KaraHobbs > notebook > projects > Naturally Dyed Rainbow Blanket

Naturally Dyed Rainbow Blanket
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Finished natural dye color gamp blanket.
Finished natural dye color gamp blanket.
Final dimensions: 53" x 70", or 76" with fringe. Just the right size to cover the top of a double bed, or wrap up in on a chilly evening.
Final dimensions: 53" x 70", or 76" with fringe. Just the right size to cover the top of a double bed, or wrap up in on a chilly evening.
Overhead view of blanket.
Overhead view of blanket.
Another angle of the entire finished blanket.
Another angle of the entire finished blanket.
Finished blanket and fringe after light wash and fulling.
Finished blanket and fringe after light wash and fulling.
Twisting the fringe with my new Schacht fringe twister.
Twisting the fringe with my new Schacht fringe twister.
Hemstitching off the loom.
Hemstitching off the loom.
Finished weaving with just the perfect amount left on the warp.
Finished weaving with just the perfect amount left on the warp.
Beginning the purple and final stripes on the blanket.
Beginning the purple and final stripes on the blanket.
Looking down the shed between the two layers of fabric.
Looking down the shed between the two layers of fabric.
In progress, with the lower layer of threads raised to the top.
In progress, with the lower layer of threads raised to the top.
Reds and oranges wound onto bobbins and ready to go.
Reds and oranges wound onto bobbins and ready to go.
Finished warping and with a test stripe checking for mistakes in the threading.
Finished warping and with a test stripe checking for mistakes in the threading.
Tied onto the front beam.
Tied onto the front beam.
All threaded and ready to tie on.
All threaded and ready to tie on.
Threading the heddles.
Threading the heddles.
Warp chains sleyed through the reed and ready to thread through the heddles.
Warp chains sleyed through the reed and ready to thread through the heddles.
First warp chains going on the loom.
First warp chains going on the loom.
A whole rainbow about to go on the loom. 8 threads each from 88 balls of yarn = 704 strings in the warp.
A whole rainbow about to go on the loom. 8 threads each from 88 balls of yarn = 704 strings in the warp.
Pile of all the yarns dyed in the summed of 2017. Part of each skein constituted both a vertical and horizontal stripe in the blanket.
Pile of all the yarns dyed in the summed of 2017. Part of each skein constituted both a vertical and horizontal stripe in the blanket.
A color wheel of some of my favorite skeins.
A color wheel of some of my favorite skeins.
All naturally dyed with plants I grew in my garden or foraged locally. A whole rainbow of plants!
All naturally dyed with plants I grew in my garden or foraged locally. A whole rainbow of plants!
Rainbow of yarn skeins after dyeing.
Rainbow of yarn skeins after dyeing.
The cones of carpet wool as they arrived before scouring or dyeing.
The cones of carpet wool as they arrived before scouring or dyeing.
photos above © KaraHobbs
unless otherwise noted
Finished
January 18, 2017
January 25, 2018

Naturally Dyed Rainbow Blanket

Project info
4-shaft Double Weave
Weaving
Tools and equipment
Yarn
12 epi
Notes

This blanket is the culmination of my year-long natural dye project. I started with a 10-lb box full of cable-plied carpet wool remnants (much softer than it sounds) in neutral colors. I divided the cones into 87 2-oz skeins, and over the course of the growing season dyed them all with plants I grew or foraged locally around me in Northern Indiana.

Plants used for the colors in the blanket include:
Dyer’s Coreopsis (reds, oranges, and golds)
Wild/lanceleaf Coreopsis (orange and gold)
Yellow Cosmos (orange and gold)
Bur marigold (orange)
French Marigold (yellows)
Queen Anne’s Lace (yellow and olive green)
Common Reed (spring green and gold)
Goldenrod (light green and yellow)
Hollyhock (mint green)
Giant hibiscus (spring to olive greens)
Japanese Indigo (blues, and greens and teals when dyed over yellows)
Elderberry (lavender)
Pokeberry (purples)
English Ivy (tan)
Pear leaves and bark (tan and light gray)
Staghorn Sumac (charcoal gray)
Oak Galls (dark and medium charcoal)
Black Walnut (chocolate browns)

In case you’re interested, I’ve been posting updates of this whole project on Instagram using #naturaldyeproject. I also have some more pictures of the yarns I used in this project on my stash page, Natural Dye Samples and Tests

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Finished
January 18, 2017
January 25, 2018
 
  • Project created: November 15, 2017
  • Updated: January 25, 2018
  • Progress updates: 3 updates