Bargains

Dimmeys at Footscray is closing down. Every time I mention it, I get a similar shocked, sad expression from Melbournians. Dimmeys at Footscray is an institution. Apparently the old building is to be converted into apartments and there will be a sleek new store a little further out in the suburbs. A sleek new store is not what Dimmeys is all about.

Dimmeys is all about a bargain! Dimmeys closing down sale means bargain upon bargain. I have all the leftover dyes from the weekend to use up, so I was looking for suitable cotton items to use for samples. I couldn't find anything much in white, but there was a rack of solid colour t-shirts and singlet tops: originally $9.99--75% off. I picked up a few. Well, I picked up quite few. I'm going to have a go at overdyeing them. I might even try some bleach. At less than $3 each, there's not much to lose.

First step--always--is washing. I don't usually use washing powder for pre-washing, but since these have been sitting around on clearance racks being handled by hundred's of people, I decided to err on the side of caution. It doesn't matter if the colour strips back a little and I'll give them a double rinse to make sure all the washing chemicals are gone. Pinks and purples in one load; blues in the next load. I won't have to wait for them to dry before I tackle them with the colour, so it won't be long before I can start to see what I can come up with. Meanwhile, there's lots of clearing up to do. I'd like to put the dyeing materials away in enough order that they'll be ready to go for my next workshop in a couple of months time. And I'm thinking I'll store some of the dye solutions in the fridge for a while to take the pressure off myself. They'll last longer that way and I won't have to be in such a rush to use them up. But to do that I have to make room in the fridge . . .

Night Scene

It was a long and satisfying day at the Guild yesterday. A couple of the students weren't able to make it, so it was a small group: three students, an assistant (known at the Guild as the "gofer") and me. We got lots of dyeing done and even managed to rinse out the colour wheel samples before it was time to go home. It was great to have an experienced, motivated group of students and the "gofer" just kept going! By the time I'd packed the car and headed over to Rathdowne St for my post-workshop coffee it was getting late. My friend M pointed out the colour contrast between the evening sky and the autumn leaves on the trees. I was keen enough to walk out into the cold to try to catch it. This isn't quite what I saw, but maybe enough to give you the idea: A slow cuppa and a chat, then it was time to make for home. I didn't have the energy to unpack the car. I have that to look forward to this morning. And I was in bed within an hour of walking in the front door. But this morning I'm feeling good: tired, but good. Today is mostly devoted to catching up with friends. I will try to clear up a bit so that things aren't too chaotic when all my equipment walks back in the front door. Then, as predicted, I'll have all the leftover dyes to deal with. Heaven forbid that they should be washed down the sink! I just need to find enough fibre to make use of all that colour before it reaches its use-by date--and before I reach mine.

Cute as a Button

Cute as a boot with buttons!Having complained in this blog about my fashion frustrations, it seems only right to share my triumphs too. I found these boots on sale this week. I grew up in Queensland, where boots are a fashion statement, not a necessity. In Melbourne I reckon they're a necessity. It's about 9 degrees out there today, and rainy. Besides, what's wrong with a bit of a fashion statement every now and then?

These came in at 40% off, with cute bottons to make me smile, a flat enough heel to satisfy the more sensible part of me and a zip on the other side to make them easy to take on and off. I call that a happy combination. Now I'm off to the hardware store to buy a couple of last minute supplies and then to the Guild for my dyeing workshop. But first I have to pack the car and that's going to be quite a feat. I have so many bits and pieces for this workshop. Oh and if you look at the background to this morning's pic, you'll notice that I didn't get as far as cleaning up yesterday.

Packing It In

I'm enthusiastically preparing for tomorrow's Cellulose Dyeing workshop at the Guild. Let's admit it, I'm over-preparing and there will be too much material to pack into one day. I want to concentrate on colour and texure. All week I've been preparing samples and refining my ideas. I'd also like to let the students do a comparison of different cellulose fibres. We've spun with cotton, ramie and flax this year; bamboo, corn and soy silk last year. I've also collected some viscose rayon to have a go at. This morning I picked out the likely looking cones of yarn from around my workroom (aka lounge) and burn tested them to check the fibre content. I had more varieties of cellulose there than I expected: My main task for today is to slowly and carefully pack everything I'll need tomorrow. My back has chosen this week to play up on me--normally I have no trouble at all with it--so I will have to be particularly slow and careful. Then I'll tweak my notes and try to contain my enthusiasm until tomorrow morning.

Glamour Shot

You know those rare occasions when someone takes a particularly flattering photo of you, so you respond with a "Wow, how good does that look!" rather than the usual cringe? Maybe I'm saying too much about my self image here, but it does turn into a happy story . . .

Yesterday I finally got around to photographing the jewellery pieces I'd collected as a quick folio for the local neighbourhood houses to consider. I'd borrowed several pieces I'd made for friends, since I didn't want to be restricted to my personal colour choices. I decided to get at least two shots of each piece before dismantling the folder and returning the pieces to their homes. This one is in my own collection. It's a large pendant I made to explore the possibilities of free-form work with wire and beads. the wire is copper from the hardware shop and the beads are just glass. But I was thrilled with this macro shot: "Wow, how good does that look!" is what I said to myself. And of course that was followed by, "I must make more exciting pieces like that . . ." But first I'd better finalise the cellulose dyeing I'm preparing for my workshop on Saturday. There are several metres of fabric in the washing machine and a rainbow skein in the sink right now. There are still some touches of colour left in half a dozen pots, but the end is in sight. Today I think I'll concentrate on rinsing everything I've done so far. I'm tired after teaching last night and I have an appointment this afternoon. Tomorrow I'll use up any left over colours, clean up and pack ready for Saturday's workshop. I'm guessing that there will be irresistable bits of leftover dyes and a lot of cleaning up to do after the workshop. Then I'll have room to pull out a new set of tools and beads. And no, I haven't forgotten the swatches I need to do for my Spinning Folio, but they are rather plain and routine, so I'm offereing myself some bright little inducements along the way.

Cotton Colours

I started to reclaim my kitchen space yesterday morning. I got as far as clearing the backlog of washing up so I could rinse out another batch of dyeing. Like a true addict, I then had to do another batch. I just can't let colour go to waste!

Meanwhile the colour wheel samples I'd done last weekend were dry and ready to put away. Here they are:

You can see that there's a bit of a bias toward the orange colours--that's partly the light conditions in which I took the photo and partly the realities of the dyes available. The choices of yellow go straight from the citrus yellow on the far left of the pic to a marigold-like colour on the far right. Somewhere in between--in my imagination--is the classic "primary" yellow that I would expect to find.

Today I'm using up the last of the dyes I mixed up on the weekend and putting everything away. At least that's the plan. I'm also knitting up one of the skeins I dip-dyed on the weekend. It's interesting to see how the colours distribute across the knitting. I'm finding myself watching every row, waiting to see how the colours will come out. I'll see how far I get with that knitting project before the weekend. It doesn't have to be finished to be a good demonstration for my workshop. In fact, being able to compare the yarn in the ball with the knitted fabric could be quite interesting.

Guest Appearance

My friend V saved me from the tussle with my conscience yesterday. Instead of arguing the pro's and con's of casting on another cowl, I invited her over for a coffee. I took the opportunity to finish up some spinning: a wool silk blend which we decided to call "fruit of the forest"--more of that later.

V had a small quilt top ready to baste. She's the one who originally sent me the basting wall idea. Now it was her turn to try it out.
It worked! In less than five minutes she had a quilt ready to go. Now V will have a chance to try out her new free-motion quilting set up without the hassle of having pins in the way. And I had the prompt I needed to take down the quilt which has been hanging on that wall for months now and has made no progress in that time. I don't know if having it draped over a chair will make it any more likely that I work on it, but we'll see.

As for my conscience: I cast on a new cowl in the evening. By then it was really time to sit in the armchair and try to wind down before bed. I had no trouble at all justifying a simple project.