Onion skins are the gateway dye - indigo's next

Still improving the photos for my etsy shop, slowly, slowly...slowly.

From this (which is very nice on it's own):

To this:

A far more accurate depiction of the real life colour. I never dreamed madder could be so vibrant. The pre-industrial textile world must be far more colourful than I ever imagined.

Madder dyed, true worsted, lace weight, handspun yarn

From this:

To this:

That's much better and helps tell the story that the yarn was dyed with onion skins. I think it also gives a more accurate feel for the texture. What do you think?

Hand spun, home dyed using onion skins, sock weight yarn

Both these yarns are hand dyed. Not something I do very often. But it got me thinking; I have a lot of white fleece and a lot of white yarn - maybe I should dedicate this summer to natural dyes?

I can dig up some Origan grape roots from my woodlot. I can pester the neighbours by letting the stinging nettles grow (on our side of the fence) next to their manure pile.

It would be nice to make a bigger challenge for myself.

What about Indigo?

I think it would be great fun to start an indigo vat and discover it's magic. June, July and August here are very warm, perfect for a fermentation vat (or two?). I'm off to spin as much white yarn as possible.

Anyone up for an indigo-a-long this summer? Maybe as part of the Tour de Fleece?