Waste not, want not!

Beetroot!!!

One of my favourite veg - and since I discovered solar dyeing, one of my favourite dyestuffs too.

Those who know me will already know my GOLDEN RULE OF DYEING which is:
IF YOU CAN EAT IT, DON'T DYE WITH IT - EAT IT!!!
............................but dye with all the bits you don't eat .....................................

So, I bought a couple of bunches of this lovely fresh beetroot, to make my favourite beetroot, rocket and blood orange salad.
I cut off the leaves and stems, putting the stems into one dyejar and the leaves (with some bits of stem) into another jar. Then I cooked the beetroot. Once they were cooked I peeled them and put the skins and the cooking water into a third dyejar. I put wool tops into the jars with the dyes.

left: cooked beetroot skins and cooking water, no mordant
middle: raw beetroot stems (some leaf), alum mordant
right: raw beetroot leaves (some stem), alum mordant

The dyejars will sit in a sunny place for at least three months, until I think they are ready. In the past I have been able to re-use the dye from the skins for further batches of fibre. I've never tried the stems or leaves before.
In the meantime here's a ball of yarn spun from wool I dyed with beetroot last year