Play time, part 2
Ok, so I'm not that mean. I won't keep you waiting too long. Because really? No one should have to wait for this. I mean it's practically electric. Totally cannot get enough (and I'm usually fairly immune to the charms of blue, but somehow this totally does it for me). But the thing I find really interesting is how differently each base took the color. From left to right that's Matrika, Zenith, Apex, Meridian, and Corona, all from Seven Sisters Arts. Just as a reminder, they looked like this undyed. And ok, maybe you'd expect the Apex (the gray one [...]
Play time, part 1
My job is awesome. I mean yes, sometimes I spend too much time with boxes and labels and tape. But I also get invited to go visit with fabulous dyers and play with their yarn. And really, that makes up for an awful lot of time spent packing boxes! While we were up in Maine, Karen of Seven Sisters Arts asked if I'd like to come over and play. You know I love her yarn (I used it most recently in Pelagic, and before she opened Seven Sisters Arts, she was half of String Theory, and I've used a ridiculous [...]
Trippy
Last time I showed you a bit about how I dyed these, so this time it seems only fair to show you how they came out! Full disclosure, these are still a bit damp (and there is no way I care enough to iron them, that's never going to happen), but this is a pretty accurate version of how they looked once they were washed (and washed and washed and washed) and dry. Overall, I'm super pleased. It was a bit messy (my fingernails are still blue), and the process is a tiny bit smelly (best done outside). But the [...]
Dippy
So on the Saturday after the book launch, I decided I deserved a little break, and signed up for an indigo class at a local fiber studio. I was super excited, and I've always been the advance prep sort, so I decided I'd snag some napkins and do a bit of work ahead of time (as always, amazon links are affiliate links). I went, I dyed, and...eh. I don't know if it was because I was tired from the launch or because it was hot or something else, but I wasn't all that thrilled with the results. The color was [...]
It’s a Process
Having decided to dye the blanket, I thought I should do a bit of research. Armed with a bit of reading, I first washed the blanket (it hadn't been washed for years...because it had been in the blanket chest, not because I'm filthy). Then I dug out my old jug of synthrapol from a previous tie dyeing phase and ran it through with a shot of that out of some vague notion that it would be helpful. Then, while the blanket was still wringing wet, I trundled off to mix up the dye. I used all three packets, and I [...]
This Could be an Error
At some point in my youth and childhood, I went on a trip to Ireland. While I was there, I got a blanket (from this company). It seemed ruinously expensive at the time (I was a teenager, that was a lot of hours of babysitting), but I loved it and wanted it beyond all reason. It lived in my room for many years. For the last decade or so, it has lived in the bottom of my blanket chest. Its fall from grace is not its fault. It's a lovely, sturdy, wooly blanket. It does all of the things a [...]
Later that Night
After a full day of dyeing, you might think we'd have had enough fun. Nope. There was more to come that night. We started by dyeing (or perhaps painting is a more accurate word) silk scarves with Dye-Na-Flow paints. The process was unreasonably entertaining. It felt sort of like craft day at summer camp. We each made two and it was amazing how different they all were. You can see both of mine in the picture on the left. The first is the purple one in the middle on the bottom row, the second is the orange one running perpendicular [...]
The Three Rs, Part One
The word that comes to mind for day one has to be rowdy. I mean it in the nicest possible way, but there's just no way around it. The students at the retreat were divided up into 3 groups and each group rotated through the three instructors in a different order. All of the groups seemed to develop their own personalities. Mine was obviously the coolest. Our first day's activity was dyeing with Tina Newton, the mastermind behind Blue Moon Fiber Arts. We started with a discussion of color, silk, and dye. Within a few minutes, we were wielding squirt [...]
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