Utah’s West Desert is full of insects, hardy plants, and great stretches of desolate wilderness. But the muted colors and stark landscape are beautifully serene. Dusty colors from natural dyes echo the colors from the West Desert and contrast with the tans and browns of the desert background.

I used reclaimed silk from an old sweater and dyed the yarn using all natural dyes. The dyes in order as seen in the picture seventh from the top (the mini-skeins) are: logwood, 2nd bath of logwood, turmeric, yellow onion skin, orange peel, culinary sage, spinach, sunflowers, grass, red onion skin, red cabbage, blackberries, raspberries, brazilwood, green cabbage, green tea, paprika, purple coneflower, sunflower seeds, virginia creeper flowers, coffee, black walnuts.

All dyes were mordanted in the bath with alum and some cream of tartar to add brightness.