I spend a lot of days running back and forth from the stove to the washing machine dyeing the fabric I use for Scout & Catalogue. Today I focused on my Nomad scarves in purple. The dye is from the heart of a Logwood tree which grow in Central and South America and, before synthetic dyes were invented, was the main source for the colour black. It was in such high demand that pirates used to take time out of their regular day jobs of plundering and looting to harvest and sell the stuff to wealthy European and North American merchants. These days the demand for natural dyes is from hobbyists only and the pirates have lost interest, but I still get a little historical thrill every time I reach for the Logwood and watch the rusty wood chips turn the water a deep piratey purple.
