an opening sky

A return to self, via a different path.

Like the sky has opened.

Some of you will understand what this means, and what it means to me.

There is a stitched stone on my table, and in my shop.

There is gratitude in my heart.

a blue stone

A blue stone as repayment to a friend for kindness rendered.

Deep, strong, beautiful blue for someone who shares those attributes.

Day 8 stone

Day 8 stone. Capturing a certain palette, rather than a form, I think. Fluffy clouds or speckled eggs? Definitely the color of budgies.

We took the kids to Safari North, a wildlife park near us, today. Our favorite part is always the budgie enclosure. You get to walk in with a stick covered in bird seed and a hundred sweet little budgies land on you and eat the seed. I love seeing the kids grinning with birds lined up on their arms. These wild, unruly children of mine are so soft and gentle with these feathered gems.

We also witnessed a mama kildeer defending her nest full of speckled eggs. When we approached she got all dramatic and pretended, pretty convincingly, that she was injured as she tried to lead us away from the area. We gave her space after getting a quick peek at her lovely eggs and she wiggled back down on her nest.

The weekend has drawn to a close. 2 more days of my challenge left.

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!

The blues

Can you tell how I'm feeling today?

It's a chilly, overcast day here. I'm low on sleep, feeling a bit out of sorts, and well, a little blue. Painting usually helps me feel better, but the toddlers are so busy that it's not practical for me to spend any time with that pursuit. I think I'll go sew a few hearts. That will help.