Blog entry
Ice and snow
A little snow and ice fell overnight.
Yesterday I made a path through the mud with old Christmas tree branches. The birds are making their own path of footprints.
Walnut brew left outdoors
Indigo dye project left out overnight
Sweet, furry Daisy seems to like the cool on her tummy.
December Silks
December has been filled with beauty and busy-ness. Happily, I've been able to squeeze in some of my favorite projects, including the dyeing of more silk threads.
After soaking in alum
Indigo
Indigo and weld
Cochineal, madder and indigo
Baby pastels (indgo, madder, weld, walnut)
More madder and cochineal
Coreopsis flowers, weld and madder
Walnut hulls
Cochineal and madder
Walnut, cochineal and madder
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Cochineal and snow
Winter has fallen!
Most of the peach tree leaves have fallen straight down without changing color.
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Hiding in the leaves
The temperature fell to 17 overnight. The rhododendon is a good weather gauge - it really shrivels in the cold.
The first snow has fallen. As usual, I'm in the middle of an indigo dyeing project. The cold complicates this a little - mostly it's just less pleasant to work outdoors.
There are still dozens of daffodil bulbs to plant. Winter is beautiful, but I'm just not ready yet.
First snowflakes
The first snowflakes arrived this morning. The Japanese indigo is finished growing.
Dogwood bush
Redbud leaves and bits of snow
Frozen indigo dyed linen on the clothesline
Cold feet!
October
There's something about the light in October. that makes the world almost too beautiful. Even on a cloudy morning there's extra richness in the colors.
Flying saucer morning glories
Red nightshade berries and yellow Virginia creeper leaf
Silk dyed with indigo
Virginia creeper
Perennial sunflowers
Virginia creeper
Fresh Indigo
Basket of Japanese indigo leaves
One of the nicest things about growing indigo is dyeing with the fresh leaves. It's a quick summertime treat. The colors are different from vatted indigo. The shades are greener, like robin eggs, turquoise, or mossy water.
Strained dye
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Dyebath, rinse water, and leftover leaves
Little particles of indigo leaves in the rinse water
Silk embroidery threads
Organza silk before the final rinse
After washing and rinsing
Wool Pot holders
Undyed wool loops
Years ago, a dear friend shared a huge 5 pound bag of pure wool pot holder loops with me.. Little did I know at the time just how valuable and hard to find these would become. I dyed the loops with natural colors, and made potholders for gifts and for sale.
Hemp Yarn
Hemp is oine of my favorite fibers to spin and dye. Of course it doesn;t drink up color like silk or wool, but I love the gentle shades of natural dyes on the yarn.
Indigo on 2 ply hemp yarn
I don't work in a very scientific or mathematical manner, so every skein is different. Some are more firmly spun.
Some skeins are soft and loose.
June Inspiration
II've been dyeing silk threads in colors inspired by the velvety shades of petunias
Combinations of lac, logwood, madder and indigo
The milkweed flowers have begun to bloom. The air is filled with their heavy sweetmess. The tender, muted pinks seemed like the perfect color for some handspun wool yarn I've been saving.
Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Handspun wool yarn soaked overnight in alum.
June morning
June morning
It's so fine to step outside barefoot,without a sweater, and get started right away. On most mornings,this means just wandering around in wonder and amazement.for awhile.
The backyard is not big, but the cherry tree doesn't seem to mind.
The blackbirds and squirrels .are ready to pounce!
A clothesline fiull of projects
Silk organza after soaking overnight in alum water
Another piece of organza dyed with indigo
Vintage linen napkins
Elsewhere