Bleu..

Last spring I purchased a small packet of 

Japanese indigo seeds from a shop on Etsy.

Kind of a 

lets-plant-them-and-see-what-happens thing.

They grew.

Last weekend I got to thinking I should harvest some 

and gave dyeing a go..

As I mashed them into the pot my fingers turned blue.

Okay.. good sign.

The next day the water was blue and there was a film

on the surface characteristic to indigo.

Another good sign.

Whipped air into it,

added more ingredients,

let it sit,

heated it..

..so lost in the excitement I never checked the pH..

and chucked some yarn in the vat!

BLUE!!

Holy. Cow.

.

.

b l u e.

From the b.a.c.k.y.a.r.d.

~

Top to bottom:

100% small farm Alpaca 

Non-superwash Alpaca and wool

Superwash merino wool dyed in Queen Anne's Lace then overdyed with indigo

THIS just came in the mail:

Sequence Knitting; Simple Methods for Creating Complex Fabrics

by Cecelia Campochiaro

Total splurge, BUT it is a gorgeous book.

Be sure to listen to her interview on Woolful.com.

Can't wait to dive in..

~

Joining Ginny