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:

Sequence Knitting; Simple Methods for Creating Complex Fabrics

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

Indigo..

You can't help feeling like a bit of a sorceror

mixing up an indigo vat..

Pinches of this..

Lots of stirring that..

Wondering what colors will surface from green

cauldron once the yarn hits the air..

..because that is when the magic happens.

This was the first time I've mixed a vat alone.

I've got some learning to do, but so far..

L.O.V.E.

the indigo.

~