Category: Blog

Attended a Spindrifters meeting yesterday, where we sorted out the many details around next Saturday’s Dye Day event for the guild.

I am going to take my remaining indigo solution and everything necessary to get the bath tuned up for wool dipping. Also going to cook up a pot Dyer’s Chamomile to round out the natural dye options. It would like we’re going to have cochineal, a walnut and dahlia recipe that yields a lovely pumpkin color, and perhaps some madder or logwood (?) Should be a lot of fun!

Today I thought I should probably do a trial run to see how long it takes me to get a vessel of the indigo solution prepped and ready to use. Also, to give me an idea of how much thiox and washing soda it will take per gallon or so.

It looks like need about 1.5 -2 hours of prep time, 2 tbsp of washing soda to adjust the pH, and about a teaspoon of thiox to get it reduced. And all told, I think I dyed about a pound of wool before the bath started feeling kind of tapped out. So I’m feeling like we should be in pretty good shape for folks to get some good results next Saturday.

Also did about 6 oz of taupe/brown shetland fleece, which was soaking in a mild vinegar bath and missed out on the photo.

The wool felt sheets that I dyed today are one of the goodies I picked up at the meeting this weekend. A longtime Spindrifter (thank you Linda!!) is doing some serious de-stashing/dowsizing, and I came away with some tremendous goodies.

I was amazed to see in the give-away pile a whole collection of unspun yarn (aka pencil roving)! All natural colors, and of a few different makes, I believe (White Buffalo, Plotulopi, perhaps others?)

It is going to be so fun to play with!

I also finally got around to washing Dottie fleece from this spring. Here are the goods air drying in the hoophouse (where I was alternately playing with indigo and tending/harvesting veg today) I do love her wool.

This is an old photo (2017) of Dottie that i think is especially cute

I should go and give her some treats.

Have a good week, folks-

The veg keeps rolling in- tho cukes are about tapped out (finally!). And pears are ready to go as well. The tiny tree does produce an impressive amount of fruit each year (just a sampling below)

We are acting quickly to try and use as much of it as possible, drying some and also making pear butter, which we’ll freeze for future use. They don’t last long once ripe!

In wool news, i did a little trial run on dyeing with my dried Dyer’s Chamomile last weekend, using Aluminim Triformate mordant

Sample amounts of Dottie and Fiona wool (about an ounce each) and equal weight of dried flowers

rehydrating the flowers took longer than I expected!

Started with my food warmer unit, but had to up the heat to get it properly simmering, so upped the ante to the big dye pot and propane burner-

I got pretty good color out of the flowers

and the results on the fleece-

It definitely took more strongly to the tips of the locks. I had only left the wool in the mordant overnight, so perhaps could have gotten a stronger color from a long mordanting period, and also a longer stay in the dye bath (?). I admit I could have been a little more patient 🙂

Here are my results carded up- a nice lemony shade, and a good mossy/mustardy green!

More colors for the fair isle yarn palette!

And speaking of fair isle- work continues on the Dark Alcott-again Cardigan

Having fun playing it by ear with the color combinations. Momo seems to be enjoying this project as well-

I figure I’ve got a couple more inches to go before I start shaping for v-neck and armholes.

Have a good week, folks-

You might remember our friend Thor/Cookie Monster, who arrived on our doorstep last winter and resided for a time in the hoophouse.

She went to live with a friend in Samammish in January, became known as Momo, and things were going well until a recent move found them in closer quarters with no other feline company.

Momo seemed to have a hard time adjusting to the new situation, and was acting out. We decided that perhaps she’d be happier back in more rural surroundings, so I went down yesterday to retrieve her.

The Universal Cat Distribution System has struck again 🙂

In other news, the garden is providing lots of tomato sauce ingredients

Sheep are enjoying prunings from apple trees

And I’m doing a trial run on dyeing with Dyer’s Chamomile, in preparation for a dye day our spinning guild is hosting on Sept 20

Going to try my hand at mordanting with Aluminum Triformate, and see what kind of color I can achieve from the dried flowers. It’s supposed to yield a really nice strong yellow- anxious to see how that looks on Dottie’s silvery grey wool.

I think this guy is a Petit Gris de Renne. Might be the only one of this type I get this year, but he’s lovely. Heavy, and very sweet-smelling. Will be a special treat sometime soon.

I have some Emerald Gem guys on the vine, but they are a bit smaller and I have to check on how to tell if they are ripe.

Despite the heat, I am making pretty good progress on the Alcott cardigan. I really love how Chone’s soft black works with the taupe and dyed colors in the pattern. So glad to have a batch of his yarn in my handspun stash. Private reserve wool.

I had an opportunity yesterday to participate in a neighborhood art/craft/yard sale event Bow yesterday. A couple hats found new homes, and I had a lot of nice conversations with folks about wool, sheep and crafting- all while getting some spinning done.

And, I’m pleased to report that the barn swallows that nested in our breezeway have successfully raised up three little chicks after a failed attempted earlier this year. All three baby birds took flight this weekend, and it feels like the whole local barn swallow community has come to wish them well.