Indigo

One of my tasks for this morning is to unpack my bag from Saturday's Indigo workshop. We were told that the gloves we used would be exclusively devoted to Indigo from that day forth. Here's why:It feels like a bit of a badge of honour to have such stained gloves! I've tucked them into the shelf under the sink where I've found a spot for my indigo vat. Now I need to ring my dye suppliers and see about the materials I need to keep my vat going. It can sit for an indefinite period as it is, but I need a reducing agent to reactivate it before I can do any more dyeing. There are lots of different ways of setting up and maintaining a vat--some of them quite ancient and earthy--but this one relies on a few basic chemicals. There's also a fair bit of washing and rinsing to be done from the workshop before I can finish putting it all away, so I'd better get on with it.