Building a coverlet..

Top photo taken by Karen Parsons

The volunteers at The Depreciation Lands Museum hand spun the five

pounds of yarn in the top photo.

This yarn is to be hand woven into a coverlet for the cabin

on the property.

Yesterday Marilyn and I dyed all the yarns

in Indigo.

They turned out beautifully!

There are so many hands building this coverlet.

Can't wait to see it on the loom!

~

Exotics..

It is a rainy Sunday here so I thought I would sit down and label some

naturally dyed yarn samples.  These mini skeins were dyed with left over dyes from

a guild program I did last week on four exotic natural dyes:

Cochineal, Fustic, Logwood, and Madder

While Madder is currently my favorite dye, I am LOVING

the trio here obtained with Logwood combinations.

Lovely rainbow achieved from the four dyes, but I want to try to add

a green without using indigo..

~

Getting lost..

Five dreamy days unplugged,

in a cabin,

hiking,

knitting,

and listening to the rain.

The solitude fuels my soul.

Pink Lily-of-the-Valley and the 'Wildheart' shawl.

The madder dyed yarn reminds me of the

damp pine needle hiking trails along the creek.

Dyeing up a few samples of Fustic, a tropical hardwood natural dye.

Lovely soft, clear yellows.

Soft peach after a dip in a exhausted madder root bath.

~

Haul

The leaves are coming on slowly.

I love when the trails are peppered with color.

These squishy soft alpaca / wool yarns were dyed with the

last of the hickory hull haul from Squirrel Nutkin..

They are calling for the loom.

~ Happy Friday! ~

Squirrel Nutkin

Hickory hull dyed yarns..

The hulls were left for me by the little red squirrel, who

I believe is living in the wood shed.

There is plenty of wood waiting for me to stack.

I bet I find hickory nuts packed to the ceiling!

The hulls dyed up so beautifully.

Little nutkin is still working away out there.

Thanks little friend ~ 

I'll be out to gather more hulls later...

: )

~

Solace

Finished a lovely little shawl this weekend.

I chose to use some of my naturally dyed

yarns ~ a lace weight dyed with Logwood

and a fingering weight dyed with Cochineal.

The blend of the two yarn weights makes for a light,

soft, and warm shawl!  Up until now I haven't really knit with lace weight yarn.

Such a nice way to try it out without having to commit to a "lace" project!

Pattern:

Solace by Janina Kallio Designs

~

Infinite Nature

 "I thank you God for this most amazing day, 

for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, 

and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, 

which is infinite, which is yes." 

~e.e. Cummings

Yesterday I had the honor of teaching a natural dye class

 at the beautiful Winnie Palmer Nature Center.

The display table of natural dyed samples for the students.

Lots of mixing, dipping, stirring, rinsing..

more rinsing...

and 

we did it..

.. a rainbow of colors..

There were rockets.

Literally.

It was the airshow and the Blue Angels flew over head.

Thank you ladies for a most amazing day.

May your spirits leap and soar as you continue to find rainbows.

xo

~

Yarn Along..

Slowly chipping away at the unfinished object pile 

of knitting projects (UFOs)

Adore this scarf pattern by Janina Kallio

~ Terrain~

Knit with some of my naturally dyed yarn:

Golden rod over-dyed with Indigo.

I find myself impatient for the Queen Anne's Lace

and Golden Rod to come this year...

Reading some lovely natural dye books from the library.

Trying hard to finish the UFOs before casting on something new.  

Knitting on a 3 year old wrap from hand spun now, but 

couldn't resist casting on the Moto Vest by Shelli Westcott.

So simple and chunky yarn..

Looking wonderful from all the 

Woolful podcast chatter...

I said trying right?

~

Joining Ginny

(PS - Ellen .. If you are out there.. can you please send me an email? I can't seem to email you with the address I have  xoxo)

Color study

"I love to study the many things that grow below the corn stalks and bring them back to the studio to study the color. 

If one could only catch that true color of nature - the very thought of it drives me mad."

~Andrew Wyeth~

I've been wanting to try natural dyeing with daffodils since last spring.

So this year, I gathered...dyed some super soft

merino/silk (non-SW) and..

well..

off white.

Re-gathered, gave the yarn a second trip through

the dye bath and ended up with the above.

A creamy yellow beige.

Not what I was expecting, but then that's 

what I love about natural dyeing.  You never

really know what will come from the dye pot.

~

Yarn Along..

"...Now in those times, bits of sky could be eaten.  

It was different from other foods.  

Rice fills the belly, but sky fills the heart.  

The woman reached for the sky and broke off a piece, 

But eating the sky could be dangerous business.  

One could become selfish in their desire, intoxicated, and this was a terrible taboo.

The woman's hunger was stronger than her fear of what she knew had been forbidden, 

and she devoured more and more, until she was drink with it.

As punishment, God pulled the sky higher.

With the heavens now so far above, and God even farther, the people of the land and their children, and their children for generations to come, each filled with their own great hunger, were set out on a trail of infinite desire.

Their longing was made material in the bluest of God's 

blues - in garments dyed in indigo.'

-Adapted by the author from West African folklore, various provenances

Partial except by Catherine McKinley's book above:

Indigo: in search of the color that seduced the world.

~

Joining Ginny..

Yarn Along..

Rain on the roof.

Gray.

Twinkle lights and coffee.

Fire crackling.

Naturally dyed yarn in a dreamy apricot.

Reading Sheila Hicks.

I sooo need a copy of this book.

Joining Ginny...

~

Yarn Along...

Chipping away at the "Terrain" scarf by Janina Kallio.

Loving and craving this brilliant green yarn.

naturally dyed with Queen Anne's Lace and Indigo that I took from the shop : |

Reading a vintage copy of "Beard on Bread" that 

was found at a local antique shop.  Snagged

a vintage book on woven garment construction

 and those cute miniature weaving shuttles as well.

It is an icy, 

sloppy, 

knee deep slushy, 

with more snow on top,

grey,

did I mention grey, 

kinda day.

Guild meeting was cancelled due to the poor weather, so time 

to photograph some yarn for the shop..

and knit.

..  dreaming of green..

Happy Wednesday

~

Joining Ginny

Yarn Along..

Goldenrod over dyed with Indigo..

Had to knit it up for myself.

For some reason I am in LOVE with brilliant green lately.

Probably because it it so gray here.

Scarf pattern:

'Terrain'

by

Kallio Knits

Reading:

Uppercase Magazine

I've been wanting to subscribe to Uppercase for some time now.

When I read that this issue had a feature on feed sacks, 

I knew it was time to jump on board.

Uppercase is absolutely wonderful.

Savoring 

every

single

page.

There are a lot of familiar fabrics in the magazine.

These little quilt squares were sewn by hand, while I was camping, over

20 years ago.  Ironed them with a coffee pot as I went.

So much fun to pull them out of the attic and see them again.

Dad even remembers a shirt made from one of the fabrics as a child.

Any other feed sack fabric fans out there??

~

Joining Ginny

Yarn Along..

Knitting on a "Nori" shawl with some

naturally dyed yarn from the summer dye pots.

Logwood.. gosh I love Logwood.

This little skein was accidentally cut during the re-skeining process

so I got to keep it...  y a y ....!

Reading from the guild library:

A Handweaver's Pattern Book

by Marguerite P. Davison

My mind is a sea of pattern and color fueled 

by reclaimed fiber, textures outside my window,

the dye pots..

..it's endless really.

Wishing you a most happy, healthy, creative New Year!

~

Yarn Along..

Spend a little time camping last weekend.

Packed up my stuff and settled into the cabin.

Deep woods.

Hiking.

River time.

Took some things to get ready for the 

Indy Knit and Spin Festival this weekend...

and of course some knitting!

This morning:

Coffee in the studio..

clouds..

birds talking at the feeder..

.. and label ALL the woolz..

: )

~

Joining Ginny

World with Octobers

..today I woke to yarn that matches my view..

Bits of green on the woodland floor with 

yellow and orange minigling.

Naturally dyed with:

Madder

Indigo

Goldenrod

Cochineal

and 

Marigolds from the garden

~

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

- L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

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.

~

Song Wren

"Palessie" shawl 

by Diana Rozenshteyn

Just starting the shawl, but I am loving the pattern so far.

Knitting up a sample with some of my "Song Wren" base 

that was naturally dyed in Brazilwood.

Knitting a sample for my booth..

I'll be vending in my first festival this fall.

(Information is listed in the side bar of the blog)

Sooo excited!!

If you are in the area please stop by..

I'd love to meet you..

Now off to mix my first indigo vat.

More on that soon..

~

Joining Ginny

Understanding

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. " 

~ Albert Einstein 

There is just something about colors obtained naturally.

I am looking deep into nature

and loving what I am finding along the way.

These lovely yarns were dyed with locally sourced

Queen Anne's lace and sustainably 

harvested Logwood.

~