I have a lot of tools and I’m always testing and trying new things. You never know when you might find something new that works a charm. Below I have listed some of my favorite tools.

It’s Fall in Northern California and I’ve been watching the acorns grow and ripen. We’re in an exceptional drought this year and the black oak acorns have been dropping from the trees for weeks. Every morning on my walk I gather a pocket full. Tannins are particularly useful when dyeing cellulose fibers.

Iron water is magical. You can use it to shift yellows to olive green, deepen browns, transform bright cochineal pinks into moody plums, and make all sorts of gorgeous grays depending on what kind of tannins you combine it with. Historically Iron was used to sadden colors.

Oak galls are very high in tannins, so they’re both a mordant and a natural dye. It all depends on how you process them. If you’re anything like me you’ve been collecting and admiring them over the past weeks.

I love oak galls so much. They come in so many shapes and sizes and are home to the California gall wasp. It actually looks more like an amber-colored fly more than a wasp. I gathered these from the same Valley Oak just up the road from my forest. Sun exposure, environment, and age effects the color. The pale cream with soft blush marks is my favorite.