Choosing yarns for natural dyeing

As a newbie with regards to yarn, i haven't a clue which takes dye the best. I had no idea different yarns came with different qualities, and that some breeds of sheep wool take dye better than others. i have worked with around 12 different types of yarns now, and i would only re-purchase half of them i think. Here's what i have learnt:

- Yarn must be 100% natural to be dyed, this means wool, merino and alpaca are good options. Steer clear of polyester and acrylics.

-Needle/hook sizes determine how thick your yarn is. 5mm-8mm are perfect for my project, which is punch needle.

- DK, 4Ply, Aran, Worsted, Bulky, Chunky, Roving, Jumbo and Micro yarns all hold different properties. From my experimentation, DK and chunky yarns take dye well, and roving seems to give paler colours.

- Superwash wool is a wool yarn that is machine washable, and therefore will not felt. Regular wool should be hand washed and treated witch care.

-Wool is often affected by temperature- high heats can cause shrinkage and felting. You should always try to work with room temp water where possible, and avoid disturbing the yarn when it is soaking, as this can cause felting.

I purchased my first batch of yarns from deramores who always have offers going. The yarns were lovely and i cannot fault them, however at the time i did not know about needle size and gauge, so a few of the yarns are thinner than i would have liked for my project.

The second batch of yarns i ordered were from Tribe yarns. This wool was Norwegian roving, and the needle size was larger than my previous yarns. Roving wool is simply a continuous strand of fibres, which makes it super soft and fluffy, however prone to felting. I really liked this yarn, however the colours produced were incredibly pale, and i'm not sure why. I made sure to scour my fibres, mordant them, and dye them as carefully as possible. I did come across some felting which was inevitable, but it wasn't too horrendous.

My third batch of yarns were from World of wool. This site was recommended to me by a lady on Etsy who spins her own wools. Unfortunately she didn't have the size wool i was after, but she was so helpful in directing me to another place. Here is a link to her Etsy shop if you are interested, i will experiment with her wool one day for another project i'm sure! Overall these yarns were beautiful, perfect you could say. If you are after a chunky yarn i would definitely recommend visiting this site! As you can see above, my technique for remembering which yarn is which, is to wrap coloured pieces of thread around them, which will remain in tact during the scouring, mordanting and dyeing process.

Conclusion:

if you're looking to find yarns to naturally dye, all i can say is to do your research and experiment like i did. There's a lot more to yarns than i ever expected, as is the case with most things. i now know what to look out for when purchasing yarns, and i know which companies i can trust! If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a message here, or over on my instagram @eleanorgracedesign