dyeing (and drying) the rainbow

I found two bottles of dye in my workspace this week that I had forgotten about completely. (you do this too, right?)  There was a turquoise blue and a yellow and I really needed some more yellows in my arsenal so I grabbed some wool and did some dyeing.  I have just a bit of undyed wool left, but by dyeing over some dyed wool that I had on hand already, and had too much of in some cases, I was able to get a pretty wide spectrum of colors.  It was a good way for me to use up the two bottles of dye and to get some mileage from my existing stash o' wool.

Some day I hope to use only naturally dyed wool in my work, I think it's part of my path, but I have to admit I love seeing these bright colors hanging on the line.

Have a colorful day!

behold the chokecherry

Before I moved to Minnesota, I had only a vague notion of what a chokecherry was and never had I tried one.  My husband, who grew up here, talked of having chokecherry jelly and recounted popping the astringent cherries in his mouth as a kid and trying not to pucker.

We had been here almost two years before I discovered that our woods held a number of these trees and another year still before I tried my hand at making anything with the cherries.  My first batch of jelly wasn't much more than sweet, not what I expected from these notorious little fruits.

This year I was able to pick a good amount of cherries before the birds or bugs got to them, and made a chokecherry syrup.  To counteract the astrigency of the cherry, it's important to wait until they're black without a trace of red, and to add lots and lots of sugar.  Now, I did both but my syrup still had a rather medicinal taste.  Not unlike Nyquil, actually.

I tried making a bubbly drink by adding some club soda and got something akin to um, bubbly Nyquil.  I figure my only recourse at this point is to make an alcholic drink of it.  Enough vodka in there and I probably won't notice the taste at all.  Or anything else for that matter...

I was a little more successful with my other chokecherry experiment.

I look pretty dangerous here, don't I?  You may think I'm all sweet mushrooms and soft wool but I have a darker side.  And a knife.  And mom gym shoes.

Yeah, I'm scary.

One of our chokecherry trees had fallen this summer and I finally got around to hauling the wood into the barn for drying.  I cut off some of the smaller limbs and thought I'd try dyeing with the bark.

I used one of my old kitchen knives to strip the bark (a draw knife is on my list of wants, but what I have are old kitchen knives) from the limbs.  I tore the strips of bark into pieces and simmered it in some water for about an hour.  The water had taken on an orangey color and the house smelled like earth and cherries, which I didn't mind.

I drained the dye and added a piece of unmordanted, scoured silk and wool.  The resulting color is a warm tan, sort of like buckskin on the silk and a pale tan on the wool.

It's tan, which isn't hard to come by with natural dyeing, but it is quite lovely, a nice shade for autumn.

How about you?  Have you tried chokecherries?  Did you pucker?

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Stash Happy: Felt - a giveaway!

A few months ago I contributed a couple of projects to Lark's new book, Stash Happy: Felt.  I love the concept of this book, as it looks for ways to use up some of the scraps we as crafters inevitably end up with,and if you're anything like me, hold on to because there just has to be a project out there for them...

I show how to make a penny rug bouquet and a felted mushroom terrarium using scraps, but there are so many adorable projects in this book!  It's really such a delightful book to flip through and many of these projects are on my list to make for the holidays this year.

I think you all would enjoy it too, and the kind folks at Lark have given me an extra copy to share!

If you'd like a chance to win, just leave me a comment on this post. 

Tell me what handmade gifts you have in the works, or tell me what kind of craft book you'd like to see written, or just say hello. 

Please be sure I have some way to contact you, should you win.  One entry per person, please.

I'll ship worldwide and will announce the winner on Monday, October 24.

Good luck!

This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks to all who entered!

wordless Wednesday

Okay, not so wordless...

Last night the setting sun seemed to light the last remaining leaves on fire.  Faded green and tan leaves were suddenly golden orange.  It was beautiful.

from this vantage point

I snuck a walk out in the woods this weekend, amongst the blowing leaves and chill of late autumn.  The change in seasons here seems so abrupt, and the colorful and beautiful days of fall seem especially brief.  The few mushrooms I saw, looking like spots of snow against the brown, kept reminding me that winter is coming and I don't feel ready for it.

White, white, everywhere white...

...that is until I changed my vantage point...

...and then, purple.

Which was just the reminder I needed to change my vantage point more often.

Have a great start to the week, everyone.

lobster mushroom-dyed scarf

On Wednesday I gave you a glimpse at a piece I had just finished and today I'll show you what those folded layers of edible-looking pink were.  You might remember that back in September I had been dyeing wool and silk with lobster mushrooms, well this scarf is what came of that lovely fiber. 

I nuno-felted that soft merino wool into a layer of silk.  The resulting texture is nubby and mottled, and oh-so-interesting.  It's soft enough to be worn next to the skin.

The color varies and runs from mauve to fuschia.  In the spots where the silk bubbles up through the wool, you'll see a pale ballerina pink.

This is a shorter scarf but because it has some give, it can be tied once around the neck.  I've made a wool pebble brooch as a closure for it as well which allows the wearer to tie it in different ways.

I used all of my lobster mushroom-dyed fiber on this piece so there will be no others like it.

It amazes me what is possible with natural materials.  Granted, doing work this way is far more labor-intensive than grabbing a box of Rit and some polyester, but the results are so rewarding for me.  I have a piece that is unique and easy on the earth, but I also got to have the experience, the learning experience, from making it. 

This is why I do what I do, and oh how I love it.

This scarf will be in my shop shortly and I'd be grateful if you'd check it out, or share it with someone who might like it (any pink-loving mycologist/nature lovers out there?), because I'd love to be able to continue to do what I do.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

wordless Wednesday

dyeing with dog's nose fungus - Peridoxylon petersii

I found this unusual fungus back in August while out in the woods.  I had never seen one before but it looked remarkably similar to Charlie's nose, hence the term "dog nose fungus".  Funny enough when I googled that very term, I quickly identified this fungus as the Peridoxylon petersii.  It seemed I wasn't the only one who thought they bore a resemblance...

  There were several growing on a highly decayed oak log so I pried a few off and took them home to identify them and see if I could dye with them.

Charlie saw it in my hand and gave me a "say what?" look.  I had to reassure him that it was just a fungus and not an actual dog nose.  That would just be wrong.

It had a very woody feel to it and while the top was a shiny black, the sides had a hint of very dark green in them.  I was eager to see if I could coax any color from it but since I didn't have time to dye with it right away I popped it in the freezer inside a resealable bag.

I recently pulled it out and made dye with it by chopping it into bits and simmering it in water.  It quickly began turning the water into a brownish color so I was hopeful.  I mordanted two strands of wool yarn, one in alum and one in ammonia, and left a third without mordant.  I was surprised to see that the yarns picked up a green color from the dye, since the dye itself looked brown, and that the unmordanted yarn held the color the best.

I put my unmordanted merino wool in the dye bath and simmered it for about an hour.  It came out an olive green, more green than what this image is showing, and I couldn't have been more excited.  I did a second batch in the same dye and only came up with a tiny bit of color.  I did notice with this that the color really developed with heat.  The yarn that touched the bottom of the pot was more green than the middle, and the same was true with the roving.

I have another mushroom in the deep-freeze that I'm eager to try out, and I'm crossing my fingers it's as exciting as this one was for me.

Have you had any happy experiments lately?

 

wishes for Monday

I'm running a bit behind today but wanted to wish you all a happy Monday.

After enjoying these past sun-filled weeks, we've gotten a bit of rain, just enough to make the plants happy and raise my hopes for mushrooms.

Tomatoes are ripening on my windowsill and I've been drying them in batches.  The kids have been gobbling them up as quickly as I pull them from the dehydrator.

I did some felting this weekend and am excited to show you.

I also have a couple of dyeing experiments that I haven't shared yet, that I'll be sharing soon.

The oak leaves have turned to brown and the change in palette alone makes me feel the approach of winter, even though it's still quite warm. 

I feel like a squirrel, running from task to task, preparing.

Hope you have a good start to the week.

a rainbow in the kitchen

Wool problem?  What wool problem?

A snapshot of my working time.

While I have a small workspace in the basement, I do most of my work at the kitchen table.  There are boxes of wool and various supplies lingering in corners throughout the house.  One day I will have them all corraled in the workshop I hope to build (oh I have some plans, yes I do) but for now my working time is spent mostly here.  Lest you think I spend all of my time frolicking in the woods...

I haul my stuff out to work and then I put it all back when I'm done.  Kind of a pain, but it is what it is.  I have a small workshop downstairs in the basement but it is a pile of boxes and craziness from the unending battle with flooding this year.  I just haven't had the energy to get it straightened out yet.  I think that will be a winter project.

I have most of my wool colors in these shoe organizers but not all.  I need to buy one more and then I think I'll have it covered.  Pretty much.

My crafting time is punctuated with sips of coffee.  Oh coffee, my confidante, giver of life, sweet friend...

There's room at the table and I have a fresh pot of coffee on, so pull up a chair and craft with me, won't you?

rolling in the leaves

I have been so thoroughly enjoying our transition into fall.  I feel somewhat desperate to hold on to the colors, the smell, the comfort of jeans and t-shirt weather.  The trees turn brown then leafless really quickly here and I'm not quite ready for the "W" word.

So if I'm a bit quiet, it's because I'm out rolling in the leaves.

And enjoying my woods in color.

Have a great start to the week, friends.

the fire pit

Still giddy from last weekend's pottery class, yesterday I set about building a fire pit in which to fire my soon-to-be clay pots.

I picked a spot that wasn't beneath any tree branches and dug a pit about 5 feet across.  While digging, I hit clay, go figure.

I laid some flat rocks in the center of the pit, to put my pots on, and lined the outside of the pit with larger stones that I gathered from throughout the yard.

I brought my compass out and placed larger stones at north, south, east, and west.  Just because it seemed like the thing to do.   Charlie supervised from due east.

We christened the fire pit with a small fire and a couple of marshmallows, the kids and I.  I thought it would be meaningful to make some kind of offering in the first fire but what can be more meaningful than a bunch of happy, sticky, marshmallow-encrusted kids?  So, a burnt marshmallow was our offering.

All in all, a nice way to spend an autumn afternoon.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend too.