Category: natural dye
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Patience
I started this embroidery project in 2016 or 2017 with the idea of doing something extra special with the materials and tools, which kind of accumulated over time. I’ve discovered that I work best this way, albeit extremely slowly. But what’s the rush? I name this project Patience only after considering calling it Meditation because…
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Time Flies!
February went by in the blink of an eye and it feels like the Ides of March & St. Patrick’s Day 2018 will quickly be a thing of the past while I carry on privately writing, knitting, and doing other crafty things. I suppose I’m starting to come out of some kind of hibernation now…
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Belated Tour of My Tour de Fleece 2017
Before we get much further into August, I thought I’d write post about Tour de Fleece before I forget everything. I’m pretending the Tour just ended along with July for as long as I can before my middle son heads to college and my oldest returns to college. Anyway… I joined a sort of familiar…
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24/30 Design and Dye
30 Day Knitting Challenge Day 24: Have you ever made your own pattern or dyed your own yarn? How did it turn out? Yes to both. I have several patterns for sale on Ravelry and etsy, which all started with the Owl Honeycomb Blanket. That wasn’t actually my first pattern, just the first one I…
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I’m Lichen Your Mushrooms and Berries
No, I won’t ever get tired on the punny lichen/liken joke. Also: I’m pretty sure my capitalization of plant/fungus names is off/wrong. Forgive me. A few weeks ago I finally took my friend Connie up on her offer to poke around her property to see what I could find to dye with. Connie lives just…
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Madder
This is not a rant. Nor another exposition on going off the deep end and finding my way back (or up out of the depression hole). It’s also not about The Yellow Wallpaper, an incredible short story by Charlotte Perkins Gillman that you should read if you haven’t. This post is about my recent dye…
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Catching Up: Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest
For once I have too much to write about: SVFF, natural dye projects, the sweater I’m knitting out of my own handspun yarn, roller derby, and probably some other things I’m forgetting about. I’m planning on posting more about all of this stuff, particularly the natural dying (madder, mushrooms, pokeberry & bittersweet), but I’ve been…
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I’m Lichen Dying
I’m liking dying & puns and lichen dying. I tried dying with lichen this past spring but didn’t take any pictures of my results. Until now, that is: On the left is the iron-mordanted sample, on the right: alum. I know, the results aren’t that spectacular. It turns out that mid-May isn’t such a great…
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Dying with Black Beans
Dying with black beans? Really? Yes. Really. I read it on the internet. And I have a friend who tried it (hookedferret/silverdragon). And I’ve seen pictures with a range of different results, from blah gray to brilliant blue to deep amethyst purple. Here’s what I did: soaked 2lbs of dried Goya brand black beans in…
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Indigo
A long time ago, in a land not that far away, I got a Jaquard Indigo Dye Kit from Knit Picks. It’s been so long that the product packaging has been updated. I finally used it by starting an indigo vat in mid-June with hookedferret/silverdragn, my dye buddy and enabler. The kit comes with enough…
Little Golden Notebook 