Peachy

I've been spinning up some of the results of the Natural Dyeing experiments from a few weekends ago. This one is dyed with peach leaves: It's a bit more of the silky wool. I think I had about 100g of it on the day and just distributed it around the different options of pots. So there's about 30g in this colour. I love the deep silvery green--especially combined with the silky sheen of the modified wool. I'm spinning it fairly fine and planning to navaho ply the resulting single. What then? I'm not sure. Perhaps it will turn into some gorgeous tiny thing. Or I'll combine it with something else. I've still got the silk caps dyed on the same day. Just spinning it is making me happy for now.

Slow Start

I've made a slow start today after a disturbed night. I spent most of the morning sitting in my favourite armchair by the window, but I can't do that all day. So to get myself going I plied off the Eucalyptus dyed wool-silk which I spun up last week. Here it is on the bobbin: I've kept it soft, but there's plenty of twist to hold it together and a bit of a fluffy halo to set off the sheen of the silk.

Now what to do with the rest of a slow day? I was thinking I'd take the train into the city and buy the tuning fork I need for my mandolin lesson this evening. I could take some knitting and do as much or as little as I like. On the other hand, the local news tells me there's been a three hour power outage on the City Loop this morning. Perhaps I'd better avoid the trains. Looks like I'm not the only one whose had a slow start to the day, and I'm guessing mine was less frantic and frustrating than the commuters' and Metro staff.

Next!

This wool-silk top is one of the results of the Natural Dyeing day at the Guild a couple of weeks ago. It's dyed with Eucalyptus and I'm quite pleased with it. The wool has taken the rich brown-orange colour, while the silk has taken a lighter shade. I'm keen to see how it looks spun up. Even though they're quite fine fibres, I'm going to try to spin it with enough thickness to maintain the marbling in the colour. I always have to think hard to keep spinning a consistent yarn when it's thicker than the fibre calls for. I think it will be worth it.

Later on today I'm going to meet my friend L at the train station. We're off to the Craft Fair, which includes the Victorian Quilters' Annual show. But there's at least an hour of good spinning left in the morning before I need to think about heading out the door. I mean to make the most of it. First a coffee, then I'll be back to the wheel.

Paperbark

I've just finished reading a biography of Oodgeroo, Aboriginal rights activist and poet. She took her name from the Paperbark trees of her homeland, Stradbroke Island. For me reading the biography brought a response that is becoming all too familiar when I try to learn about Indigenous affairs: "I'm sorry, I had no idea". Poems by Kath Walker (the name she had for most of her life) were a small, but significant part of my education. Their strong rhythms are like a heart-beat. But I don't remember anyone pointing out that this poet was fighting for basic human rights for her people; that the power of her words drew from deep loss and anger at injustice. That wasn't part of a 70's education in Queensland! With Oodgeroo and her land on my mind--visits to the beaches of Stradbroke Island were another part of my growing up--I picked up the silk hankies from last weekend's natural dyeing with a new set of eyes. I wonder if I could explore the paperbark tree with these fibres dyed with eucalypt and peach leaves. It wouldn't be Oodgeroo's paperbark tree--I don't know enough to claim that right--but some sort of response and exploration seems appropriate.

That's Yellow

Yesterday was a rinsing day. Most of my dyeing from Saturday is still either on the line or in the sink, but this bit of wool top is all ready to go.Now that's what I call yellow! I'm thoroughly convinced that tumeric is a very effective natural dye. Yes, it does still smell a bit like curry. I'm told that a bit of fabric conditioner in the final rinse might help.

Natural Dyeing

It was another busy and productive day at the Guild yesterday. Sue had prepared an exciting variety of natural dye experiences for us. Natural dyeing is always a bit of a gamble as this pot demonstrates--it's a bucket of of Shiraz grapes: They had been slowly ripened on the vine, frozen, crushed, boiled, strained, crushed and strained again to release their rich wine colour. The dyepot was promising; the results were disappointing. We got muted light pinks on most of our samples. The tumeric, peach leaves and Eucalyptus pots were much more satisfying. You can imagine how the hall looked and smelled with all these concoctions simmering away in different parts of the room.

Initially the set-up looked very professional, with a row of electric heating elements across one end of the teaching area, all lined up with their respective ingredients. It was all too much for the old hall's wiring, though. There was a frantic and doubtful half hour while the safety switch repeatedly tripped, the pots wouldn't warm up and the phone system and other equipment rang and beeped their alarm at the unusual demand. Eventually compromise won the day: the ambitious array was dismantled and pots were relegated to the gas stove, back hallway and corner bench. That left the teaching table free for arranging and labelling our skeins and samples. We spent the rest of the day dashing between table, pots, buckets and kitchen sink. The Eucalyptus pot was the slowest and most surprising. There we were at the end of the day, distributing and bagging up our samples before going home; stretching tired limbs and waiting for the rich orange-brown colours to come out of the big boiler which we had filled six hours before with fresh green leaves.

Today, you guessed it, I'm rinsing. The Eucalyptus is pretty much done. I don't think a bit of residual smell will worry me at all there. The peach leaf samples are in the sink now. I'll leave the tumeric samples until last. I have no idea how long it will take for the smell of rich curry to dissipate; but the matching colour is worth it.

So Many Treats

It was my birthday yesterday, and it turned out to be a day full of special things. It also turned out to be a long busy day and this morning I'm tired and need to be ready to head out the door in fifteen minutes or so. Just enough time to take a pic of these "blue" roses which are adorning my kitchen bench.

Another day workshop at the Guild today. This time it's natural dyeing--I'm keen to learn. I don't expect the bright vibrant colours that we've been getting from the synthetic dyes, but that's ok. The depth of colour and the excitement of making colour from scratch should be enough to keep me interested and happy.

A Friend is Someone Who . . .

The phone rang unexpectedly yesterday morning. It was L from the Neighbourhood House. She was ringing because someone had brought a bunch of Irises from their garden to cheer up the House kitchen. The purple ones were dripping colour--literally--all over the kitchen floor. Did I want to try dyeing with them? And the others were just irresistably gorgeous. Would I like to come down with my camera to capture their beauty?

Yes, and Yes!

Here one pic of the intact irises:
The purple ones are in my dye pot on the stove as we speak. From my hurried research, I'm doubtful of getting a good colour from them, but what the heck, it's worth a try.