Rainy days and dye days....

So today is raining all day and cold and clammy. So there was no going out east like we planned or work in the yard so what to do?? Well this..

A really good day to wash the fleece I have sitting around and start dyeing it. Those are the dye pots on my stove and there are my natural dye products on the table. And there is the fleece some washed and some mordanted. The "brown" fleece is mordanted in iron, the other fleece is mordanted in blue vitriol and the other is just washed in the sink. There are 3 different blends of fleece just waiting to be dyed. So I will keep you all posted. Oh by the way I am dyeing with Brazil wood, alkenet, cochineal bugs, and maybe some madder and Osage orange, depending on the time factor.

Oh and this too...

Homemade yogurt!! Just love the stuff!!!

Bloomin Yarn

Well I thought it was fingering weight!! You see I spun up 8oz of this wonderful fiber called black magic woman from Enchantedknoll to make a shawl/scarf. I did spin it quite thin and did a 2 ply, then after setting the twist and letting it dry.... Poof it bloomed into sport weight yarn!! Being a fairly new spinner this has never happened to me before but I have heard of that happening. For whatever reason, I have bloomed yarn. I am sure it has something to do with how I spun it, and I think I learned something here. In fact when I plied it I had to re-ply it again because the twist was way to loose. But anyway I still love it and am still going to do the Ironwrought scarf/shawl with it. Look how sparkly it is... I love the way this spun it, nice and easy and with very little fuss, just had to make sure there was a towel on my lap to catch all the threads though. So this is sitting waiting for me to get started, just have to finish a few things first, like my sweater, 2 other shawls, and socks!!! Just not enough time to do everything I want to do.

Getting the dye pots out of hibernation

Wow June already!!! Can't believe it is June, but every year goes faster and faster. Anyway its just about time for the dye pots to come out of hibernation. The flowers will be blooming soon and the indigo vat is on its way!! I am looking into undyed yarns for just this reason, also looking to get more fleece. I want to try some experiments with the fleece that I have been thinking about.
So now I have to brush up on my mordant and dye recipes and look for new ones to play with. I have a few things in mind for a couple of projects, so we shall see. Also I have some stuff I want to overdye for some things I want to do this winter. I have a feeling I will be doing alot of dyeing this summer.
I also am taking a spinning workshop in August!! Yippee, its right here in NYC, Insubordiknits is doing a 2 day workshop on art yarn. I have been looking to take classes for that but couldn't find any around here. And her workshop is really reasonable too. So I am looking forward to that. And if I can hurry up and get some fiber dyed I can use my own dyed fibers, maybe I can do some blending on the drum carder as well. I just have to many things I want to do and not enough time. I really need to quit my job LOL
So off to read some dye recipes.