All about the process..

I have a soft spot for samples.

Mini collections make my heart sing.

A fellow guild member offered to let me borrow her 

set of vintage dye samples...

LOVE!!!

I've come to realize for me it is more 

about the process.

Samples for the next guild warp I am dyeing.

It will have a total of eleven custom colors.

A friend lovingly arranged them for me.

I took a photo that was perfect.  None of my

crazy dye tags attached and then I realized those

tags are a beautiful part of the process.

~

Woodland Warp..

Next up..

.. dyeing a woodland warp for the guild's 

sheep-to-shawl team heading to Waynesburg in May.

Planning on getting started on that tomorrow.  

Also hoping to finish the final master weaving project..

well.. at least weave another quarter of it!

~

Fini..

Sometimes things don't go as planned.

Which can lead to good things or panic...or both.

Due to the love of a supportive weaver,

regrouping, and burrowing deeper the 

warp is dyed.  Most colors naturally, one not, and 

then one a little of both.

The sample swatch is hard to see but it is resting on the

dark violet yarn.  The colors are pretty darn close.

~

Saxon Blue...

Being that I've never tried Saxon Blue natural dye, I thought it best

to try a few samples before attempting to dye the guild's

sheep-to-shawl warp.

A dear friend gave me this vintage dye book.  As I opened the front cover I noticed

it was autographed on the inside!  After posting the photo on Instagram I got a message from a friend in Montana ~ she went and dug her copy out and it was autographed too!

That little book was the only one that mentioned Saxon Blue.  

Not much information that I can find on the internet either.  

Following the instructions included in the package the first sample went in the pot.  

It was dyed first with a light fustic yellow in hope of getting a spring green.

MINT.

The bottom collection of samples were all Saxon Blue.

I pretty much tried everything:

different yellows

different depth of shade

different modifiers in the dye bath

.. but mostly the blue wouldn't strike.

The water would be a lovely green but when the yarn came out..yellow.

It was an interesting day and I'll continue to research, but 

today I am making an indigo vat to get the spring greens I need.

Couldn't resist a snap of the gorgeous moon last night as we sat

at the campfire.  

Now... back to the drawing board.

~

Shop update...

Popped a few skeins in the shop for an impromptu update!

Meet 'Kilim'..

~

Via Instagram..

The maple trees are budding.

Raspberries pruned.

But I forgot to plant the peas...

~

Chipping away..

This is where I've been for the past six months.

Slowly chipping away at the Level 1 Master Weaving Homework.

There is one paper and the final project left to go and I am
dyeing the warp for that today.

It pretty much took two days to figure out how
to get a 'random' stripe pattern.

Who knew random could be so hard?

After hours of fiddling with the Fibonacci Sequence and the help 

of an on-line 'random stripe generator' I came up with something

that will work.  Six hues of the same color with all ends accounted for....check!

Also working on dyeing sample colors for a guild sheep-to-shawl warp.

Happy Sunday!

~

Via Instagram..

Many thanks to you all:

Those who take the time to follow, comment, and ❤️ 

as well as those who kindly stopped by the shop.

My heart is full as I assemble orders today.

Thank you!

~