Another Twitter friend tweeted the other day that she wanted to make an afghan that was the color of coffee that she could snuggle up with when the weather cooled and she was having her morning coffee.  I immediately got a blast from the past, and thought about my years with FolkWays camp.  We dyed fabric and yarn one year with natural things -  flowers, bugs, etc. - and had so much fun.  I mentioned to Kellie that we probably could dye some wool with coffee.

This week I’ve been experimenting  with some yarn and expresso.  I learned from a friend of a friend, Paula Vestor, that you don’t really dye with coffee, you stain, so I didn’t even need a mordant, even though I had my alum and cream of tartar ready.

I made a pot of espresso that would have really knocked the socks off me had I drunk it.  It was almost syrup by the time I simmered it for an hour.  Kellie had mentioned that she wanted some little flecks of darker color in the yarn, so I just dumped the coffee in my dye pot.  I let the coffee cool while I soaked the yarn sample, then I slid the pristine white yarn into the pot and simmered it for an hour.  After it cooled, I rinsed it and hung it to dry.

It came out the color of cafe au lait, with some areas that are a little darker.  SOOO COOL!!!  I had forgotten how exciting the world of dyeing was.  I have an order now for a tie-dye t-shirt.  I am inclined with my new excitement for naturals to to make it with grass and Georgia clay, but I know that Camellia wants bright colors, so I have my Sythropol and ProCion and rubber bands ready for tomorrow.