And then there was the humble Nettle, so often despised for its sting. Nonetheless, it is a treasure. It can be used like Spinach, drank as a healing herbal tea, used for dyeing green and yellow, used in gardening as a pesticide and last but not least it creates fibre like Flax... 

The Company:

Made from Himalayan Nettles, wild harvested in Nepal. This yarn is ethically made in Nepal, by a company that is supporting homemakers, women and families to receive a decent income and to enable them to work from home, rather than finding employment abroad.

The yarn:

Untreated and collected in the wild of the Himalayas, this yarn has been hand harvested and naturally processed using a combination of water and wood ash (lye) to break down the outer fibres of the nettle, before it gets spun by hand in Nepal. The colour of the yarn is natural and varies from light grey/beige to brown brown/beige. Available in hank form only and ethically produced. The last two pictures show the yarn woven.

History:

Nettle yarn was once used widely in Europe and was known as the 'Poor man's Linen'. Nettles once rivaled flax and hemp (and later, cotton) as a staple fiber for thread and yarn, used to make everything from heavy sailcloth to fine table linen up to the 17th/18th centuries. "In Scotland, I have eaten nettles," said the 18th century poet Thomas Campbell, "I have slept in nettle sheets, and I have dined off a nettle tablecloth. The young and tender nettle is an excellent potherb. The stalks of the old nettle are as good as flax for making cloth. I have heard my mother say that she thought nettle cloth more durable than any other linen."


Use:

This yarn can be used for knitting, crochet and weaving as well as sewing.

The yarn is a medium size, semi rough and can be stiff at times and is not suitable for fine knitting or crochet work. 

In a nutshell for 100g:

approx. 265m
hand spun
hand harvested in the wild
naturally processed with Wood Ash and water
Origin: Himalaya, Nepal

Woad 'Hands on' workshop - come and join us for a 2 day active learning experience! 

This is going to be a couple of fun days spending time in the field harvesting dye plants and moving onto processing them in the dye studio. We will be doing some woad plant trials as well as dye a small item for you to take home after. What you can expect:

• A talk by Tristan Lienhard
• Harvesting Woad in the field
• Making Woad balls for our fermentation Vats
• Setting a woad pigment extraction, which takes a number of days to extract
• Testing the blue content of over 20 different varieties of Woad, using the Japanese cold direct dyeing technique
• Tour of the dye house 
• A talk by Jennifer Lienhard on fermentation vats, their differences and historical backgrounds.

Basic Knowledge of Indigo or Plant dyeing of advantage, but not necessary.

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Dates to choose from:

Friday 12th & Saturday 13th of July 2024 

Monday 15th & Tuesday 16th of July 2024

Day 1:

Venue in the morning: Field near Killaloe, car pooling from Killaloe

Venue after harvest: AppleOak FibreWorks Dye house

Time: 10am - 3/4pm

We will meet in Killaloe and car pool to the field, due to limited parking space. Tristan will give a short talk about the growing of Woad plants, the plant & seed trials he is working on and the sustainable aspect of growing our own colour.

We will then proceed with the harvest of specific woad plant varieties for blue trials. Once harvested, we will drive to the dye house and proceed with dyeing and testing the blue content using the cold direct Japanese method. 

Lunch Break 1.30 - Please bring your own lunch cutlery and cup. Coffees, Tea, Milk and Oat milk are provided.

After Lunch we will continue finishing the textile trials and finish with a tour of the dye house.

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Day 2 

Venue in the morning: Field near Killaloe, car pooling from Killaloe

Venue after harvest: AppleOak FibreWorks Dye house

Time: 10am - 3pm

We will meet in Killaloe and car pool to the field, due to limited parking space. Here we will harvest the remaining half of the Woad crop and bring it to the Dye house.

We will process the remaining Woad leaves into woad balls and create a woad leaf fermentation extraction for pigment.

Lunch Break - Please bring your own lunch cutlery and cup. Coffees, Tea, Milk and Oat milk are provided.

After lunch, we will break open a few woad balls from previous years and feed the active vat accompanied by a short talk on fermentation vats, their differences and historical backgrounds.

All materials are provided on both days. You will take home a small woad dyed silk scarf and a woad ball if you like :)

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Join our growing community of natural Dyers, Artists & teachers on THE NATURAL DYERS ACADEMY. 

WOAD BIRMINGHAM ~ grown to organic standards by us (not yet organically certified)

Growing dye plants gives you a feeling of connection to nature, that is unique and I am delighted that you are thinking of taking that step. There can never be enough growers on our Earth and I do believe that growing your own colour adds yet another dimension to gardening and the plant world as a whole. If you can keep it organic, do, the colours are richer and the flora and fauna will thank you for it, as do we. Enjoy!

Woad Birmingham is a little gem originating from Canada. We are always delighted to receive a new variant of Woad. Sent to us from a member of the Woad Project Facebook group. It has a few special characteristics: a crinkled leaf edge, strong waxy leaves and gives a beautiful blue green colour. 

Woad has been used for centuries to obtain a blue dye. An attractive plant with 1m high stems, long succulent leaves, which shine like stained glass, with inner blue; foamy clusters and brilliant yellow flowers.

Woad is a biannual plant and the leaves are used for dyeing in the first year. Once the flowers have formed in the second year, the leaves only obtain very little dye and the second year is therefore only used for seed collection.

Sow: In Spring, late February to March in trays

Harvest: Leaves first year from early June

There is a Woad Group on Facebook if you like to have support and share your experiences, feel free to join :) The Woad Project | Facebook

So, what do you get in a pack of Woad Seeds?

Over 50 seeds in a package

Grown in Whitegate, Co. Clare, Ireland - fully traceable

License number IE010713

Open pollinated