Hello, world! I still exist. 
Last month was absolutely nuts with traveling, housesitting, visitors, and a cold, so I’m just now getting my feet back under me. But before I went off to Colorado for a writers’ conference I got to do another indigo vat!
And if there’s anything scarier than doing a natural dyeing pot, it’s doing it for the second time. Because things can go differently. And this second pot of indigo decided to change whatever could be changed. The indigo didn’t dissolve as nicely, the bloom took longer in forming, and the actual vat decided to get oxygen in it a couple times. I tell you. It was crazy.
Well, it still behaved fairly well. Although it seemed a lot stronger than I’d planned. I wound up with a nice medium chunk of fleece.
Continue Reading »
It had to end sometime. It eventually became a question of what would exhaust first. The dye pot or me. But, after a long day of dyeing, I had this lovely assortment of reds. (Plus the two batches of fleece.) All from two ounces of cochineal, some alum, cream of tartar, and vinegar.
The Final Assortment
I’d say it was almost worth all the effort.
Continue Reading »
You know you’ve been at it too long. You’d think I’d learn, wouldn’t you? Note to Self: Do not attempt to repeat the feat of dyeing two batches of roving and two skeins of yarn in four different colorways simultaneously. It doesn’t work well. You inevitably end up feeling rushed, cranking out things you don’t like as much, and spending too much time in the kitchen.
I’ve got the smell of vinegar hovering in my nose and the odd scent of dye solution clings right behind it. I can smell it now at the computer . . . although the computer is in the kitchen where the afore-mentioned things are simmering. Even my nice, clean, cool water glass smells like vinegar. And, I wound up spending way more time than I had planned, so I’m hogging the oven when my sister was supposed to be making a birthday cake! Aaaah! The results had better be worth it.
Yesterday my dad and I went to multiple stores and got all the stuff I need to begin washing the fleece and dyeing some roving I have stashed away. It cost a little more than I was anticipating, but it should last for quite awhile.
Washing and Dyeing Supplies
Two pots for washing and dyeing. A set of measuring cups and spoons (so I don’t get dye and grease on the regular cooking ones). Some wooden spoons for various stirring needs. Can lids to put on the pots of dye. A colander to rinse the wool in. Dawn and Simple Green for cleaning the raw fleece. (The Simple Green isn’t in the picture. It took a couple stops to find it. We finally located it at an Auto Parts store.) And finally some vinegar for the Jaquard Acid dyes. I’m all set to get started. Now all I need is time!
And if there’s anything scarier than doing a natural dyeing pot, it’s doing it for the second time. Because things can go differently. And this second pot of indigo decided to change whatever could be changed. The indigo didn’t dissolve as nicely, the bloom took longer in forming, and the actual vat decided to get oxygen in it a couple times. I tell you. It was crazy.