I LOVE to dye with natural dyestuffs that I gather on walks, and last weekend was a beautiful, sunny day to go for a walk in the woods of West Georgia. My favorite natural dye to use is from lichens. They usually produce a lovely clear golden color. The liquid can also be fermented with ammonia to produce a bright purple/pink color. 
The dye produced by lichens is very colorfast, and the yarn dyed with lichens has the most wonderful smell. To learn more about these amazing mutualistic organisms see link at the bottom of the post.
It’s fun to experiment dyeing with different plants. You can try leaves, bark, nutshells, flowers, roots, etc… Even foods in your kitchen like herbs and onion skins can make great dyes. You’ll be amazed at all the different dyeing material you can discover in your yard and neighborhood if you just look. (Word of caution: always use stainless steel or enamel pans and once used for dyeing, don’t use them again for food).
Once upon a time, I was a member of a garden club! One year I came up with an idea for a fundraiser for the club. I gave each member a long list of dye plants and asked each one to bring something on the list to the next meeting. I then took all that stuff home and made individual dye pots. I dyed skeins of natural wool and then wove them into a shawl for which we sold raffle tickets. The shawl really turned out nice, our club made a lot of money, and my best friend won the raffle!!! Everyone thought it was rigged, but honestly it was on the up and up.
I believe that the MOST wonderful thing about natural dyes is that no matter how many colors you use, they all look beautiful together. So now – turn off your computer, get a big basket and walk around your neighborhood and gather some gorgeous dye stuffs.
http://www.backyardnature.net/lichens.htm
Once upon a time, I was a member of a garden club! One year I came up with an idea for a fundraiser for the club. I gave each member a long list of dye plants and asked each one to bring something on the list to the next meeting. I then took all that stuff home and made individual dye pots. I dyed skeins of natural wool and then wove them into a shawl for which we sold raffle tickets. The shawl really turned out nice, our club made a lot of money, and my best friend won the raffle!!! Everyone thought it was rigged, but honestly it was on the up and up.
I believe that the MOST wonderful thing about natural dyes is that no matter how many colors you use, they all look beautiful together. So now – turn off your computer, get a big basket and walk around your neighborhood and gather some gorgeous dye stuffs.
http://www.backyardnature.net/lichens.htm
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