i always end up with a pink.

[@janikabertone5566]

So very interesting!. great lesson.b thank you

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Janika, thank you for watching.

[@nathalielamoureux9538]

Your passion is sooo contagious! Thank you for the video, it’s really interesting:-)

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Nathalie, I am so happy you caught the passion . Thank you for the nice comment. 😊

[@donnacarmean4303]

This so interesting!

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Donna, thank you for watching.

[@BernardDauphinais]

Awesome results. How exciting. I'll be trying this soon. Thanks.

[@cheryldowd6916]

Totally loved this. I will be moving in April to my daughter’s who lives in California. She lives in Fallbrook which is the avocado capital of the world. I want to try to dye when I get out there. She is also near the ocean. I never thought of using the ocean water so I will try that too. It really doesn’t matter to me what you use but I would love to see more demos in dyeing from you.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Cheryl, Fallbrook sounds beautiful. Thank you for your sharing and watching 😊

[@plansandprocrastination]

Did you go on to reuse the remainder of the color in the dyepots for lighter shades of yarn? Have you ever boiled a pot down to concentrate the color for later use?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

cfkansas, I love your questions. I definitely reuse the remainder of the colour in the depots until I exhaust the dye bath (no more colour coming out). I have reduced colour down to a concentrate will wood bark. I find it challenging to do that with flowers because, temperature can greatly impact the colour. Boiling a flower dyepot can often end up with a dull brown colour. Cheers

[@hawthorngrove3629]

Wow, they are fantastic colours. Did you use a mordant before dying?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

HG, no I just used the tannin from the avocado pit and skins. I have noticed a slight difference in colour if you use alum as a pre mordant. Thank you for your question.

[@denisewilliams1331]

Did I miss it or do you not need a mordant when dying with avocado? Is it because of the have tannin? I’ve been saving pits and skins this winter, the snow should not be a problem 😂 Thanks for the video and take care

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Denise, the tannin is in both the pits and the skin, therefore you don't need to apply additional mordant. 😊

[@lauracourtemanche3745]

No you do not

[@roxirossetti6250]

Well that was fascinating, Christopher! I would use all those in a fade project. By the way, I got my Annabel multi and Indigo SW merino from your shop opening - wow, that is some gorgeous wool! I will try other wools from your shop. They are just stunning.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Roxi, thank you so much. I am glad you like the yarn.

[@lyrebird9749]

Hi, it was interesting to see the difference between water types but did you test the pH of either the well water or the snow ?

[@patriciaanderson6900]

You are amazing! I love watching you dye yarn it's crazy how you can't take one thing and get so many color varieties. I have a question do you save your left over dyes and if so how do you store them? I don't dye yarns just knit with them, but you have really sparked my interest😊 Thank you for sharing❤

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Patricia, I usually exhaust my bath (no colour update left in the bath) before disposing the depot. Depending on the depot, it will put it back in my garden.

[@alexandrabegg5522]

Thanks for this uncomplicated tutorial! I’ve been saving avo skins & pits. Now just need to get some natural yarn. Also saving onion skins - do you have any experiences to share?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Onion skins are one of my favourites. I use alum as a mordant.

[@nicoledemargerie8356]

Great video! Thank you. How long did you put the yarn in the iron bath? Thanks.

[@littleSallyJo]

One question springs to mind: Was your yarn pre-mordanted? Thanx. Really enjoy your content!!

[@yvonne2203]

Thank you for these videos. I have found them extremely helpful in my natural dyeing journey. I will be dyeing a skein with Avocados soon, and I was wondering if I can save the dye water for later, or if I need to use it all up right away. If I can save it, do you have tips for how and for how long? Thank you!

[@anneoc231]

I wonder what Jamie does with the avocados?

[@janetthird9947]

Can you sun dye with avocado too? Plus mordant? Thanks, love the show!

[@daniellebourgie892]

Maybe a stupid question but does the fact that your snow pot was smaller than your well pot (less water same amount of avocado) have an effect on the color as well as the difference in chemical composition? Love both colors.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Danielle, that is not a stupid question. If one pot hold less water than the other and you add the same amount of pits/skins, the colour in the smaller pot will be deeper. The two pots I used hold approximately the same amount of water, short fat vs tall and thin. I realized when I was editing this episode that I should have put the shorter pot closer to the camera. Thanks for the great question.

[@meadowsweetfarmfiberartsdesign]

Awesome!!! Love your colors and the variety is nice!!! Thank you! What was your base yarn?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

MFFADS, I used blue faced leicester BFL

[@meadowsweetfarmfiberartsdesign]

@@cabinboyknits1816 one of my favorites! I love the yarn I purchased from you and the bag is beautiful and so roomy❤️

[@zoyamichel215]

Throughly informative- loved seeing the difference in the two liquids - I was thinking that the snow is natural thus the darker color, whereas the well water is going thru pipes of some kind. I might be wrong about my conclusion?

[@barbkean6672]

As usual, a great video, very informative. Well guess what I did? I rinsed all my pits and skins then left them to dry, I didn't put them in the freezer. Can I still use them, ? If not time to start collecting again. I have a great source, my sister works in the produce department of a grocery store. Score.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Barb, you can definitely use the pits and skins so don't throw them out. Happy yarn dyeing.

[@irisvannoort4423]

How do you use the iron dye bath? Is it just water with the iron solution? Love the video. Eager to try it. My iron solution is ready.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Iris, I added the iron solution (1 tbls) to a pot of water. Best of luck with your iron solution.

[@theresabrook6123]

Very instructive video thank you. Two questions…. What type of wool did you use and when you say you “washed” it after dyeing, did you use detergent or rinse it with plain water?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Theresa, for instructional episodes I usually use BFL Bluefaced Leicester or Merino. After dyeing, I just use water to wash, however on occasion i will use SOAK. Thanks

[@evelineblok4103]

Great to see this and thank you for the tips! One question: Did you pretreat the yarn before dying or did you just made the yarn wet?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Eveline, I washed the yarn ahead of time, however I didn't pretreat it with a mordant because there was enough tannin in the avocado to mordant itself. 😊

[@zeldad5573]

OMG I just picked up a large bag of avocados from the grocery store. I will save the pits and skins and do some dyeing later. Question, when the pits and skins are taken out of the freezer are they defrosted before being placed in the dye bath or placed in frozen? Now to get some white wool!

[@beckydraper9913]

Great dying information, what do you do with leftover dye in pot? Do you dye more with it?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Becky I use the dye in the pot until the dye pot is exhausted (no more colour coming out.) The late colours are not as intense however they serve a purpose and will be left as it or I will dye over them with another colour.

[@tgrsparrow]

Hey random question: if well water has iron in it, does that count as a mordant for other dye baths?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Lil, it depends on how much lead you have in your water. I would guess that there is not enough. I would add more iron or another mordant to your dye bath.

[@lisavitale8410]

Do you use primarily wool yarn when dyeing with avocado 🥑? Or can the yarn be made from any material?

[@williamgair3230]

you said first "let sit over night" then said "it simmered over night." Which one?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

William, I meant to say, I let it simmer and then turn the stove off and let it sit over night. Thanks for asking. Cheers

[@MorriganShay]

Is the yarn pre-mordented? How light and washfast is it?

[@lauracourtemanche3745]

Can you provide more information on iron. Do you use the vinegar water ? Or do you just use that to get the rust started....

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Laura, I fill up a mason jar with 2/3's water and 1/3 vinegar and then add rusty nails or anything with rust on it. The ( acetate acid) in the vinegar reacts with the rust on nails to create the iron solution. The solution is very strong and can alter a dye bath colour very quickly. I only add at Tablespoon of the iron liquid to the dye bath. You have given me an idea to create a how-to episode on mordants. I hope this helps. Thank you

[@lauracourtemanche3745]

@@cabinboyknits1816 thanks. I do mini videos on my face book page for a long time now. Every day is an opportunity to learn something.

[@jenngrado3923]

How many hanks of yarn would you recommend you can use in that big pot?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Jenn, i like to have enough room so that the yarn can freely move around. In this pot I did 4 at a time. Thank you for your question.

[@trishbecker4202]

Could you please tell me if you keep the water simmering overnight? Also, how many times can you use your avocado water or do you discard it after a single use? Thank you for your great video.

[@cabinboyknits1816]

Trish, I let it simmer and then turn the stove off to let it sit overnight. I reuse the dye bath over and over until it is exhausted (there is no more colour coming from the dye bath). Thank you for your questions.

[@trishbecker4202]

@@cabinboyknits1816 thank you. Hope you’re both staying warm and cosy.

[@williamgair3230]

Another question :) I know the iron acts as a mordant but what about the one you didn't use iron. Did you set the color with vinegar or is that not needed?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

William, I didn't need to use an additional mordant because the tannin in the pit and skin was enough to set the colour.

[@TeamarieDR]

No mordant? Correct?

[@cabinboyknits1816]

The mordant is the Avocado pit.

[@alsoarty1]

But isn’t it that the snow water was less water used, and the same amount of avocado?

[@cleaberge9395]

Why did I think the avocado colour would come out green?

[@barbaraw1327]

I enjoyed listening and learning the info you presented. One of the best podcasts I have encountered. With regards to the subject matter of dying yarns I have a mason jar of pickled beet mixture sitting on my kitchen counter since I pickled beets last fall. Not sure why I saved it. It’s simply water, sugar and white vinegar. Originally it was a light, see through colour but now it is very dark. I noticed that the liquid in the filled beet jars is the same but not as deep a colour. We have filtered water in the apt I rent in Kitchener. I have 3 skeins of yarn I obtained from somewhere and my plan is to used them to see what the colour is. Do you have any info on why the colour changed or why or is this normal and I just never noticed this happening before. Thank you for your informative and entertaining podcasts Barbara

[@laurascholz7334]

Wish I could have seen it dry.

[@chrissiebury5339]

Thank you. Don’t you need to fix the dye with salt.