Red Cabbage & Turmeric

No, this is not a recipe.... not for food, anyway. After checking this book out from the library, I decided to give natural hand dyeing a shot. It was a lot of fun, and I'm definitely going to be doing more of this in the future - I loved the whole process! I had in mind a purple color mixed with hints of yellow, so I decided to give red cabbage and turmeric a try. First I simmered half a red cabbage for about 45 minutes to make the dye, then I stuck in my wool. Since this was my first try, I didn't want to use anything super nice, so I used a couple of skeins of Paton's wool in white I had in my stash.

I absolutely loved the color the dye made - such a rich purple! I added a little lemon juice to bring out the pink in the dye, then mixed in literally a sprinkle of turmeric. About 2 hours later (45 minutes for each lot), I had two washed skeins of.....

bright yellow yarn?

Obviously turmeric is a tad stronger than I expected. But I love it, nonetheless. The first lot came out just a tad brighter than the second, but it's not really noticeable in the photo. I'm not sure what this yarn will become, but I'll still use the two skeins together, just alternating rows. 

I've got lots more dyeing in mind, and really love the ability I have to experiment with it all. The best part? It's all natural, so I know I'm not exposing myself (or whoever wears the yarn) to any chemicals.