Saturday, April 22, 2017

All about the process..




I have a soft spot for samples.

Mini collections make my heart sing.

A fellow guild member offered to let me borrow her 
set of vintage dye samples...

LOVE!!!

I've come to realize for me it is more 
about the process.


Samples for the next guild warp I am dyeing.
It will have a total of eleven custom colors.

A friend lovingly arranged them for me.

I took a photo that was perfect.  None of my
crazy dye tags attached and then I realized those
tags are a beautiful part of the process.

~







Monday, April 17, 2017

Woodland Warp..

Next up..


.. dyeing a woodland warp for the guild's 
sheep-to-shawl team heading to Waynesburg in May.

Planning on getting started on that tomorrow.  
Also hoping to finish the final master weaving project..
well.. at least weave another quarter of it!

~

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Fini..

Sometimes things don't go as planned.


Which can lead to good things or panic...or both.

Due to the love of a supportive weaver,
regrouping, and burrowing deeper the 
warp is dyed.  Most colors naturally, one not, and 
then one a little of both.


The sample swatch is hard to see but it is resting on the
dark violet yarn.  The colors are pretty darn close.



~



Monday, April 10, 2017

Saxon Blue...

Being that I've never tried Saxon Blue natural dye, I thought it best
to try a few samples before attempting to dye the guild's
sheep-to-shawl warp.


A dear friend gave me this vintage dye book.  As I opened the front cover I noticed
it was autographed on the inside!  After posting the photo on Instagram I got a message from a friend in Montana ~ she went and dug her copy out and it was autographed too!

That little book was the only one that mentioned Saxon Blue.  
Not much information that I can find on the internet either.  

Following the instructions included in the package the first sample went in the pot.  
It was dyed first with a light fustic yellow in hope of getting a spring green.


MINT.

The bottom collection of samples were all Saxon Blue.

I pretty much tried everything:
different yellows
different depth of shade
different modifiers in the dye bath

.. but mostly the blue wouldn't strike.

The water would be a lovely green but when the yarn came out..yellow.


It was an interesting day and I'll continue to research, but 
today I am making an indigo vat to get the spring greens I need.


Couldn't resist a snap of the gorgeous moon last night as we sat
at the campfire.  

Now... back to the drawing board.

~

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Chipping away..



This is where I've been for the past six months.

Slowly chipping away at the Level 1 Master Weaving Homework.

There is one paper and the final project left to go and I am
dyeing the warp for that today.
It pretty much took two days to figure out how
to get a 'random' stripe pattern.

Who knew random could be so hard?

After hours of fiddling with the Fibonacci Sequence and the help 
of an on-line 'random stripe generator' I came up with something
that will work.  Six hues of the same color with all ends accounted for....check!

Also working on dyeing sample colors for a guild sheep-to-shawl warp.

Happy Sunday!

~


Saturday, April 1, 2017

Via Instagram..




Many thanks to you all:
Those who take the time to follow, comment, and ❤️ 
as well as those who kindly stopped by the shop.

My heart is full as I assemble orders today.

Thank you!

~