I've finally been able to join a few dye days with friends and local natural dyers. They've been meeting several times a year and creating lovely dye pots and richly colored fibers, cloth and clothing. 

Below is a description of my first natural dyeing project.  Since then I have continued dyeing silk, linen, wool and cotton fiber (string, yard or floss) when folks get together to dye.  I have now worked with many dyes and mordants.

On December 17th, 2007.   I was able to stop by. With the help of more experienced dyers, I turned out my first dye pot of Brazil wood.  The recipe is part of an historical dyeing set of web pages.  According to the site, it is a webbed version, "of an article first published in Recreating History in October of 1996. It is based on a one-day workshop for beginning students, and therefore, is very brief in its examination of period dyes and dyeing practices in the late Middle Ages."

I've not done any further research to verify the information provided.  I found the recipe plausible for this novice and was happy to try it with the brazil wood I had on hand. For those curious, I followed the recipe as written with full preparation but did not let the fiber submerged overnight afterwards.

The string has been washed in a vinegar water.  It is interesting to see how the dye did or did not penetrate the loosely tied bundles evenly.

I'll share more information, as I do something with said strings.