herbarium [her. bar. i. um]
As Herbarium Dyeworks is focused on using mainly plants, I like to think of it as a mini herbarium, preserving the colours yielded by so many different specimens. I love the idea of being like a modern-day classification system of colour.
I'm fascinated by the myriad of gentle colours given up by plants ranging from the eucalyptus trees in our garden to the cow parsley along our road. I've been working away like a Victorian botanist, keeping a log of every experiment.
As some of you will know, I previously ran a dye studio for 12 years, working with chemical dyes which certainly have their own merits. With natural dyeing, the results are a delightful palette of muted semi-solids and tonal colourways which can be tweaked with different modifiers. Every time I dye, I'm in awe of the colours produced by nature.
Attending a course run by the inspirational women of G-uld in Denmark back in 2019 opened my eyes to the vast array of colours that could be achieved using plants and bugs.
Check out my instagram account to see my initial partial range of 39 colours dyed on mini skeins.
Since moving to Northern Ireland three years ago, we have over an acre of garden, perfect for growing our own dye plants. I'll be using natural extracts to boost the range of colour with plenty of overdyeing (my favourite thing) to achieve different tones. In addition to yarn, there'll be linens, silk threads and ribbons available. Everything will be small batch.
Next time, see what I've been up to in the last five years away from the woolly world. I'm nervous to return but hope you'll have me back.