Winter Work and Play

Hi All. It's a cold, wet rainy da in December here in Vermont. The Bunnies are in the hutch where I've installed a heated water bowl, and a heat lamp in the enclosed area of the hutch. Except to get food and water, they seem content to stay warm even if it is red in the area due to the lamp. (Colored heat bulb). I've been putting my time into getting the new house settled, especially my new studio. Its a large rectangular room with a wood stove centered along one of the long walls. The armoire where I do my beading and wire work are across from the stove. If you stand in the opening into the room (no door), across from you is my fiber work station. I clean, card, comb, draw roving, etc. there. In the opposite corner (along the long wall opposite the stove, is my spinning center. My SpinOlutions MachI and Bee are there, along with huge bags of rovings (gray, cream, dk expresso brown/black, and cream sock yarn) from Zeilingers. I'm spinning some of the gray on my Mach I and the roving flows through my hands like silk.

Some day, there will be a braided oval rug on the floor, possibly made of wool, possibly made of fleece remnants. We'll have to see what I can get. I'd prefer the wool, because I think it may last longer. Perhaps t-shirts could be cut up??? Not sure yet, since this will be my very first project. For now, I'm content to use a commercial rug to keep the chill at bay. I have 2 comfortable chairs in front of the stove. A warm cozy place to knit, read, write, think, draw... you get the idea. I found a wonderful square table (the top is inlaid with stretched andembossed leather) for a whopping $6 at a used furnature store. I'm fixing a leg that came loose and it will go between the two chairs. A table lamp completes the picture.

Shelving will go from the floor to the ceiling in 3 of the 4 corners of the room to hold books, tools, journals and binders with patterns and samples of dying... as well as the non-artisan books, such as gardening and orcharding. I can't wait for it to be done so I can show you so here's a sneak peek.

Spinning with pure French Angora

Have you ever tried to spin pure angora? Not Mohair, from a goat, but true angora from Rabbits? Let me tell you, it's a challenge. The reason that wool spins so easily is because there are tiny plates covering the length of the fiber. These tiny plates grab onto one another much the way the hooks on a dry felting needle grab the fibers when you dry felt. If you rub the plates together and they bind to tightly, or if you add hot water and aggitation, what you get is felt. A fairly solid glob of fiber. Spinning is a more controlled use of the plates, allowing you to make yarn.

The problem with angora is the fiber shaft is smooth (no plates) so you have to rely on the spin tension to hold the fibers together. How do I know this? I offered to spin fiber for a friend I made online in exchange for bunnies to add to my microscopic group (since I don't know the proper term for a flock, herd, clutch... of bunnies). So, spin I did. I got a rather nice yarn out of the endeavor. This is one situation where LENGTH IS IMPORTANT. Since the fibers slide against each other, short fibers are a particulary nasty spin (IMHO). Longer ones give the impression of a chance. That having been said, the finished product is so silky soft as to make you completely forget what you when through to get to the end of the process. (Rather like childbirth). This yarn came from my two bunns (brandy, who donated the honey colored fiber, and Goudy, who donated the gray fiber)



So, If you get the chance, I highly recommend trying the spin with pure fiber. You get a lot of distance from a small amount, and not only is the finished product silky soft, but it will retain the softness after spinning and plying. Also, since the fibers are hollow, the yarn is very very light.

Live well and dye happy,

Leah

So, Now that the Garden is done....

Hi All.

So you may be asking what am I supposed to be doing now? The garden is in. The seeds for next season gathered. Fiber dyed...
Well, its dyed, but it may need prepwork. Now is the time I spin and knit and crochet. The batts that were dyed are combed to remove noils and vm. Fleeces may need washing and combing.

I play with my colors now too. Blending them to get different colors. There is also dying to be done with the items I purchase such as cochaniel, logwood, osage orange, and others. The woods are yeilding mushrooms and lichens to harvest and process, as well as oak galls, pine needles and pine cones, some varieties of ferns, and some woody plants like apple and willow. Lots more color to be found.

I'm waiting on a large order of roving from Zielingers. When it arrives, I'll have LOTS to dye. Till then, I'm spinning what I card from this years harvest.

As always,

Live well and dye happy.

Leah

Spinning with pure French Angora

Hi All, I have been emailing back and forth with a woman my friend Joansie introduced me to, and talking about purchasing a bunn to replace our poor lost Goudy. (So named for his agouti coloring). Someone, either deliberately or accidentally left the door to his hutch open and he escaped. I've been searching and searching. Now, I'm looking to buy another bunn. I've never had one before, and they're addictive. Sweet, funny, tempermental... ah, but I digress.

Janice lets spinners spin her angora to help pay for a rabbit, as part of a barter. Then, she sells the yarn for a profit to help maintain her rabbitry. While I've spun angora blends, it is NOTHING like spinning pure angora. First, its slippery as hell. Very much like cria alpaca (which I love to spin). Both required extra twist to hold them together, and then I Navaho plyed (3ply) my small sample to make the following butterfly of yarn:

Tell me what you think of my effort. The fiber wasn't combed, carded, picked or washed. Please keep that in mind.

(ETA: The server is down for maintenance. I'll add the pictures as soon as they come up again)





Live well, and dye happy,

Leah.

Keeping my Promise.

I promised some pics, so here they are:

This is a blank I dyed from my Sulfer Cosmos. The brilliant orange is with alum, the darkest orange is alum with an ammonia afterwash. I love how the colors come out. I'm planning on a 2nd dye with Annato to fill the white area with some yellow. Next time I plan on folding the blank (which I made myself) along the wide axis instead of the long one (if that makes sence). So each row will have all three colors. This blank is double stranded, so I will have 2x the yarn. One to share, one to keep.

I ran into a friend at a local craft store. Joansie and I had previously met at a knitting group in the local library, and again in a class (I think). Neither of us was in a rush, so we stopped to chat over coffee. She showed me a sweater she wasn't sure about. WASN"T SURE ABOUT??? The sweater was a lovely shade of blue with intricate cablework on the back and an interesting cable along the front. I wish I'd had a camera with me. (I only had a wallet, not even my phone).

She's an amazing knitter, so we're going to trade knitting lessons for dying lessons! (Fun but messy work). I had my Bosworth Charkha in the car, and since she'd never seen one she took pictures for her blog (which I bootlegged for mine).

This is getting the charkha ready to spin.
Here I'm spinning, then drawing the cotton puni out to make the thread. Once I get going I can turn the wheel and draw the thread at the same time. Just takes practice.
Here I'm packing things away. I always take fiber with me so I'm ready to spin any time I wish. The Bosworths make an amazing instrument, and theres enough room for me to take puni's along with me in the casing.
Ta Dah! My amazing Bosworth charkha and I!

All in all it was a fun day.

Live well and dye happy,

Leah

Raining Tears

Its a sad day here in Vermont. The dark sky, wind and rain match my mood perfectly. Someone opened the door of my rabbit hutch, and either my male Goudy escaped or was taken. While I was searching for him in the rain I came across some mushrooms that I hadn't seen before.



Moving L to R, top to bottom:
This was big, the top felt slimy and it was a neutral color with areas of yellow and red. The gills were a cream color. The inside of the stalk was pithy and white. The next mushroom was darker than shown here. Almost a blackish brown with a leathery texture. The gills are cream with a black/brown edge. The stem was brown (see the next picture for a side view). The center mushroom was slimy, and bright yellow. As it sat, the top took on a pinkish hue. The fungus on the far right, row 2 was fairly nondescript and felt like it was covered in snot. Gooey. The interesting part was underneath. The underside was spongy, not gilled and a bright yellow color. Last, a nondescript mushroom that was cup shaped. Light tan on top and below.

So, anybody know what these are? Are any good for dyeing?

My other big news is the Skein winder I built (DIY style). I'll post pics later when its completed.

Live well and dye happy.

Leah

Days are growing shorter

The days are growing shorter, and my garden still hasn't given me the indigo seeds I'll need to start up next seasons dye garden. I've never collected seed before, so I'm not entirely certain when the right time to collect the blossoms would be. Last night was the first hard frost. I knew it was coming, so I covered all my sensitive plants with a heavy plastic. It looks like the plants survived just fine. LOL, its like having a pet. Open the tarps in the am, and close them in the pm. Make sure they have enough sun and water.... you know the deal.

I'm also running out of time right now. I'm buying a new house and putting this one on the market. Next year I won't even be here to enjoy the wild flower patch I planted. Fortunately, the place I'm buying has pleanty of land, and I plan on clearing a small field and laying down seed on a larger scale. Still lots of dye plants! I'm going to get one last pot of black eyed susans this season, and then I'll harvest a few plants to take with me. Moving is a pain!

The seed saving for the sulfer cosmos, coriopsis tinctora, marigolds, Hopi Black Dye Sunflowers and Red Dye Amaranth have all been successful. So, LETS GO INDIGO!!!

Live well and dye happy,

Leah

Animals lining up 2 by 2

Hi All, I had planned on talking to you all about the amazing crop of indigo I'm still harvesting. I would have talked about how all the seed heads are starting to bloom, and I would have expressed my hopes for a solid crop of seeds. INSTEAD, I get to tell you about the torrential downpour that has lasted about a week, and share my concerns that I'll have anything left of a garden at all after the rain finishes battering my poor plants. "SIGH"

I'm not down though. I just finished packing about 50 pounds of raw fiber into my prius, along with my knitting, my travel wheel, my charkha and my knitting (did I mention clothes and toiletries??) I'm headed to Tunbridge for the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival tomorrow morning. 2 wonderful (WET) days of fiber, classes, spinning, and being around other people who share my interests in fiber work. PLUS, I'm turning all the fiber mentioned above over to Zellingers to be processed into roving. Tunis, alpaca and nylon, corriedale plus silk and mohair, and all the different combinations I can make with the fiber I'm turning in for processing.

I'm going to be looking out for tools and fiber and wonderful fibery goodness in all shapes and sizes at the festival. Hopefully, by the time I get back the garden will be dry. I have to start tagging the plants I want to dig and take with me!!!

Live well and dye happy!

Leah

A Funny Story and a Dye Day all in One Weekend!

First the story: I went to the harvest festival in Jericho, VT this past weekend. I always have something to do with me. Sometimes I use my spindle, most often I knit on a small project. Right now its an entrelac scarf. I looked up (while waiting for a shuttle) and this woman was stareing at me with her mouth hanging open. I smiled and she said that my walking around knitting was the wildest thing she’d seen all day. Mind you, I’m standing next to my 11 y/o daughter who was wearing a crochet hat made of crazy art yarn. It was covered with bits of ribbon, curlieques all around on the top, hair yarn, bobbles, it even had a small plastic lizard knit into the hat. Did I mention it was made from about every color you could imagine?

take a peak:

I was stunned. I said, I’m standing next to my daughter wearing “THAT” and I’M the wildest thing you’ve seen all day???? What a hoot! I was laughing so hard I almost peed!

That was on Saturday. Sunday, I was running crazy. I'm moving in a month, and my fibery obsession has no organization. So, the morning was for errands. The afternoon was a dye day with my crazy kindred spirit friend Barb. We collected the indigo leaves, and made a chem indigo vat, plus Black eyed susans for green, and Sulfer Coreopsis for what turned out to be BLAZE ORANGE. Hunters beware. I tried two different mordants. Alum, and rhubarb leaves. I can't see the difference on the dyes. I'll add a pic tomorrow when its light out.

Seed Saving Time

Hi All. Sad to say, my dye garden is starting to wind down. The indigo is setting seeds. The coriopsis tinctora is finally slowing down on the bloom production. I was out in the garden this morning tying string around the flowers that had the best characteristics. Color, size, bloom production... so I can be sure to collect next years seeds from the best possible seed stock. I also tagged a few of the best BES plants so I can dig them up to take with me when I move. I was looking for bloom size, petal color, center size vs petal size, and resistance to powdery mildew (a REAL issue around here)

The Hopi Black Dye Sunflower seeds are drying on the rack now. I still need to find out how to store them (if they need cold, should I add a drying agent to the bag,...). The big winner this season of the plants I tried for the first time was the sulfer cosmos. The amazing shades of orange were a wonderful surprise. I have tagged plants that I'm collecting seed from (bloom size, plant size/bloom production, and bloom color). So, I'll know which ones are "special".

I'm going to try planting them in different beds to see if I can't cultivate plants that produce just the way I want them to. I figure it will take several generations to get the right stock.

I'm slowly gathering up a nice supply of naturally dyed fiber. I'm trying the BES again today (followed by the jewel weed and the goldenrod). I haven't spun anything. I still need to get some silk for mixing and some seacel for blending with the cotton (IF I manage to grow any). I'll post pictures if I get results worth looking at.

Till later, live well and dye happy!
Leah

Dye Days

I have been working really hard at getting my fiber combed, carded and mordanted, because its time to dye all my fiber for spinning. Here are some of my results:



The first 3 are coreopsis tinctura. The first is on shetland the other two are on tunis.
Next is Sulfur cosmos exhaust on tunis. Sulfur Cosmos first dye on tunis. Sulfur Cosmos + an ammonia rinse.
The last 2 are tunis and shetland respectively. Black Eyed Susan. I hadn’t been getting the green I wanted. I thought if I added a reducing agent (ala indigo) unfortunately it didn’t work. Got yellow! (Bummer). I’ll try the BES again after I collect a bagful on Wednesday. I have to do some cochaniel batts to so I'll have them to overdye on the weekend to get some purples. This should be a great spinning winter.

Wednesday will be another try at BES, Jewel weed, Milkweed and Goldenrod. The weekend will bring another indigo dye vat. I've been holding off on making another vat to give the plants time to set seed and mature, hopefully giving me a darker color and more variations with the exhaust.

Here are a couple of pictures of the cotton crop (Yes, I'm still trying to get a VT cotton crop). If it doesn't work this time I'll try one more time in a hoop house. That fails, and I'll be buying my cotton evermore.

My first Indigo Dye Vat

Greetings one and all. Time and patience have finally paid off. Here are some of the results. I purchased Japanese Indigo seeds, started them in the house and transplanted them into the garden. All of which I've shown you in previous entries. Here is what happened next:


Here my younger son Ben is kindly helping me strip the fresh leaves from the stalks so they can be stuffed into the dyepot.



The stripped leaves were crammed into by biggest dyepot and covered with water. Then they were placed in a water bath and raised to ~160F over the course of a couple hours. The pot stayed at that temp for about 1 hours then was turned off. Notice the metalic sheen starting to form on the top.



Here's the double boiler setup I used. The reason is to allow temperature control.



From the left: Tunis from the exhaust, the lovely lime color was from indigo exhaust overdying goldenrod on merino. Superwash merino yarn dyed the darkest, but it was the green hinted color found on the tunis. Next was indigo overdyed on the ugliest putty color merino batting I'd ever seen. It took on dark foresty green tones that I really like. Next came mohair roving, followed by more tunis, and last byt the merino roving seen in another picture. There are stil a few more items in the pot that didn't make the picture



Merino roving (left) yielded the truest blue. A lovely sky blue that was quite even. The tunis (right) was a still a lovely blue, but had a hit of a green tone.

As always thanks for the listen. Live well and dye happy!

Leah

Wonderful plants waiting for my dyepot!

In addition to the black eyed susans from the last post, I also have the following:

With all of the warm weather, the Jewelweed is flowering early this year. I've found that I can get different shades and hues of orange from a pale peach, through a true orange, to a burnt orange by adjusting my heating method. I haven't tried different mordants




Next come the Hopi Black Dye Sunflowers, the Sunflowers are over 10 feet tall and still growing. I've never used the sunflowers, but I've been told you can get a dark purple/black from the seeds, but that waits to be seen. I planted some other sunflowers for the birds, but I'm planning on using the seeds from the Hopi sunflowers for dye.



The amaranth is about a foot tall. I know the amaranth gives some lovely pinks, soft to deep true pink. It worked best on superwash last year. I'm planning on trying it on a variety of fibers this year.



The next one is Sulfur Cosmos, just beginning to open. Not only am I planning on dying with the flowers, but I think I'll try to use the leaves as well. The one in the picture is already showing a deep yellow/orange. I can't wait to see a whole plot of them in bloom!


Last but not least come borrage and rhubarb. I'm going to try using leaves for mordanting and roots for dying. I can't wait to see what I get.



I also have plans for bindweed, peppermint, ivy, ferns, milkweed, queen anne's lace, goldenrod and raspberry leaves. I also collected a whole bag of the inner layer of birch bark. Its a dark maroon when I gathered it and its changed to a brown as it dried. I am hoping the color will return when I cook it.

I'll show you pictures as things come out of the pots!

Way to long between postings, SORRY!!!-

I have been SOOOO busy lately. All the things I planted earlier in the season are growing like mad. Coreopsis Tinctora has come and gone, as have poppies. The sunflowers and black eyed susans are coming on hot and heavy. Take a look!

The first picture is a solar dyebath of Coriopsis Tinctora. It looks just about done I plan to heat the bath, and add premordanted fiber (alum only), After its dyed, I'll add a small bit of soda ash to sweeten the pot, and then readd to fiber to "blossom" the reds.

Picture 2 is the wildflower dye garden. The poppies and coriopsis tinctora are nearly done. The Black Eyed Susans are coming on STRONG!!!

Picture 3 is what the indigo looks like wet (dark green) on unmordanted yarn. From the left: Shetland Wool, Tunis Roving, and a lovely corriedale batt.

Picture 4 shows what it looks like dry. This time on unmordanted Mohair locks and on Merino/Nylon Superwash. In real life it looks very teal. Some bluegray and some gray green.

Picture 5 is the indigo patch. Not all the leaves had blue spots. I wonder if that caused the increased green tones.

Update

Well, the last of the garden is in. I planted the safflower, and hopi red amaranth yesterday. Good thing, because we got a nice rain last night, and then again today for a short while this am. I'm working on fiber prep nightly. The hopi sunflowers are likely going to turn out to be a bust. Turns out they're a fave of the local wild rabbit population. I tried putting cages around them, but either the rabbits are HUGE, or I don't have any future in the caging flower industry, because they seem to get to them anyway. (I have floating row cover over broccoli and brussel sprouts, but it wont work for sunflowers for obvious reasons. The only ones not being eaten are the ones surrounded by string beans. Perhaps the cover has protected them. I doubt unless the few that remain a) survive and b) produce a HUGE amount of seeds I'll have enough to use.

On a happier note, I've discovered that the unknown seedlings in my plant tray were madder. I have about 15 plants that appeared from what I thought was a dead tray. I'd only been watering it because there were 2 or 3 yellow bleeding heart starts (all of whom died). So, I've potted them up to the next tray level, and we'll see where they go. If I can keep them alive through the winter, then I'll try planting them out next spring. No way will they be sturdy enough to survive otherwise.

About half the cotton survived the transition out doors, and of them, only a few are producing new growth yet. I need to work on patience.

The wild flower garden is growing MADLY! I may even get dye materiels out of it this season!

Live well and dye happy,

Leah (who will take pictures as soon as #1 son takes all the graduation photos off my storage card.)

In My Garden

Hi Readers. The garden is growing like crazy. I got the cosmos in. I also got a nice start of peppermint (recalling the lovely bronzy-green another dyer was able to obtain. The Burgandy wine dyed alpaca locks are dying. I got a nice medium lavender after washing. It required that I heat the bath for the color to really take.

I haven't been doing all that much in the last day or two. The broom didn't survive the rainstorm. Pitty that. It was such a pretty plant. I seem to have a chipmunk a/o a mole problem too. I didn't spray with nematodes and the little burrowers are gorging themselves. It doesn't seem to be damaging the plants, and at least I won't have lots of Japanese beetles. I'm definitely feeling the whole 'wheel of life' thing right now

Milkweed is getting ready to flower. After that, it will be time to harvest. Queen Annes Lace is still growing, with no signs of blossoms yet. Red cabbages are starting to form.

Today my 2nd child graduated high school. Like his sister before him he graduated Suma cum laude. Saluditorian for his class. He leaves on the 23rd of this month for the Air Force Academy in Colorado.

Japanese Indigo has finally been planted out in the Garden

At long last the japanese indigo seedlings that I started from seed have made it to the garden. Last year, I didn't get the seeds early enough to start, so I just planted directly in the garden. I couldn't differentiate the seedlings from the weeds, and ended up with absolutely nothing. So, this year I started well in advance, planting seeds, and potting up 2 times before finally setting some 6-7 inch tall (some with branches) seedlings in the garden. The ones that were smaller, I still planted, but not in the main row.

Now, the seedlings are getting a nice drink from safely under their floating row cover to help them settle in and avoid shock. I'll keep them under row cover for 1-2 weeks, by which time they've hardened, and should be ready to go for broke.

Cotton survived planting out. I see some new leaves on some of the plants already. The wild flowers are 8" tall and growing like crazy. Its sunny now, having finally stopped raining!

Here are a few pics to share.

So much to do!

So much to do. My daughter is coming home for a visit from college. My son is leaving for the Air Force Academy. My stepson is enrolled in a college class to get him ready for senior AP Physics, and my youngest is off to camp. Work makes home seem calm! It's in the midst of all this that I'm thankful and appreciative to have my garden, spinning and knitting. I planted out a tray of dark orange marigolds, and a tray of purple opal basil today. I weeded and staked and got sweaty and dirty, and above all, relaxed. (That is until I discovered I'd sat on ants and was getting bitten to pieces. The bed is ready for the hopi red dye amaranth and the japanese indigo. I'd plant out today, but i need to get some floating row cover to protect the young seedlings while they acclimate. Cotton is adjusting well.

Here are a few pictures of the wild flower plot.

I just can't get Madder to grow!

I've tried 3 times. Of the hundreds of plants I've grown there are exactly 2 I cant seem to grow. Lima beans, and Madder. The beans my husbeast is going to have to live without. (All the "madder" plants I was so prowd of turned out to be black hollyhocks). So, I'm going to admit my failure and buy plants (sold by horizonherbs.com). They're supposed to be hardy to zone 4 with mulch, and I'm a 4b or a 5. So, I'm placing my order (for 3 plants, and 3 packets of My Lady's Bedstraw). I've got to get the indigo planted this weekend. I don't want it to bound up in the pot. Some of the larger plants have already started to branch! I'll get photos tonight or tomorrow.

Welcome to my blog Fiberdrunk, I've been following yours for ages. I'm honored you will be following mine!

Live well, and dye happy,
Leah

Progress Report

It would be wonderful if I could plant my seeds, wait say, a week, and have my mature plants up and producing for an extra long harvest. Alas, that doesn't seem to be the case. Yesterday, I planted the Sulfur Cosmos, plowed and weeded. (picture 1) The Hopi Black Dye Sunflowers are up. You can see them between the 2 rows of green beans, and on the far right (other side of the path). (Picture 2) I finally transplanted the green cotton seedlings into the garden. I'll try and take some pictures of the wild flower garden tomorrow.

Memorial Weekend 2010

It's been a long, hot weekend. But I still managed to do a little dye work, and some garden work. Most of the plants are either still growing (like the purple opal basal, and the purple salvia), or are ready for transplant but still need another week in the house. The Japanese Indigo, and the green cotton head out tomorrow. What I though was madder, was infact black hollyhocks. Apparently the Madder didn't even germinate. I have to order more seed, and try again. I'm very determined that it should work. Ditto with the dyers bedstraw.

Right now, I'm spending a fair amount of evening time processing previously dyed fiber, so it will be ready to spin into yarn this winter. I use the drum carder or my combs while I watch movies on my computer. Works for me.

I'm dying some white alpaca I'd washed using Burgandy Wine. I read about it in an article online, and really liked the resulting color. So, wish me luck! I'll post a picture later.

Happy Memorial Day to you all.

Live well and Dye Happy,

Leah.

Garden Challenges and Successes

Here are the picture updates from what was growing in my last plant post:

Row 1: left- Madder, below: Green Cotton

Row 2: left- Japanese Indigo, Right- Dark Orange marigolds

Row 3: Purple Opal Basil

Not Shown: Broom (yellow and maroon flowers)

Rhododendron, Raspberry (for leaves).

The garden is really taking off now. The wildflowers are coming in strong (about a whole 1/2 " tall!) The hollyhocks are doing well. The indoor cotton is about 8" tall and ready to be transplanted outside. The indigo is about 4-5" tall, and some of the stronger plants have started to branch. The weather is still erratic, so I transplanted them, and will keep them inside another week. Madder is ready to be potted up. Lupines are dying in their pots. Apparently the don't like to be moved once they're planted. I should have started them in larger pots and let them grow longer.

I'm also going to plant the Hopi Red Dye Amaranth, some more Japanese Indigo, and some Sulfur Cosmos this weekend. LOTS of weeding is needed too.

I did have one real disappointment. I'd purchased 2 pounds of AMAZING A/B Pygora Fleece. I washed 1 pound, and put the 2nd aside for a bit (the first was horrible to wash but SOOOO nice to play with). When I went to get the 2nd pound, it was riddled with larvae and moths. Tonight I'm tearing apart my studio, and opening every bag to check them for bugs. What's still good will be double bagged. As soon as I can find out where, I'm sending the whole lot of it off for processing! How GROSS.

We've been having moth problems in the house. I thought they were pantry moths, but I couldn't get rid of them. I think I may have found the source of my problem!

More later!

Dye Happy!

Leah

A Day for Dying

The weather was absolutely lovely. Just slightly cool, gentle breeze, cloudless blue sky. So amazingly rare here in vermont. I'd been gathering LOTS of onion skins, and I threw a bunch in a pot yesterday to steep. I turned on the heat, and simmered them for a couple of hours before adding fiber and yarn. The fiber had been mordanted in Alum/COT, and the yarn was just cleaned (since mordant isn't needed for onion skins).

I dipped them both in all the way, and then pulled them out a bit at a time to create a range of colors. The yarn skein was tied tightly in a number of spots to create bands of undyed or yellow yarn (color varies with how long they were in the bath). I'm not sure what I'll use the fiber for yet (4.2oz), but the yarn is for a swap (just shy of 200gm). Let me know what you think!

More from my Garden

Well, I've been watching my wildflower garden intently, and can't say I see much of anything growing out there. I should have sufficient Rhubarb to feed an army, and today the dark orange and the dark red marigolds popped up out of the loamy seed starting mix. LOTS of action with the indigo. I'll wait another week and then take some more pictures. The cotton is starting to throw its first real set of leaves. I'm planting the peas and beets on Wednesday regardless of the weather. I'll need to start moving some of my starts outside pretty soon. Time to build my hoop house.

I'll take more pictures soon.

L.

Mothers Day 2010

Mothers Day, and the first thought going through my mind was that I may never celebrate another mothers day with my son Jonathan living in my home. He's off to the Air Force Academy in June (21st) after graduating on the 18th of the same month. I was dying in the kitchen, the last batch of springs yellow blossoms, and getting a lovely gold from the deep dye bath. He asked me to help him fill out his security application, and the plastic spoon I use for iron fell in the pot. Still gold, but darker some how. I tried to help him fill out the forms, and felt my chest go tight and my breathing become harder. Panic attack. I put the papers down. I just can't do it. I had to leave the room, and even now my chest hurts. He's been mine for 17 years. This is even harder than when I brought my daughter to Princeton, because I knew I'd still see her. Talk with her. Share with her. When Jon leaves, I won't be able to have contact with him again until September, parents weekend. After that, I don't even know when the next time will be. I remember basic training. It was the letters that got me though. I'll write to him (who knows, maybe someday he'll get rich publishing my letters in a memoire).

My fiber is still soaking in the pot. I'll let it cool overnight. I took a portion of that bath, added ammonia and a touch of iron. I'm looking for a greenish brown color. I'll have to wait, be patient, and see what time brings. I hope I can love the colors.

How My Garden Grows

Outside, I have black eyed susans, queen annes lace, hopi black dye sunflowers, coriopsis (tickseed) tinctora, red clover, a bunch of sets (off my plant) of rhubarb, red and gold poppies and a variety of wildflowers. Inside I have starts of madder, 2 varieties of indigo, more sunflowers, marigolds, lupines, black hollyhocks, and a few others.

I’ve always loved gardening, and now I find I have a lot of materiels to try. Poplar (the one with triangle leaves and flat stems) give LOTS of different colors, as do maples, raspberry leaves and stems, willow, ferns,…. I could dye out of my own yard all season long. Exciting. I'm doing a series of experiments on dying with dandelions. The predominant flower at this time of year. I have a pot of plant less roots on the stove. Roots in ammonia and water in a jar, and i'm going to gather a pot of whole plant including roots for a hot bath.

I cant wait to see the outside plants start growing. I hope they start soon!

Here are some pictures of plants I already have started: