Category: Blog

Sorry to have missed y’all last week. First Alger Market day of the year, and I was kinda pooped when I got back. But here’s the scoop on the other thing I did last weekend- dyeing with my home grown Queen Sophia marigolds!

I’ve got the marigolds I started from seed growing in both the hoophouse and in a garden bed- and they are growing like crazy in both locations.

I had been picking blooms to dry and use later, but there are just so many that the last time I got to picking I ended up with a couple pounds of flowers and I thought- “i should just cook them up fresh and go for it!”

Here they are in my big pot

I brought them to a boil then reduced the heat and simmered for an hour or so I guess. Then left covered and just let them steep overnight. The next morning I fished out the flowers and strained out the remaining debris, but then I was off to the market so it sat for a bit.

Project resumed Monday, then I gathered up the lucky candidates that were destined for the marigold bath

After selecting these different neutrals I also threw in a raspberry skein (can’t remember what it was oringally dyed with- It’s been in the stash for a while) and a small sample of indigo dyed yarn to see how an over-dye would work.

Here they are in the mordant bath (Alum and Cream of Tartar)

The raspberry color bled a bit onto both the felt and some of the yarn. Guess I should have seen that coming. Live and learn. At least the colors are complementary.

And here they all are, finally in the dye bath!

I brought the bath up to 180F, and then held at that temp for about an hour, gentle swishing things around and re-submerging as necessary. Then left covered to cool slowly.

Once rinsed and dried, the colors are softer- but I’m kind of amazed at how lovely and saturated they are-

The Black Knight Scabiosa are coming on slowly, but hopefully with have a chance to cook some of them down later on this summer too.

Things are busy in the garden, with beans, cukes, zukes, egglpplant and garlic coming on, but I am having a bit of a challenge this year with tomatoes. Battling some sort of fungus. 🙁 I’m pruning and spaying like crazy to keep it at bay. Hoping to at least get the first wave of tomatoes across the finish line before the plants succumb. Wish me luck!

And I have a tiny watermelon!! So excited. He’s the first one I’ve seen.

Cutest little baby watermelon ever 🙂

Ok, that’s all I’ve got. Have a good week folks!

Fleece washing continues- tho taking a different approach with this new batch and doing a cold pre-soak.

(this is actually the second batch of water for this soak- the first was dirtier)

Still doing a hot wash afterwards, but it does seem to make that stage go faster and with fewer rinses.

Roses and other garden flowers get the benefit of the soak water- the Esther cold brew fleece tea.

Jude the Obscure

sunflowers!

And the resulting Esther fleece-

I just love me some freshly washed fleece. 🙂

With shearing mostly wrapped up now (only rear half of Felix remaining), I’ve shifted gears to getting some of the fleece harvest washed!

I’m pleased to report that after a rocky start a few years back, Daphne’s wool is kind of coming into its own now. I’d have to dig back through the blog archives, because I’m otherwise kind of bad about keeping notes, but it seems like she’s hit her stride, fleece-wise. Lovely curly tips, med-long staple, nice soft handle, good “floof” factor. Think I’m going to enjoy playing with this batch!

Felix’s wool is really interesting in how it’s changed over the years. Back when he was a youngun’, his wool was quite long and fine- but wavy rather than crimpy. Then there were the in-between years when both he and Frank were so felted that I couldn’t do much with their wool except make toupees for sock monkeys. But now, in his golden years, Felix is growing much finer & crimpier, albeit shorter, fleece. It’s always been harder to get washed because his lanolin is much more persistent than some others. So this year I decided to use my dye kettle setup with the propane burner to get the water nice and hot. I think it worked out ok.

His wool is perfect for hand carding into rolags and spinning into lightweight woolen-style yarns

I’ve still got a bit of a backlog on Esther wool from last year, so trying to get that cleared out and cleaned up as well before starting on this year’s fleece. Maybe one more kettle full to go after this batch

Washing Esther wool is always rewarding because of the complete transformation that it undergoes. From dirty, greasy, stinky to creamy white and glowing. These 2nds I’ll probably have to do some trimming of matting and yellowed tips, but it’s always work the work.

Haven’t started Dottie’s new fleeced yet, but she’s always an pretty easy washer.

And speaking of Dottie- her current sweater project is really coming along-

That’s a sleeve there in the foreground. I tried it on a little earlier today and am excited about how it’s shaping up. Feels really nice- light but cozy. and all that fabulous color. So fun.

Things That Are Making Me Happy Right Now

Stock (Matthiola incana) from the garden (variety- Asa No Kagayaki)

One of my favorite flower smells. Spicy and sweet. Amazing to think that they are related to broccoli!

And I’m making pretty good progress on JUiST- separated the sleeves and body and shifted the color palette for fun

I’m JUiST about ready for another try-on (Heh heh)

Also happy to report that Yellow Chig is done being broody (for the time being) and is back to hanging with me in the hoophouse.

Good to see her back up and around- and getting along with the only other chig remaining on the homestead (recent eagle attack survivor, newly dubbed “Speck”).

Speck likes to spend most of the day in the Rhody Forest, but I lured her out with some grain to get this photo op

I don’t blame her for wanting to stay under cover after her raptor encounter a few weeks back. Glad that she’s on the mend- wounds closing, lots of new feathers coming in, and safely tucked away in a dog crate each night.

Alrighty folks, that’s it from me. Have a good week- and enjoy the Solstice!