Dyeing with Avocados on Fiber Arts Friday

I had hoped to have some fiber dyed in avocados today. I have been eating avocados constantly for a week! My kids are sick of them. I have mashed them, diced them and pureed them in everything I could think of. I need 300 g of dried, cleaned skins. This is a lot of avocados. I think so far we have eaten 15 and I have about half of what I need. Never fear, there are 10 more sitting in the fridge along with a huge bowl of avocado soup that my family balked at! Any takers??
So unfortunately, I won't be able to post this project today in spite of my best efforts. As for dyeing using natural elements, I suggest the book Natural Dyeing by Jackie Crook. It is supposed to be one of the best. Crook demonstrates how to dye with wool, silk and cotton. She demonstrates the cool water and hot water methods for mordanting. Each step is illustrated by a picture and the directions are clear. The photos are lovely and very easy to follow especially if you rebel against directions and only look at the photos (as I do). The book is then divided into chapters on roots, woods and barks, flowers, leaves and stalks, fruits/vegetables, and special colors. There is a fabulous color chart at the end. As you flip the pages you will be mesmerized by the range of colors produced by the dyes. Crook also has a chart indicating what dye works best with cotton, silk or wool. Here I found a slight glitch. I feel in love with the red cabbage dye. She profiled the dye on silk but also had wool dyed in red cabbage. From my experiences red cabbage does not work.

I don't how she did it..but it doesn't work. I spent four days trying to dye that wool to no avail. Then I finally googled red cabbage dyeing...and found no one else can do it either. So? I ended up using grape Kool Aide. And it turned out nicely.
I am slowly working through the book and will post as I finish each and every one of the dyes.