Colored Fibers to Dye for!

I dyed these yarns in preparation for a Woodlands themed weaving. There is both wool and cotton as well as some acrylic fibers here. Silk sari ribbon is also part of this mix- it is wound into a ball in the second photo at the top. I dyed the yellow fibers with Turmeric.

I love the variegation of colors and textures this piece will have. For me, dyeing the fibers myself is important. It makes my work that much more organic.

Next I will experiment with beets and black beans!

I am learning so much about all that is provided to us through Creation- a virtual endless fodder to exercise a limitless imagination. Ezekiel 47:7-12 tells a really fascinating account of this:

"...Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 ... Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea...12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

Not only can we use plants, produce to dye our medium. but He saw fit to provide healing with some of these same plants. Turmeric is one- it is very powerful in the body, and yields deep and vibrant tones when used in a dye bath, depending upon the length of soaking. I can hardly wait to find out what else is available for artists to avail themselves to!