Naturally Dyed Vegan Yarns

In this Video:

Natural dyes and vegan yarns


Natural dyes are an earth friendly way to make vegan craft projects- especially for knitting and crochet!

-Dyes that are vegan (madder, indigo, pomegranate, fustic, onion, etc)

-Dyes that are not vegan (cochineal, lac)

-Modants- usually vegan (alum is the best- some other mordants are quite toxic)



Natural dye benefits- many are harvested and raised by small communities and co ops, many are organic (like the dyes used at Midnightsky Fibers), and there are less or no chemicals involved in making natural dyes.

Downsides- time intensive and labor intensive, which makes the dyes and yarn more expensive

About natural dyes and vegan yarn:

Not all dyes are vegan, others are chemical based.

Watch your knitting supplies- buttons, crochet hooks, and knitting needles can be made from bone, horns, and ivory.

Choosing Vegan Yarn for Knitting and Crochet

What vegan yarns to choose for knitting and crochet:

Choose organic colored cottons, recycled fibers, hemp, aloo, handspun blends

(Hey everyone- as you can see, I am trying out some video blogigng- it is faster than trying to write and take pictures, and easier to show some different techniques. Please don't mind the cat if you can hear him in the background- he has ruined many a video attempt by meowing loudly and jumping in to the center of the screen- and geez, he is loud!  Hope you enjoy the videos!)

What Makes Yarn Vegan

What makes yarn vegan?

The difference between vegan yarn and no vegan yarn
Mostly in the naturally dyed yarns
Vegan versus vegetarian yarn for knitting and crochet

Downsides of vegan yarn
-tend to be overprocessed (soysilk, esp bleached fibers) or use lots of chemicals

Types of vegan yarn
Natural- hemp, aloo
Processed- bamboo, soy silk, nylon, corn
Vegan blends
Vegan novelty yarn- sparkle and eylash
Vegan handspun yarn

Yarns that aren’t vegan
-natural dyes made from insects like lac and cochineal
-watch out for processed yarns that are NOT vegan- ie milk fiber and sock yarns that contain an additive made from shrimp and crab shells (tofutsies contains Chitin)