Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Bleu..

Last spring I purchased a small packet of 
Japanese indigo seeds from a shop on Etsy.

Kind of a 
lets-plant-them-and-see-what-happens thing.

They grew.

Last weekend I got to thinking I should harvest some 
and gave dyeing a go..


As I mashed them into the pot my fingers turned blue.
Okay.. good sign.

The next day the water was blue and there was a film
on the surface characteristic to indigo.
Another good sign.


Whipped air into it,
added more ingredients,
let it sit,
heated it..

..so lost in the excitement I never checked the pH..
and chucked some yarn in the vat!


BLUE!!

Holy. Cow.
.

.

b l u e.

From the b.a.c.k.y.a.r.d.

~

Top to bottom:

100% small farm Alpaca 
Non-superwash Alpaca and wool
Superwash merino wool dyed in Queen Anne's Lace then overdyed with indigo

THIS just came in the mail:


by Cecelia Campochiaro

Total splurge, BUT it is a gorgeous book.
Be sure to listen to her interview on Woolful.com.
Can't wait to dive in..
~
Joining Ginny

7 comments:

  1. Those colors are gorgeous!!!! I want some Indigo seeds!! Even though I kill most anything I try to grow.

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  2. Oh wow!! That is just beautiful. Makes me think of the sea

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  3. You are a true artist! Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Holy.Cow. is right!
    xoxo, Ellen.

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  5. What a lovely blue it is! Can you share any details about where you planted the seeds?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great Color~ I have not yet tried to dye my own yarn...too chicken...and there are lots of perfectly good colors out there just waiting for me.

    ReplyDelete

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