got it!

Earlier this week I shared some dye results using red cabbage.  Yesterday I was revisiting it, hoping to recreate the lovely darker blue color, and hoping to remember exactly how I got it in the first place.

Thankfully I was able to remember which tricks I used, and came up with a shade that was close to what I was looking for.  And I've written it down now.

The silk looked so lovely flying against a patch of (short-lived) blue sky.

It's funny how the dye color starts off purple, but with the addition of a tiny bit of ammonia, turns to blue.  A sprinkle of alum, and you can turn the blue back to purple.

Given the chance, I prefer to dye with red cabbage outdoors.  It gets a little rank, especially if you add in the ammonia.  I don't particularly like using ammonia but it does help with both the color development and the colorfastness.

The beautiful pale blues came from an exhaust batch, and for grins I threw in a piece of unbleached cotton drop cloth.  It looks a lot like chambray denim and I have a little project in mind for it.  If it mellows towards a grey color like my other red cabbage projects have, I think it will look especially nice.

I'd love to be able to teach classes on dyeing someday.  Anyone want to come out and play?  It's fun stuff.

Have a great start to your weekend, everyone!

to believe in the future

I started winter-sowing some seeds a few days ago in empty milk jugs.  The act of planting made me feel like spring wasn't so far off, even if the planters were sitting in a snowdrift.  I started looking around thinking "what else can I make into a mini greenhouse?"  There were some plastic storage bins in my workspace that I was no longer using and I figured they fit the bill.

The bins are about 7" deep which is deep enough to accomodate soil and growing seedlings, and they were mostly clear.  It would have been much easier if the lids were clear also, but this is what I had to work with so I just went with it.

I gathered up the bins, some duct tape, a carpet knife, and my cordless drill. 

I loaded my chuck with a wood screw, but a drill bit would have worked too.

Running the drill in reverse, I punched holes in the lid of the bin.  (why reverse?  Going forward the screw would screw down into the plastic, forcing me to put the drill in reverse to remove it.  In reverse the screw still punctures the plastic without getting stuck)

Lots of holes.  This blue lid will become the bottom of my greenhouse so I wanted plenty of drainage.

I then flipped the box over and did the same to the now top - the clear part of the bin.

I won't be moving these often but I wanted the pieces to be secure if I did need to move my little greenhouse to a new location.  Using the duct tape, I taped the lid to the box.

I cut a flap (carefully) along three sides of the top of the box.

This will be my access point for adding soil and harvesting seedlings.

I taped a stick, slightly longer than the box, to the flap to act as a handle for the lid, and to keep the flap from getting stuck down in the box and smooshing my plants.

I filled my greenhouse with about 4" of potting soil and sowed my seeds.

Betty came over to inspect the latest greenhouse, prompting me to flip the open part of the flap towards the house so she'd be less likely to get in there and eat up my seeds.  Because she totally would.

Our growing season is pretty short here so if this works and I'm able to get a little jump on planting, I'll be one excited girl.

It's said that to plant a garden is to believe in the future.  Right now I'm believing in future salads.  And teas.  And veggies.  I can't wait.

what a mug!

I am the proud,(emphasis on proud), new owner of the coolest coffee mug around.  Made by my teenager, the one who claims to have no artistic ability, in art class.

My son thinks that because he can't draw things realistically, that he doesn't have any artistic talent.  It's okay with me if my kids don't enjoy art, but I hope I impress on them that being able to render hyper-realistic images is not the only measure of creativity.  Using unusual glaze colors, unexpected shapes, and giant handlebar mustaches on coffee mugs...well, I think that's pretty creative.

It makes me smile to look at it.



more dyeing with red cabbage

I have a date with dyeing this week.  First up is more dyeing with red cabbage.  It's a dyestuff I've used many times before, and I love the subtle blues and greys it gives, even if it isn't particularly lightfast.  The colors all together remind me of the blue jays that are at my feeder right now.

I made my daughter a mushroom toy a few years ago out of the pretty blues, that has since faded to bluish-grey.  It's still pretty though, and between you and me, I enjoy watching the color transition over time.

The real reason I'm revisiting the cabbage dye right now is because the last time I dyed, I got this amazing blue on silk.  Silly me didn't write down what combo of tricks I used (tho' I have an idea) so I want to see if I can recreate it.  I have a bad habit of not writing things down and that doesn't always mesh so well with this mind of mine, like a steel...um...sieve it is.

 

This week will be a busy one for me so I'm not sure how much you'll hear from me.  Hopefully I'll be back soon to tell you that I remembered my magic cabbage combo and have skads of pretty blue silk on hand.  Hopefully.

Have a good start to the week, everyone.

perfect punctuation

I told myself, before the beginning of winter, that I would take care to punctuate these long snowy days with new experiences, color, and comfort.  Winters are long here and about this time of year I start getting the blahs.  It was perfect timing then that the first batch of sauerkraut that husband made, using the ferementation crock I gave him for christmas, was ready around the same time my brother in law experimented with making corned venison.  I baked up a couple of loaves of rye, and we had ourselves a reuben fest last night.

It was the first time I've ever had a reuben, and washed down with a pint of husband's homemade beer, I must say it was delicious.

Just what I needed.  It made waking up to below-zero temperatures a little more tolerable this morning.

How do you manage cabin fever, the blahs, the greys?  Are you counting the days until spring?

dyeing with red onions

One of my favorite dyestuffs is the onion skin.  If you're new to natural dyeing, I think onion skins are a wonderful "starter" dye.  They're easy to obtain, give good color even without a mordant, and (my favorite part) are something you might normally discard. 

I use unbleached cotton muslin, silk organza, cotton floss, and undyed wool roving for dyeing.  I mordant some in alum, leave some unmordanted, and use an iron overdip on others.  What I've found with red onions is that the color can vary from batch to batch and exhaust to exhaust so it's a fun material with which to experiment.  Well, provided you're not looking for an exact color of course.

I keep a jar in the pantry and as I use onions in my cooking, I toss the skins in the jar.  To beef up my supply, I will grab any loose skins in the store bins and add them to my bag of onions when I'm shopping.  I'm pretty sure the produce manager doesn't mind one bit that I'm tidying up the onion bin.

I love this green on the silk.

The chartreuse on the stone in the middle came from red onions on wool mordanted with alum.  Love it.

Let's say you get excited about doing some dyeing and buy a whole load of onions.  You know, like me.  You've already made onion soup and various other onion dishes, so now what?  You could always make onion jelly out of them.  It's one of my favorites; great on pork, crackers with cream cheese, bagels...

...and it gives you a reason to keep buying onions.

Hope you're having a colorful day.

wordless wednesday

my second toy society drop

I finished up another sleepy baby for my second Toy Society drop last night, just in time to meet my "one drop a month" goal.  This little guy is inspired by local favorite, Paul Bunyan.  The old book I have said that baby Paul was 15 feet long at one month old, but this guy is quite a bit smaller than that.

He's made from a wool buffalo plaid shirt and is stuffed with lavender and wool locks.

His best pal Babe the blue ox is tucked under his arm.

I'll take him tomorrow to a local park and hope that whoever finds him loves him.  It makes me happy to imagine some little one discovering the toy and being filled with excitement.  I know it's just as likely that some unruly teenagers could find it and use it as a football.  In either case, I hope it's enjoyed.

My daughter was a little bummed that she didn't get to keep the sleepy baby so I made her a teeny one this morning that she could keep.  She's curled up on the couch with him as I write this post.

I hope your week starts off with the thrill of discovery and happiness too.

Happy Monday.

promise of spring

The promise of spring landed in my mailbox yesterday.  Just the thing I needed to make me forget about the greyness of the day.

I can't wait to add these new additions to my landscape.

What's making you happy today?

mushrooms and flower brooches from felted stones

Since I shared my tutorial for making felted wool stones the other day, I thought I'd also share some ideas for using those stones that don't turn out exactly as you like.  Maybe the color isn't what you like or it it didn't turn out quite as smooth as you'd hoped, there's still lots of opportunity in that wool.

For this first one I've liberated the stone by making a cross cut through the bottom of the wool.

I needled the flaps down until I have a little cap.

I had a piece of felted "rope" on hand already so I cut off a piece, tucked it into the cap, and grabbed some roving.

I used the handle of my felting needle to tuck in a good layer between the stem and the cap, then needled it in place, being careful not to poke all the way to the outside of the cap.  That would make the white wool show on the outside of the cap and it wouldn't look very nice.

I needled on a few white spots and just like that I have a cute toadstool.

Another idea is to use the wool in a flower brooch.  You can see I've cut open the bottoms of the smaller stones but cut the wool off the long rock into two somewhat equal pieces.

I flattened the green piece and sewn through it to act as a leaf.  I've left the open end alone for now but once it's sewn to the other pieces, the open end will be sewn shut on the underside of the flower.

I took the two blue pieces, cut a few slits for the petals of the flowers, and turned the pieces inside out which causes it to flare out a bit.  I rounded the petals a little then sewed over them with a blanket stitch.

I cut the smallest piece with a fringe.

After stacking all of the flower pieces onto the leaf, I tucked a wool bead in the middle and sewed them all together down through the center of the flower.  I took a few extra stitches through the open end of the leaf and attached it securely to the underside of the flower. 

Stitch on a pinback and you have yourself a brooch, or sew it to a headband, or you could tie it to a present...

The best part is that you still have those rocks to work with again.

I keep a set of stones on hand just for this purpose.  You can make cute little pouches this way, or finger puppets, or the projects I've just covered...so much possibility!  So the next time your rocks don't turn out as you wanted, don't think of them as mistakes.  Rock your mistakes instead!  (I know, I'm such a nerd)

Have fun, everyone!