Natural Dyeing

One of my intentions for 2012 is to explore natural dyeing.
I have dabbled a little, but this year I would like to take it further, experiment more & keep great notes ; - D

I currently have some lichen (Parmotrema perlatum) fermenting in an ammonia solution (1 p ammonia 2 p water)
It started off a lovely golden colour, has changed to rust & then deepened. Will I get the elusive purple? or red? Only time will tell!

I also have a pan of catkins soaking (the male parts of the Alder tree)



They gave colour into the liquid on about the third day. I plan to soak them for about a week & then simmer for an hour, before testing with a little fleece that has been treated with alum (as a mordant) to see what colour the catkins have given.

Today we had a wonderful walk. Yesterday it snowed & then rained & was bitterly cold. Today we had a thaw. As we were walking through the woods I saw this:



The dye actually running out of the female cones of the Alder trees!

I have picked some of the cones & they are steeping as I type:



It will be very interesting to see how the colour compares to the catkins.

Last but not least, I have collected a little more lichen, but I have not yet identified this one. It was abundant & I was lucky enough to find some on fallen branches.

I recently went along to a spinning workshop at The Threshing Barn
& purchased a lovely Ryeland fleece, which I scoured on a warm sunny day last week. My plan is to dye the fleece with various natural dyes & spin it into a 2 ply fingering weight & knit a Fair Isle something or other for one of the girls.

Happy Crafting!

A Knitterly Update

Quite a while ago I posted about my wish to make a jumper for one of my girls inspired by this wee fellow:



About this time last year I had purchased a glorious shetland fleece. It was silver grey, with darker grey patches. I washed it ready to spin, once I had decided what I wanted to create with it:



I went backwards & forwards between a jumper & a tank top & in the end, decided to go with a tank top.
I wanted the fair isle design to be isnspired by the colours of the two wee robins that we see on our nature walks (& that try as I might, I can never get a photo of them both together!)
Soft greys, deeper grey, brown, off white & that glorious deep red - orange.

The fleece has patches of charcoal grey - I combed all the fibre & then drum carded to blend the different colours within the one fleece. Some of the fibre was set aside to dye in the browns & reddish orange.



The colours I got from the natural fleece where as follows:

Off-white - from combing the lightest parts of the fleece - the combing removed the grey hairs leaving me with off white.

Silver - Blending the off white with the charcoal

Charcoal - from the darkest parts of the fleece

Brown - I hand dyed some of the off - white

Robin Redbreast Orange - again hand dyed off - white.

I was so nervous about dyeing this! I wanted it to be just right & did not have enough fleece to try over if I made a mistake! I mixed Orange Scarlet & Bright Turquoise Procion Dyes
I was delighted with the results - a perfect Robin - Red! I then drum carded the dyed fleece with some sparkly angelina fibre in 'rusty nail' to give the sweater a very subtle sparkle.

So, onto the yarn! I spun this up on my spinning wheel into a 2 ply yarn. Just a little heavier than a fingering weight. I spun in a 'woolen' method, which produces a lovely, lofty, cuddly yarn, perfect for Fair Isle designs.



I charted out a few fair isle patterns, decided on a winner & cast on a swatch. Essential! This gave me the info I needed for sizing, needle size, the look of the design knit up etc etc.



Once I cast on 'for real' I knit & knit, round & round using steeks for the neck & arm holes. Truthfully though, I am lazy & I do not sew up the areas to be steeked first, I just have at it with the scissors, assuming the fuzziness of the yarn will do its job & hold everything together : )

And here it is! Rosie's Robin Redbreast Tank Top







These photos are not the greatest - it hasnt been blocked here& I really need to get a photo of Rosie wearing said jumper.
I enjoyed creating this so much. I has brought me a lot of joy!

Lazy Day..

We have had a glorious sun-shiny weekend, which I have taken advantage of!

I have washed one of my four new shetland fleeces, purchased from Jamieson & Smith
Now washed & dried I have begun the slow & theraputic carding process.



Here are some of the rolags, all ready to spin. Soft as can be, like wee puffs of air!



I picked a pot full of dandelion heads. My intentions are to spin a 2 ply jumper yarn from all my shetland fleeces & take advantage of the natural colours. I have one fawn, one pale grey, one white & one that is possibly white, or could be more of a natural or beige, or - who knows, 'till it is washed!



The dandelions are all cooked & I will leave them in the cooking liquid for a day or two to steep, before straining & reserving the liquid for dyeing at a later date.



I found an inspiring blog post detailing dyeing with dandelions.
Liberty's Yarn, has a great tutorial for dyeing yarn.

Well, I am back off into the garden to carry on carding.
Have a super day whatever the weather.

An update:
My friend Helen owner of My Heart Exposed Yarns left me some wonderful tips for dyeing with dandelions in the comments section.
Here they are:

"I am very excited you are trying dandelion dye Lynn, some tips for you, after your flower heads have been steeping for about 24 hours, pop in either a sliced lime or a sliced lemon without the pips and allow to steep for as long as possible, minimum of 24 hours more though.

The lime and lemon give the liquid a beautiful glowing delicate yellow colour causing the pigment in the dandelion stamens to really come alive when applied to fibre for dyeing.

Also, next time instead of using alum mordant, soak your fibre in a cold tea solution made by boiling about six tea bags on the cooker in some water then allowing to cool to room temperature before soaking the fibre. When you then apply the dandelion and citrus liquid to the pot the fibre turns a beautiful amazing burnt sun gold colour which is so unique it cant be described or repeated, will be different each time because using tea bags is not an exact science as you personally dont know the precise measurement of ingredients which make up each tea bag."

Thanks Helen!

Lots Of Things...

Firstly, I have finished the shawl I began last January.
It has been a pleasure to knit, but lots of other knitting came along & usurped it! Once the Christmas knitting was done, I made a concerted effort to work on it & get it finished.



Our snow has all gone now, but not in our play -







Our January school has us learning about time.
Here is our blackboard (I copied this drawing from the wonderful Our Little Nature Nest



Time is a beautiful topic that we are particularly enjoying. Such a rhythmic topic, it appeals to our sense of order.
Elianna has begun a calendar & she is illustrating each month & writing a verse from The Months by Sara Coleridge


January brings the snow,
makes our feet and fingers glow.

February brings the rain,
Thaws the frozen lake again.

March brings breezes loud and shrill,
stirs the dancing daffodil.

April brings the primrose sweet,
Scatters daises at our feet.

May brings flocks of pretty lambs,
Skipping by their fleecy damns.

June brings tulips, lilies, roses,
Fills the children's hand with posies.

Hot july brings cooling showers,
Apricots and gillyflowers.

August brings the sheaves of corn,
Then the harvest home is borne.

Warm september brings the fruit,
Sportsmen then begin to shoot.

Fresh October brings the pheasents,
Then to gather nuts is pleasent.

Dull November brings the blast,
Then the leaves are whirling fast.

Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire, and Christmas treat.

Another big project Elianna has begun working on is her first knitted jumper!
This has involved a lot of addition, place value work & measurement.
So far she has costed out the garment & ordered the yarn & needles that she needs. Everything arrived this morning, which is very exciting!
The next job is to dye the yarn & ball it up, all ready to knit : )
This morning we sent a while discussing colour theory & making our own colour wheels.

Elianna's Wheel



We discussed Sir Isaac Newton's classic experiment of passing daylight through a prism to break it down into it's components of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo & Violet. We spent a lot of time talking & thinking about how different colours are different wavelengths & why we see colours as we do.
Fascinating stuff!

My girls have gone to visit Grandma this afternoon & I intend having a huge sort out of our books. I want to spend the time re-arranging them & generally tidying them up : )

Week One: Christmas Cards

I wanted to share with you the Christmas cards the girls made last week. Our December is always split as such:

Week One: Make Christmas cards
Week Two: Make Christmas gifts
Week Three: Christmas Baking
Week Four: Catch up!

I have been really enjoying Christmas in the Family



It is a wonderful resource for baking, crafts, songs & rhymes. Our Christmas cards have been made with the wonderful instructions in this book.

Elianna (just turned 8 years) has made two angel cards:



Rosie (5 years old) Has made a snowflake & Christmas tree:





Here is Rosie's inscription to her daddy : )



As you can see, my girls are quite young & (with help) they managed these simple cards & really enjoyed making them. Rosie was so proud of herself : )

Etsy Shop!

I have just opened my very own Etsy Shop!

Please pop along & have a look - I will be adding more fibre & yarn over the coming days

If you decide to treat yourself to something from my shop, please mention my blog in the comments section for a 10% discount!

Dyeing with Gorse

Hello all!
in between fighting various illnesses, Rosie & I dyed up some sock yarn with Gorse

Here it is in the pan:



& here it is all dyed up:



I am so pleased with the pretty shade! I am planning to knit up Child's Lovely Lace Socks for my girls for Easter.

For more on natural dyeing, look here & here.

More from the dyepot

More 'rainbow' than the last two, these have been claimed by the girls already : )

I am waiting impatiently for some alpaca/silk blend (my favorite fibre!) to arrive, so I can dye some more.

Some dyeing

Spent the afternoon yesterday dyeing these two fine merino & tussah silk slivers.
So have aptly named the colourway 'Candlemas' : )

Another Snow Day...

Scenes from our day...

In the garden:

The girls play house


One of the Fairy houses, all covered in snow


By the fire:
The girls playing & creating in the glow of the fire




I am busily working on 'Gail', which has now become a work in progress for my MIL, who will be having a hip replacement op very soon. I hope to have this done for her to take with her to the hospital, to give her a touch of home & comfort.





Not great photos, but I hope to put up a picture when it is finished & blocked.

Fireside:

Of Snowmen, Sausage Rolls, Stollen & Sewing

The snow came down even heavier today & was much enjoyed by my girls.
Aided by Daddy, they made a tiny snowman named Luke.





Daddy picked the Holly berries for his eyes & buttons : )



Two very proud girls!



Here you see him sporting a bow tie!



At this point the girls came in & had a warming lunch - home made potato & leek soup & warm apple juice. Quiet time was abandoned in honor of this special day & whilst Rosie came to help in the kitchen, Elianna went outside to play with her snowman. Her you can see 'Princess Leah' that she made to keep Luke company ; )



Rosie & I busied ourselves in the kitchen, baking our usual 'Saturday Loaves'. We also made some Sausage Rolls to freeze ahead, ready for Christmas & a loaf of seasonal Stollen as a special treat for tomorrow's breakfast.

A tired & cold Elianna joined us for our weekly 'Pizza & movie night' & disaster struck - down came the rain - cold & bitter.
Luke & Leah were offered protection:



But, we had to face the fact that rain does not bode well for those of snow origin...

My poor, poor girl. Her heart truly broken. My girls are always tucked up in their beds by 7pm - tonight, Rosie went alone & Elianna & I cosied up on my bed - she with her spinning, I with my knitting. We chatted & cried &, eventually, laughed.
Then I remembered the wee surprise I had tucked away as a Christmas gift Girls' Best Book of Knitting, Sewing, and Embroidery by Virginie Desmoulins



This is a lovely little book that I would encourage you to take a look at, if you have daughters who are interested in crafting.
I made my excuses & nipped off to retrieve the book from its hiding place. Oh, you should have seen the smiles & the curiosity when I presented the book to my daughter!
The cover of the book actually has a cardboard Dolly that you 'pop out' of the cover - & lots of lovely ideas inside the book for making clothes for her, along with many other wonderful embroidery, knitting & sewing projects.

At 9pm a very tired, but much more peaceful Elianna went to bed, taking with her the new book. As i kissed her goodnight, she asked to have the lamp left on, so she could browse the book for a while before she went to sleep. It is so wonderful to connect with my child over a shared hobby. I love the times we knit, spin, sew & craft together.

It is good for the soul.

Goodnight & wishing you sweet, creative dreams : )