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Alpaca/Merino – Frost

30% baby Alpaca (21.5-micron) / 70% Merino wool (22-micron), by Ashford of New Zealand. Lovely and clean combed top/sliver. A fairly thourough blend of both creamy-white Merino with Alpaca, not especially streaky but lovely and soft to the touch. Would be great for dyeing, if you wish. Suitable for both spinning and felting: Alpaca felts beautifully, particularly when blended with Merino. PRODUCT of NEW ZEALAND

$10.50 – $42.90 Select options

Alpaca/Merino – Rowan Berry

30% baby Alpaca (21.5-micron) / 70% Merino wool (22-micron), by Ashford of New Zealand. Lovely and clean combed top/sliver. In New Zealand this is what they call our Mountain Ash tree, and the colours are vibrant just like the berries. This has streaks of burnt orange, silvery-white, caramel and a wee touch of crimson. Suitable for both spinning and felting: Alpaca felts beautifully, particularly when blended with Merino. PRODUCT of NEW ZEALAND

$10.50 – $42.90 Select options

Alum (Aluminum sulphate)

Used as a MORDANT in natural dyeing, which allows the plant pigments to bond with the fibres. This is Potassium aluminum sulphate, the preferred form of alum for use as a mordant. This IS NOT pickling alum and should not be consumed. Used mainly on protein fibres such as wool, alpaca, silk. Usually used in combination with cream of tartar. Many natural dyers do a premordanting of the fibre with alum, while others add it directly to the dyebath (particularly with loose fibre such as fleece). Also sometimes used in combination with tannic acid to premordant cellulose fibres such as cotton. TO USE: calculate mordant required for 8 to 15% WOF (weight of fibre) and 4 to 6% WOF cream of tartar. Weigh and dissolve in hot water. Fill pot with sufficient water for the fibre to move, add alum and cream of tartar and stir. Enter fibre. Bring to 180-200°F and hold 1 hour. Stir yarns frequently but fleece only occasionally. Cool overnight, then wash in soapy water and rinse thoroughly. Dye immediately or dry the yarns to dye later. Spent mordant solution may be safely disposed of down the drain (except for septic systems). It also may be poured around garden plants that prefer acidic soil conditions. CAUTION: wear a mask when handling powders. Wear gloves when using alum, particularly when rinsing or handling wet yarns as it is very drying to the skin. Best done outdoors or with very good ventilation.

$2.20 – $7.20 Select options

Aluminum acetate

May 26/22 - back in stock, finally! Used as a MORDANT in natural dyeing, which allows the plant pigments to bond with the fibres. NOT THE SAME AS ALUM!! Aluminum acetate is used as a one-step mordant on cellulose (plant) fibres such as cotton, linen and well worth experimenting with on rayon fibres (including Tencel), bamboo, ramie, hemp and others. This is a more expensive but faster means to get natural dyes to stick without the more traditional alum/tannic acid premordanting method. TO USE: weigh dry fibre and scour if needed (especially cotton). Calculate mordant required for 5% WOF (weight of fibre). Weigh and dissolve in hot water. Fill pot with sufficient water for the fibre to move, add mordant and stir. Enter fibre. Bring to 190-200°F and hold 1 hour. Stir yarns frequently. Cool overnight, then wash well. Dye immediately or dry for later. Spent mordant solution may be safely disposed of down the drain (except for septic systems). It also may be diluted and poured on the ground, for instance on a gravel driveway or path. CAUTION: wear a mask when handling powders. Wear gloves when handling powder or solutions, particularly when rinsing or handling wet yarns. Best done outdoors or with very good ventilation.

$7.92 – $34.20 Select options