Notes on the colors available

• The saturated cool pink comes from cochineal, an insect that feeds on prickly pear cactus. This dye is not native to San Juan Island but was an inheritance from the original shepherd and fiber artist at Oak Knoll Farm. Picture my excitement at finding a dusty old cardboard box in the garage marked “Natural Dyeing” and opening it to discover a trove of old dyestuffs still patiently holding their color after a couple of decades! This is an almost solid hue.

• The primary yellow is from dyer’s chamomile grown in the natural dye garden at Oak Knoll Farm. There are subtle shifts in saturation in these skeins.

• The earthy soft red is achieved by layering on color in several stages. These skeins began with avocado, then added a light bath of walnut and finally madder. This process creates a glazed effect of shifting colors, so there’s more variegation.