I've started finding more and more dyes in mid-teen levels, although not enough where I'd actually consider it plentiful.
There's a mod out there by Obreck that allows you to craft your own dyes. We're working on merging that into my own mod, Fixed & Missing Recipes, too.
In case this helps: I've dyed a few different armors and noticed that sometimes only a part of the armor actually changes color, something that's just a highlight and not the main color of the chestpiece. So until you dye it's hard to even tell what you're going to change. Another reason I think dye should just be easier to come by. :p
