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.

Unexpected

Walking to the Williamstown Railway Station yesterday afternoon with some friends, we came across this:
In case you can't read the fine print: this is the Morris Ltd, Fish and Poultry Department bike! As a craftsperson I'm fascinated by the way all the components were designed and assembled for the task. As a cyclist I hope the fish and poultry in that front basket weren't too heavy. It would be quite a challenge to ride steadily on the cobbled bluestone streets with a full load. I'm not going to think about the odours wafting up from the basket on a summer day.

New Friend

Yesterday was a funny sort of day. It started with an accident on the freeway. While I drove in to the Guild at Carlton I heard a report on the news about a crash somewhere in the Eastern suburbs. I let it slip by until I got to the workshop to find I was the only student. The others trickled in as the morning went on: with sore shoulders; tense and tired from the resulting traffic congestion. A cuppa and a bar of chocolate went some way towards reviving them. Meanwhile the tutor was fighting off a cold and unsuccesfully stuggling to open the back door of the hall to allow us to set up our dyeing equipment in the open air.

Eventually we got into the swing of the workshop. Marilyn showed us how to set up an Indigo vat from scratch. I love from scratch! Here's the stock solution sitting in a warm bath while the various components do their thing:
That dark blue colour of indigo turned into a yellowish-green as the dye turned into its soluble form. The magic was watching it oxidise again after dyeing the yarns: the unique blue gradually reappearing on the fibre and staying there.

By the end of the day I was so bonded with the process that I couldn't resist the invitation to take a leftover indigo vat home for myself. It's in the car as I type. In fact I must bring it into the house so I have room for passengers today. I spent the evening reading my Indigo book and dreaming of possiblilities. I know, it's not a great time for me to find a home for another bulky source of colour, but I find myself justifying myself in a million ways. Basically though, I love this stuff, and there's always room in the house for those you love.

Anticipation

Another month has flown by and it's once again time for the monthly workshop at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild. Today it's Indigo dyeing and I can't wait! As I was falling asleep last night, I was thinking, "Indigo tomorrow; Indigo tomorrow; Indigo tomorrow . . . " It was better than counting sheep. My friend A gave me this book a few years ago. I'd done a natural dyeing workshop at the Botanical Gardens' Plant Craft Cottage. After just a taste of the magic of Indigo I was hooked. I haven't done anything with it since--except dream and wish. Today we've been promised guidance about setting up a vat as well as the opportunity to do lots of samples. I've taken the instruction to bring "lots of little skeins" to heart. As well as a bag of sample skeins I'd prepared for a previous dyeing workshop, I've got all the bits and bobs of white handspun out of my stash. I figure I don't have to use everything up, but I'd just hate to run out of yarn before the vat runs out of colour. Now to pack up my bits and pieces and head off to Carlton.

Favourite

Here's a close up of one of the shawl pins I made recently.I must admit, it's my favourite and it's going to be hard to send it away. On the other hand, I get such a thrill when somebody chooses to buy something I've created and the only way that's going to happen is if I let it go. Hmmm, I guess that's a lesson for life!

Fiery

I'm spinning another marle yarn. This time it's a combinations of reds and orange. For the first bobbin I split the rovings down quite finely and held the different colours together in my hand as I drafted. The second bobbin will be similar, but I'll leave the rovings a little thicker and allow the colours to vary a bit more. When I ply them together there will be combinations of the different colours at different intervals. I want it to be a warm and vibrant colour story as it's still cool enough to have the heater on for most of the morning here in Melbourne.

Lemon-Lime Tango

I'm still in clearing up mode. That means when I came across a bag of leftover coloured wool tops I decided to spin them up rather than find a place to store them. I pulled out the bright yellow and a green called celery. Spinning them together as a marle gave me a single that would suit an Aussie cheer squad. It was a classic green-gold contrast. I then did another single of a lime green. I was hoping the three colours would blend effectively. Here's a pic of the result: It's certainly bright, but in a way that pleases me. I'm especially happy with the way the lemon yellow has blended with the greens despite the fact that I did no actual mixing. Now I've got a red-orange combo on the table waiting to be spun. Meanwhile there are piles of weeds to be taken to the green dump and a patchwork class to prepare for this evening. That should keep me out of trouble for today.