Ok, so after my recent experiment with dyeing with dandelions, I had a go at dyeing with black beans. I followed to this tutorial from the same website, but something went wrong somewhere as mine didn’t give the same results. I followed the instructions exactly as was explained, but yeah, it’s a mystery. I don’t want to call it a failure because I still dyed yarn and still like the colour, so I am calling it an alternative success! It’s always nice to put a positive spin on something like this when you can, don’t you think?
I wish the tutorial had shown what their dye bath actually looked like as I did look up other tutorials later and saw that their water looked way more blue than mine did. Mine was a violet colour right from the get-go. I also read that there are different types of black beans, which makes sense, but who thinks of that? I’d already thrown away the bag they came in but I had bought them at a bio shop somewhere here in France a while back. It’s possible they were the ‘wrong’ kind, who knows… From the start, my wooden spoon was showing a light greyish blue colour in the dried areas, so I figured that’s what I was going to end up with rather than the deep blue you see in Pinterest photos.
Once it was rinsed, it was a much lighter violet. I had to hold the original colour up against it to really see that much had happened. You know how your eyes play tricks on you, I was wondering if it had even changed at all, but obviously it had. At this point I was not hating the colour I did get, but was still quite “Wtf?” about why it wasn’t a beautiful deep blue. I started reading other tutorials looking for answers, but most of them gave the same info and made it all sound so easy. Those who did have tutorials had water that was proper deep blue rather than violet to start with though.
According to one website, it’s possible I stirred them too much which caused sediment from the beans to be in the water – BUT I didn’t stir it for a few hours before I strained them, as the tutorial I followed recommended.
To be honest, I’m running with the idea that I just had the wrong beans from the start. At the current time, that works for me. I just had sucky beans. I’ll buy another type sometime that I’m certain someone else got proper blue with and if I still get greyish colour then, I’ll investigate what is up more. To be honest, not knowing a lot about dyeing at this point it’s really difficult to say what went wrong. I did ask on a fiber group but their answers were full of talk about PH and acid and all sorts of other things that made my eyes go slightly crossed from confusion.
I tried taking a small piece and putting it back in the dye with a bit of vinegar and the result was different but it was difficult to capture in a photo. It still stayed very light but it dried with more of a reddish violet hue like the colour of the dye bath, rather than the greyish blue I got originally. I’m not sure how that worked but I liked the original colour better anyway.
It was all getting too complicated for me at this point. I honestly just want to boil some stuff, chuck some yarn in it and be all – LOOK WHAT I DID, I DYED A THING! I’m guessing that’s how most start with natural dyeing. Unless you are into chemistry and that becomes a sport for you, but that’s not me. SO not me. I’m really all about the instant gratification without any impressive degree of scientific knowledge. I want to be the idiot savant of natural wool dyeing. I mean, is that too much to expect?
Still, all things considered I still like the colour I ended up with. It’s a very soft purply, blueish grey and quite pretty, I think. I’m just happy that I am learning more and more about fiber art. I do have to learn at my own pace and in my own way (meaning, trial and error and not being overloaded with too many technical details right out of the gate), but I get there in the end. It’s also really cool to dye yarn that I spun myself! If I keep this up I’m going to be so damn handy when the apocalypse happens.
Right! Well, that was my first experiment with black beans. I will give it another go but they aren’t really all that common here in France, for some strange reason. I will have to order them online and see how I do the next time. In the meantime, I’m trying to decide what to do with that last skein I have spun up. I’m thinking of either trying mint leaves or stinging nettles for a green colour. I have both growing like mad in my garden, so no shortage for whatever I choose but I’m guessing the mint leaves will smell better and not fight back the way the nettles will. I’ll let you know how that goes when the time comes!
