tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62663889208132322362024-03-05T21:16:58.435+00:00Growing Colour Tyfu LliwThis is both about growing colour quite literally as plants in my garden and also about using them. I dye fibres with natural dyes and use them to "paint" with. This is how I make my landscapes , mostly of the North Wales countryside
Mae Tyfu Lliw yn enw addas iawn i'r 'blog' yma. Yr wyf yn cael hwyl yn tyfu bob math o flodau i Helen i'w defnyddio. Mae hi yn creu lluniau bendigedig, mae y lliwiau yn hollol naturiol,
ac felly'n gweithio'n dda iawn yn rhoi lliw credadwy o'r wlad o'm cwmpasHelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-18104091573273106252012-09-03T08:32:00.002+01:002012-09-03T08:33:59.296+01:00Harvesting Colour <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I seized a rare sunny day with dryish plants to start harvesting my dye plants<br />
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Gensita tinctoria - dyers green weed- this I am drying <br />
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Some of my gensita had gone to seed while I was away so I cut some to try and see what it was like to dye with in this state. Some plants lose all their colour when they have gone to seed. <br />
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Golden rod Solidago canadensis- this does not seem to dry well so I will try and dye stuff with all over the next few weeks as overdyed in indigo it gives fabulous green.<br />
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Look what is coming over.! Harvesting became a race.<br />
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Tansy Tanacetum vulgare. I am drying this this year for the first ime to see what it is like dried. <br />
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Coreopsis sp. I have both this and the Coreopis tinctoria which has a much smaller flower but which is prolific. Coreposis has been very slow to flower this year as it has been such a bad summer but now it has been getting going.</div>
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Race lost! Pouring with rain.! </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-30516344056041035632012-08-28T11:56:00.001+01:002012-08-30T10:11:20.547+01:00Moving on with Bananas and the 123 vat.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The reason for the title "moving on" to this blog is as some of you may know is that
recently I was subjected to offensive letters and emails by Mrs Joan Wells of Lincolnshire ( to distinguish her from any other Joan Wells) and her
friend Peter Macphail.. However thanks to the support of all my friends and blog followers who have been quite magnificent I have got
through it and have now deleted the blogs which contained all the offensive letters
I had received. This blog is about having a bit of fun with bananas. .An alternative title of which could be<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Never throw your bananas away.</b></span></div>
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Last summer I met Michel Garcia at ISEND 2011 natural dye conference in France and later took a three day workshop with him using his innovative sugar and lime vats. These indigo vats use fruit sugar as the reducing agent instead of either the tradional fermentation process which result in reduction, or the modern chemicals which do the same. For those baffled by the whole indigo dyeing process reduction is the process by which the insoluble blue powder of indigo (more correctly called ndigotin) is turned into its soluble dyeing form. See it as one chemical biting a bit off another and changing it so it is soluble and will dye. The oxygen in the air will change it back. and the fibres go from yellow to blue. Confused? Read on. <br />
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I wrote about making up a lime fructose <a href="ttp://growingcolour.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/hallelujah-success-with-fructose-vat.html">( fruit sugar vat) </a>last year and <a href="http://riihivilla.blogspot.com/">Leena </a>has written an excellent and very thorough account of her experiments with the sugar lime vats.<a href="http://www.caterpillarsandcocoons.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/silkworms-bananas-and-excitement.html"> Jane Deane </a>also has a fascinating series of posts about her experiments too with the 123 vat including her use of henna snd bananas<br />
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Michel says that the fruit should be ripe and as you can see when I returned form a weeks holidays my bananas were very ripe! Tired as I was by a long drive I leapt on them with cries of delight. <br />
I didn't get to them till yesterday ( Monday) so they sat in the fridge for two days .<br />
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I had no idea how much indigo the bananas would reduce or to put it another way I had no idea how much fruit sugar the bananas would contain. The significance of this is that Michel uses the ingredient of his vat in proportions. Hence it's title the 123 vat: I part indigo to two parts sugar to three parts lime ( the lime being calcium hydroxide). <br />
Hmm!<br />
I guessed: <br />
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<li>I mixed 5g of indigotin powder to a paste with hot water.</li>
<li>I poured 2 litres of very hot water into a stainless steel pan. This is not a vat that has to be <i>kept </i>hot but is a vat that needs to be <i>started</i> hot at 80 degrees C. </li>
<li>I added the bananas, skins and all, and mushed them up.</li>
<li>I poured in the indigo paste, stirred </li>
<li> I added 15g of calcium hydroxide stirred and checked the pH which was at 10.</li>
<li>This is what the vat looked like straight away. </li>
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Then I left it and went had a cupof red bush tea and made a phone call or checked emails for about ten minutes <br />
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The vat cooled down quite rapidly to tepid. <br />
The bubbles are now bluer and there is a scum of indigo spread finely over the surface. This look to the vat is quite typical of lime vats -(the other one being the zInc lime vat) However in retrospect I think I should have stirred it and that this would have concentrated the bubbles in the centre. <br />
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The Vat after 30 minutes . The blobby stuff under the surface is the bananas<br />
Then I added pieces of cotton -dry. MIchel does this and it is also a shibori technique for keeping your patterns very crisp. It definitely works better when the pH is high as it is in this case <br />
One of the differnt things about this vat is that Michel puts the fabric in dry, scrunches it around in the vat and pulls it out so the fabric is only immersed for a minute or less . However some others using this vat have reported a rapid fade of colour. Michel is a chemist and my chemistry is an A Level taken forty years ago so I bow to his superior knowledge but my gut feeling is that indigotin needs time to move through the fabric so I left mine in for 15 minutes the first time - in the vat which had been standing for ten miutes- then for half an hour or so inadvertantly in the vat which had been sitting for half an dhour. This latter vat appeared to be the more reduced vat too. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI452Y0FtpFv6qnWoJpI0i8VRYnUcXWhD5fR3Ru5XvtVFB2CYI5SDSWMBnJvugoiMLSNlAa339_RC3QUYgJr4RzaQDmBPZQ7eIIc25X_mIaUeRYBNU0XeeWf_LRiG76ruQSNd7_v5lLgM/s1600/4..Vat+pulling+cotton+out..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI452Y0FtpFv6qnWoJpI0i8VRYnUcXWhD5fR3Ru5XvtVFB2CYI5SDSWMBnJvugoiMLSNlAa339_RC3QUYgJr4RzaQDmBPZQ7eIIc25X_mIaUeRYBNU0XeeWf_LRiG76ruQSNd7_v5lLgM/s400/4..Vat+pulling+cotton+out..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pulling cotton out of the vat-ignore the red I think it was just the flash </td></tr>
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The cotton is going blue. It came out of the vat looking much greener but had already started to change by the time I got the gloves off and picked up the camera. . <br />
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Dyed cotton a little blotchy -which might be caused by me not moving it around enough but a nice blue. </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-7054620510460966522012-08-27T13:09:00.000+01:002012-08-27T13:09:04.443+01:00Dye Plants in Pots<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Enys ( who for those new to the blog does all the hard work of growing plants) and I are frequently asked if you can grow dye plants in pots.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAlaz0KOUcgaT6G5m-1NImdR7DKUFuxbu3J2GwQKmt2nlewH54Xz2jN59PZaxqYlGgZN1IWBV3fTIf9R3yV3OzLSv-y-9VOhcRmG4nB48f9hQlal0QXb-RSuf6YOkLI6gOZGTK5fZUao/s1600/Pots+with+Dye+plants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOAlaz0KOUcgaT6G5m-1NImdR7DKUFuxbu3J2GwQKmt2nlewH54Xz2jN59PZaxqYlGgZN1IWBV3fTIf9R3yV3OzLSv-y-9VOhcRmG4nB48f9hQlal0QXb-RSuf6YOkLI6gOZGTK5fZUao/s640/Pots+with+Dye+plants.jpg" width="401" /></a></div>
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Here are two which are in fact self planted . They both just appeared. in pots - always a good sign that they have found a place where they are happy. One is Purple Loostrife, Lythrum salicaria and the other is Dyers Chamomile Anthemis tinctoria . Purple loostrife is a source of tannin which you can use as a mordant for both cotton and wools. However purple loostrife does like to be damp so it might be doing so well because we have had such a very wet summer. In another part of the garden I have cut Purple loostrife down to dye with and it is rapidly growing back in bush like shape so you might very well get two cuts from it. The Dyers Chamomile has been picked twice already and is as you can see flourishing . Dyers chamomile gives a golden yellow and if you add iron either as ferrous sulphate or as rusty iron , a lovely soft green <br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-595434796754965002012-08-11T16:58:00.002+01:002012-08-11T16:58:42.428+01:00Bees and Butterflies in the Dye Garden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hooray for Dye Plants!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Df3YiVig9Jbc_pDiT3xuMuIoW3gaB0_nbA9bvUb1gWXRm06zR3IAf0VCaFwWCf3c8XIiHvZWd5ICPf9zoJ_MZxJvkpiZop2g_0EjqXj1BaLOVp54A2g_Y1SRKhvdNh7zndYfLL_KOQs/s1600/bee+on+yarrow1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Df3YiVig9Jbc_pDiT3xuMuIoW3gaB0_nbA9bvUb1gWXRm06zR3IAf0VCaFwWCf3c8XIiHvZWd5ICPf9zoJ_MZxJvkpiZop2g_0EjqXj1BaLOVp54A2g_Y1SRKhvdNh7zndYfLL_KOQs/s640/bee+on+yarrow1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The number of bees and butterflies have been increasing recently both bumble and honey. Today for the first time I heard a real buzzing in the dye garden. And I saw a dozen butterflies mostly variations on white butterflies but still..............................................................!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-31234405165266631242012-08-04T19:12:00.000+01:002012-08-04T19:12:28.283+01:00Malvern Hills Summer School<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Talk about deadline coming up fast! Not only is Helf Gelf very much on the horizon but so is my regular teaching stint at <a href="http://www.sworcs.ac.uk/">Malvern Hills Summer School</a> - actually now called the South Worcestershire College. So between making landscapes I am making samples for the Felt and Fabric Tote Bags ( Thursday 16th of August ) and of course packs). Other workshops are Postcards which is felt landscapes and machine embroidery (Wednesday 15th August) and Eco Dyeing. ( Friday 17th August) <br />
These are some of the things I shall be doing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNtH-RzfzbITbiJBLcH4GMzxApQ9eLD7NWJmjotzjw4XQtGjnPHFGH45uduRnq9iOd8SUp-agDRrbIKvydNSxvVDBcZJS4lRdigpMcb-Wakz_Rym7zPpeCfeORdMB9YgAyJCvYuWWygA/s1600/seco+ilk+lengths.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNtH-RzfzbITbiJBLcH4GMzxApQ9eLD7NWJmjotzjw4XQtGjnPHFGH45uduRnq9iOd8SUp-agDRrbIKvydNSxvVDBcZJS4lRdigpMcb-Wakz_Rym7zPpeCfeORdMB9YgAyJCvYuWWygA/s320/seco+ilk+lengths.jpg" width="168" /></a></div>
Naturally dyed and patterned Eco Silks in the Eco Dyeing workshop<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYUoEhqNbk_8OX4AriDC5DwCe6yvVxYGZp-cDoV8Se-iBS314FpaATRoSllpP4sAgntYU28AcMs0SJxbD4mse4ZRn1dvya66m6UAjs-0-zqeE4OGeDcE1-Dpf9oLh78jCiJK0EPNdQss/s1600/felt+and+fabric+tote+bags+12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYUoEhqNbk_8OX4AriDC5DwCe6yvVxYGZp-cDoV8Se-iBS314FpaATRoSllpP4sAgntYU28AcMs0SJxbD4mse4ZRn1dvya66m6UAjs-0-zqeE4OGeDcE1-Dpf9oLh78jCiJK0EPNdQss/s320/felt+and+fabric+tote+bags+12.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
Samples for the Felt and Fabric Tote bags<br />
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Small Landsape ( Night Sea 2) in Postcards <br />
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-9003790261735265342012-08-03T09:50:00.001+01:002012-08-03T09:51:38.102+01:00Another picture for Helfa Gelf<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5G7Un8OEeaBv6ZGbBc1HIl5LBMk-IK_Iw4YeXKyT6a2M3iTOdPXT4hCApWIeQayl_nsuhvwUSGQWMIpIBjHEjAtJRF2WVrh7JaoaCe1ZfZtFkFOTZLIHycEO9lhUHoC8QSDj7UhzdaA/s1600/Rough+sea+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5G7Un8OEeaBv6ZGbBc1HIl5LBMk-IK_Iw4YeXKyT6a2M3iTOdPXT4hCApWIeQayl_nsuhvwUSGQWMIpIBjHEjAtJRF2WVrh7JaoaCe1ZfZtFkFOTZLIHycEO9lhUHoC8QSDj7UhzdaA/s640/Rough+sea+4.jpg" width="284" /></a></div>
Rough Sea 4 naturally dyed felt and just a tiny bit of machine stitch-unusal for me as there is often a lot in my picures . Referring back to my previous posts on mounts this is in an antique white mount and a silver metallic frame. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-18467424734202950952012-08-02T21:39:00.003+01:002012-08-02T21:49:59.019+01:00Mounting and Framing Pictures.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When you have finished a picture you then have to get it framed. This can make all the difference to a picture. The wrong coloured mount and wrong frame can ruin a picture. One of the things that drives me mad are people who frame all their work in identical frames. Usually bland pale wood . Or come to think of it even worse in the horrible boxy Ikea frames. Even worse than that are those poor souls who tell you in triumph. " I have hardly spent anything on framing! I just go the charity shop find a frame and put my picture in". And one can only gaze in horror at some poor little piece of textile art stuffed into an incongrous frame nd wilting in front of your eyes. Once you have seen decent framing you really start to notice frames </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-25797687826292227662012-07-30T22:49:00.001+01:002012-07-30T22:54:16.286+01:00New Pictures for Helfa Gelf<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I love creating landscapes - but I need deadlines to really get me going. One is coming up very fast over the horizon <a href="http://www.helfagelf.org/en/">Helfa Gelf 2012,</a> the largest open studio event in North Wales .<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPGywvSNsVR1SkbUg9sKN8w8yZCGwbHaHGNlTDCPQrr4E9wrb0PhwtJNzwbaQ6LebNmPJ_JQdPzBARY3oRZKakP0l4L9uKS4T_FVgyYk2eDNKFFFK7oTbFxc9OT8TOC8RCWgIk6_PwAk/s1600/Stone+wall+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPGywvSNsVR1SkbUg9sKN8w8yZCGwbHaHGNlTDCPQrr4E9wrb0PhwtJNzwbaQ6LebNmPJ_JQdPzBARY3oRZKakP0l4L9uKS4T_FVgyYk2eDNKFFFK7oTbFxc9OT8TOC8RCWgIk6_PwAk/s320/Stone+wall+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
here is one of my pictures that I have just completed and sent off to my framers. <br />
"Stone Wall Naturally Dyed Felt and Machine Stitch ".<br />
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As well as getting pictures ready I also have to think what I shall demonstrate as people come round visiting my studio. I have tried landsape production but just can't do it as I really need to ocncentrate so need something I can talk about and do quite easily. <br />
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One year I had a fermented indigo vat with a large sign on it saying fermented indigo vat RATHER SMELLY. I turned round to see a visitor with his head in the vat taking a long sniff. " I am an archeologist " he said "and just wanted to know what it smelt like" </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-24206750075307943242012-07-04T08:37:00.002+01:002012-07-04T08:37:37.307+01:00Dye Garden in July<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The steady rain over the last month - highest rainfall in June since records began- has been<br />
enjoyed by the dye plants! <br />
Gensita tinctoria<br />
Yarrow <br />
Dyers chamomile Anthemis tinctoria ( the bright orange flowers are californian poppies - not a dye plant but I do have a few other things apart form dye plants! ( and you can see a white rose behind the bear!) </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-41535516164841558702012-04-27T20:22:00.000+01:002012-04-27T20:22:14.702+01:00Natural Dye and Felt Workshops in the Dye Garden at Blaen Wern North Wales workshops and<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;">
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: teal;"><span style="font-family: Matisse ITC,fantasy;"><span style="font-size: 32pt;"><b>Colours from
the Dye Garden </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: teal;"><span style="font-family: Matisse ITC,fantasy;"><span style="font-size: 32pt;"><b>&</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: teal;"><span style="font-family: Matisse ITC,fantasy;"><span style="font-size: 32pt;"><b>Designing
with Felt & Stitch </b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: teal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A series of
linked workshops </b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: teal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Spring
2012-Winter 2013</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: teal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>with</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: teal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Anne Campbell
& Helen Melvin</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Spend a Saturday dyeing prefelts and
yarns with natural dyes with Helen as tutor. Spend a Sunday stitching and
felting with Anne exploiting the potential of pre-felts, a fine soft malleable
pure merino fabric </b></span></span></div>
<ul>
<li>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Learn the Techniques of Natural
Dyeing </b></span></span></div>
</li>
<li>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Create experimental and unique
felts</b></span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Take workshops together or singly .
</b></span></span></div>
</li>
<li>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Mix and match dyeing and felting
days.</b> </span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Medieval Dye Pot May 19<sup>th
& </sup></b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Free Form Patchwork Felt May
20<sup>th</sup></b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Eco Dyeing July28th
</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Bags & Book Covers & Textured
Pieces July 29<sup>th</sup></b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Dyeing The Blues October
13<sup>th&</sup></b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Mark Making in Blues<sup>
</sup>October 14th</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Dyes of the World February 23rd
2013 & F</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>elted Shapes and Patterns February
24th </b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Interested?
Contact Helen Melvin on 01745 710507</b></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>or
</b></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.fieryfelts.co.uk/index.php?option=categories&category_id=418622&category=Workshops%20Spring%202012-Winter%202013">http://www.fieryfelts.co.uk/index.php?option=categories&category_id=418622&category=Workshops%20Spring%202012-Winter%202013</a></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>helenmelvin@fieryfelts.co.uk</b></span></span></div>
</span>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.fieryfelts.co.uk/">www.fieryfelts.co.uk</a><br /><a href="http://growingcolour.blogspot.com/">http://growingcolour.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-47677929961855498652012-01-20T18:53:00.001+00:002012-01-20T18:58:40.164+00:00Dyes from Winter garden 2 : an array of yellows.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The dye plants I had in the garden were Genista tinctoria, Weld ( leaves) Dyers Chamomile and Tansy. I picked what I had,<br />
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'<u> </u></div>
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I cut the plant materials up, soaked overnight added premordanted fibres and heated all of them slowly <u> </u>in a large pan<u><br /></u></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcEe7ZeqtgTNe5_zrWXqQmDNPBlWm5cQrRuq5G_LKQcAeXja-QJ4eHysm9D86YrzEMaE3b71VbTxB4nMKQzIDMneRvHPZoc0VeNAVqEpgzBHXscFqYzXHDzEC7SYF9-N2HhqJ2oXuEpU/s1600/kilner+jars+dwg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcEe7ZeqtgTNe5_zrWXqQmDNPBlWm5cQrRuq5G_LKQcAeXja-QJ4eHysm9D86YrzEMaE3b71VbTxB4nMKQzIDMneRvHPZoc0VeNAVqEpgzBHXscFqYzXHDzEC7SYF9-N2HhqJ2oXuEpU/s320/kilner+jars+dwg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right Dyers Chamomile Gensita tinctoria, Tansy and Weld</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMVBNjN1q7sBGu1PXNlNpjErbYwWgwsuSdJ1XDaPRddQp5llW-j_SA3WTZ1fCp9L7e9UbJwFWwBrtLsKl1ZMme4XDxzw8-BR47-_hIoZj96bAR2M8ctK8lG_-l4fHg9jFQcXx1b8yVuQs/s1600/yellow+dyes+wdg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMVBNjN1q7sBGu1PXNlNpjErbYwWgwsuSdJ1XDaPRddQp5llW-j_SA3WTZ1fCp9L7e9UbJwFWwBrtLsKl1ZMme4XDxzw8-BR47-_hIoZj96bAR2M8ctK8lG_-l4fHg9jFQcXx1b8yVuQs/s320/yellow+dyes+wdg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sunny result-very nice to have in the winter. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As there is only so much yellow a girl can have I put rusty nails into
the Genista tinctoria and tansy but in fact these only became a
bronze/gold.(Top row), the acid yellow of the weld leaves stands out in
the middle and in the fluff of alpaca to the right. There was so much
colour in the dyers chamomile that I repeated it and got almost as good a
colour the second time ( Alpaca on left hand side)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjSrdgM6wr21Vk7lEvTjmRJA9wKroSbPGZRgcjT1fNLVcIHNsWT3TPYsXKm5WAVUdMa7u_nZJZXaGi4gn1cdFQtJb_mGLR2IxVi0DG9uBUS_jUni1CoaAoQ1EvGAPYaHJrsDqWGAXA8bg/s1600/alpaca+wdg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjSrdgM6wr21Vk7lEvTjmRJA9wKroSbPGZRgcjT1fNLVcIHNsWT3TPYsXKm5WAVUdMa7u_nZJZXaGi4gn1cdFQtJb_mGLR2IxVi0DG9uBUS_jUni1CoaAoQ1EvGAPYaHJrsDqWGAXA8bg/s320/alpaca+wdg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The alpaca I stuffed into a fermentation indigo vat- so now a truly eco green! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-71444043171681817992011-12-30T16:24:00.002+00:002011-12-30T22:20:55.330+00:00Dyes from the Winter Garden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We have had, so far, a very mild winter and as I wandered around the dye garden on a very mild sunny day I was astonished at how many dye plants were either still in flower or doing well.<br />
<br />
So:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRCWYefrDhFps-fmkTKg_YNVPfrKQL-EdsGxjaYi3t3fOEfTtgyd1uYY8zr6fR8tAXutRgCr8gq1ZxoUvrLBR2CsXonOhZGBfJgX7ikvLrktDg9ArboQJMioGOc_VNAKp9BhXAwW9Qwg/s1600/Chinese+Woad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaCyIx-fNW67nlIvn_nSfFojMXY0w7jHdrjPHX4foFx7I7Ynv9lslL4JiLbuPtkEhTSc0ms4aT9Q_5eeZqcTz9xwaeKGIdKm4vKFsvuAVlTRri5jgdeD1uK_phJ_YiDDO5k5RwFguN4w/s1600/Chinese+Woad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaCyIx-fNW67nlIvn_nSfFojMXY0w7jHdrjPHX4foFx7I7Ynv9lslL4JiLbuPtkEhTSc0ms4aT9Q_5eeZqcTz9xwaeKGIdKm4vKFsvuAVlTRri5jgdeD1uK_phJ_YiDDO5k5RwFguN4w/s320/Chinese+Woad.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese Woad Isatis indigotica</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I decided to dye with them all: <br />
starting with Chinese Woad ( Isatis indigotica) .This was last picked in November so all this growth has been since then so I was not sure how much blue there would be in the leaves .<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCzbV9rj5nL4ezcUIHAUmYMvDHRfVt0ORB991SHZp-yXR_Dna7E_9hOnJw-v6Uuz5nHXRcWEfvD7xumLeaSbOleJHzhDCV46hC-AUZoLGmQH1l39Y7A1Mff2c2QtFkvc8hlS0ZmN2oi0/s1600/chinese+woad+bath++dec11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCzbV9rj5nL4ezcUIHAUmYMvDHRfVt0ORB991SHZp-yXR_Dna7E_9hOnJw-v6Uuz5nHXRcWEfvD7xumLeaSbOleJHzhDCV46hC-AUZoLGmQH1l39Y7A1Mff2c2QtFkvc8hlS0ZmN2oi0/s320/chinese+woad+bath++dec11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ripped leaves covered with boiling water</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I picked all the leaves, weighing 220 g and ripped them all roughly , poured over 2 kettlesful of boiling water and left to steep. You can see the colour after about 20 minutes, this is the precursor to Indigotin. <br />
Then I added 1 tablespoon of washing soda ( sodium carbonate)You can see that the water is now a murky green <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd58awDcdo3i8blujCRE014JVKNLAOFqNfv6Zal7jjL-sgS4hL_LYx8DxWJQbYiDYNriSmPBlsY8E9QgBKcMsQz7p5e6aN7hWPoHaaPQ-PGOdYeLYWpveEQSPnwhlq8hw64wlYOdeZwpk/s1600/chinese+woad+bath+1+dec11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd58awDcdo3i8blujCRE014JVKNLAOFqNfv6Zal7jjL-sgS4hL_LYx8DxWJQbYiDYNriSmPBlsY8E9QgBKcMsQz7p5e6aN7hWPoHaaPQ-PGOdYeLYWpveEQSPnwhlq8hw64wlYOdeZwpk/s320/chinese+woad+bath+1+dec11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to beat</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_CKSuynkhUKqEY-aRSiIrWHvGLsxXRI3ryjNhaedNIwIIpMM9ZII_QPOxCBHIl7-p4rv9VTS5kbqHo0NlES1unEB69kUhteYGHOXfYPoXKQMZeWK169uU9yI5DM7ra9hSCgoLpFe1A4/s1600/chinese+woad+bath+2+dec11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_CKSuynkhUKqEY-aRSiIrWHvGLsxXRI3ryjNhaedNIwIIpMM9ZII_QPOxCBHIl7-p4rv9VTS5kbqHo0NlES1unEB69kUhteYGHOXfYPoXKQMZeWK169uU9yI5DM7ra9hSCgoLpFe1A4/s320/chinese+woad+bath+2+dec11.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">starting to beat</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOF6YGq0s8qVNjQ6ohBA48BF3YcrD3TgS7-NVRtrRGV2Gt4BQsN6rE7cBwRcSruzLJQdrZMYyx4xP9y0i3LYYplMci-60JLKJmOUl9B3scGXftUtDon6ZkJABx25E_t9BGaBzkv9w37wE/s1600/chinese+woad+bath+3++dec11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOF6YGq0s8qVNjQ6ohBA48BF3YcrD3TgS7-NVRtrRGV2Gt4BQsN6rE7cBwRcSruzLJQdrZMYyx4xP9y0i3LYYplMci-60JLKJmOUl9B3scGXftUtDon6ZkJABx25E_t9BGaBzkv9w37wE/s320/chinese+woad+bath+3++dec11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">after beating for a few minutes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Then I started to beat to areate the liquid . This converts the precursor to indigotin to indigotin which being insoluble will precipitate out. You usually but not aways will see the froth turning blue . It doe slook bluey here but not marketedly so. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GbcPtnW5OBJtP2230ocDl8NEM1NYIhHNVL9oyzcO4H6ZrWerDUC9YEhhPEj34Xq8OHDZAP_LL2Ex0YqfNYCoIuFTAswRmahrFkfSYRQjoJgtmSlacSWDXCCUcGXCYf_-hz5Df_MwqgE/s1600/chinese+woad+bath+4+dec11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GbcPtnW5OBJtP2230ocDl8NEM1NYIhHNVL9oyzcO4H6ZrWerDUC9YEhhPEj34Xq8OHDZAP_LL2Ex0YqfNYCoIuFTAswRmahrFkfSYRQjoJgtmSlacSWDXCCUcGXCYf_-hz5Df_MwqgE/s320/chinese+woad+bath+4+dec11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After beating. Now there is blue skim of indigotin on the surface. Hopeful! </td></tr>
</tbody></table> Then I added 1 dessert spoon of thiourea dioxide which removed the oxygen so that the insoluble blue indigotin would convert to its soluble form indigo white. At the sme time I heated the little vat till it was 50 degrees C -the optimum temperature for dyeing wool . The pH was 9.<br />
In the picture below you can see the fully reduced vat with some pale blue undissolved indigo on the surface showing that there is some blue but perhaps not a lot. <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaptWSaE4n9upIEBbWZFjaaD43lUME3sSiBIrlggOLsna5g0fRr02z7ioXrle2R8pzygWEPxxnCWgJ7s5ANf4O8WZ1m3pgS657ZlnKngdDe9Pe30BrJluTq-xYuDuB5hXuRKFdzbAP4Zg/s320/chinese+woad+bath+5+dec11.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">redcuced vat</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegEZpn6DAhuH1Vwsg-mStDeDwrBe95rQYZz12_dWRPPuHSYE60Szq87Sk2yLFLWyAnr1cgrUVmzmpBF_COD163_qZhdMq5dowAc-QGQrpp0ygwj_PSn8eJ4tBO8V58Ckc_ke4GkVnVYg/s320/chinese+woad+bath+6+dec11.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">warmed vat with fibres added</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> I enterd about 50 g of dry 18,5 micron merino and silk. Here you can see it soaking in the vat.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhln2Z5r7P9JwQzl9w63-qQDscWqtntOT_pBsvBb0SiKnteMqgmJGJOhDn6xRWa58_uqTsJv7lJizXZirm4OZ78z8vmKochLql3JG0hQ5yevXppFFaFiB_WwaMhfWBb8EvYV2w2zASb_SY/s1600/chinese+woad+bath++7+dec11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhln2Z5r7P9JwQzl9w63-qQDscWqtntOT_pBsvBb0SiKnteMqgmJGJOhDn6xRWa58_uqTsJv7lJizXZirm4OZ78z8vmKochLql3JG0hQ5yevXppFFaFiB_WwaMhfWBb8EvYV2w2zASb_SY/s320/chinese+woad+bath++7+dec11.jpg" width="43" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fires goingblue in the air</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Here the fibres are hung to drip and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0s3divt0Xun98yc1RByUFZW7EfKJYn18FUNzO7DFj1vTGCUJXBCoPDMADJftBgFDaVzvjZwGQ59LP4RdPC7hJ7OcuCzMQkG8H3XYwPYfLiea3BLrlClTcDlxAm7RmtJNsEyv_YLNdkE/s1600/weld+dec+11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>oxidise from yellow to blue.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0s3divt0Xun98yc1RByUFZW7EfKJYn18FUNzO7DFj1vTGCUJXBCoPDMADJftBgFDaVzvjZwGQ59LP4RdPC7hJ7OcuCzMQkG8H3XYwPYfLiea3BLrlClTcDlxAm7RmtJNsEyv_YLNdkE/s1600/weld+dec+11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0s3divt0Xun98yc1RByUFZW7EfKJYn18FUNzO7DFj1vTGCUJXBCoPDMADJftBgFDaVzvjZwGQ59LP4RdPC7hJ7OcuCzMQkG8H3XYwPYfLiea3BLrlClTcDlxAm7RmtJNsEyv_YLNdkE/s320/weld+dec+11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">weld dyed merino and silk </td></tr>
</tbody></table>I tried dipping the fibre again to get a deeper blue but there was little change in the colour so then I put in some weld dyed fibres - dyed with the weld I found growing in Conwy in November <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNbwfCoyjRDorLeR-fl-pSBj_4brxtuCn7Fut4arUxBStuYtBTzhhkt3Up30Q7EwB4qlU0br4OhG5hubpxSFqytoOTIC-V-OJP9YfmbJ6KspWts_i97r6pxLckmtPpk-SkvB-8Cxoz4Q/s1600/chinese+woad+bath+8+dec11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNbwfCoyjRDorLeR-fl-pSBj_4brxtuCn7Fut4arUxBStuYtBTzhhkt3Up30Q7EwB4qlU0br4OhG5hubpxSFqytoOTIC-V-OJP9YfmbJ6KspWts_i97r6pxLckmtPpk-SkvB-8Cxoz4Q/s320/chinese+woad+bath+8+dec11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Here is the result. About 80g of dyed fibres. Not as much as you would probably get if the leaves had growing durign sunny months but still nice to have especially in the bleak winter landscapes with grey skies and drizzling rain.<br />
The rest of the dyes are cooking as I write. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-64183597440130142772011-12-24T18:09:00.000+00:002011-12-24T18:09:55.439+00:00Merry Christmas and a Happy New year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUbxh9I0AAX638MyBIUN-vbt23LnvpgkbhyphenhyphenuHq_sJGQ7eJTT3k6PwxAvgT-zFEU7V-U-2akSgo7Clh-DGTtdTGr0CFaIfsmtu_J_aeccSrfvG-XhRs3y4q4rSfDk2sUyapnNY-xTsqGc/s1600/Snow+decemer+2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUbxh9I0AAX638MyBIUN-vbt23LnvpgkbhyphenhyphenuHq_sJGQ7eJTT3k6PwxAvgT-zFEU7V-U-2akSgo7Clh-DGTtdTGr0CFaIfsmtu_J_aeccSrfvG-XhRs3y4q4rSfDk2sUyapnNY-xTsqGc/s640/Snow+decemer+2010.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all my followers, readers and friends.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-70703889186744968502011-12-18T22:31:00.001+00:002011-12-18T22:34:18.364+00:00Logwood Persian Berries Eco Dye Pots<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_5lYbpQ9WrZyuREGUyXskrfFDXlvKNzipj9Wc5pailh2xrbm7dcsDBCWW4X8F26p-CuQsOg0r_xHQQCPWY3sDXoy6OMkAcC3gLarmd0N2rSNPZSojVEbfUM_IrEIVgsXjXAn7fIrJN0/s1600/logwood+persian+berries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_5lYbpQ9WrZyuREGUyXskrfFDXlvKNzipj9Wc5pailh2xrbm7dcsDBCWW4X8F26p-CuQsOg0r_xHQQCPWY3sDXoy6OMkAcC3gLarmd0N2rSNPZSojVEbfUM_IrEIVgsXjXAn7fIrJN0/s320/logwood+persian+berries.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>Sometmes natural dyes can prove to be very difficult to photograph. Once or twice I have run into real problems getting the colour of the dye into the camera. A Logwood dark blue will never come out the colour I see it as. Today I have dyed some wonderful lime greens and purples with Logwood and Persian berries but no matter how I photograph it it comes out grey with flashes of purple.. Oddly enough the Persian berries greens look grey in artifical light too See for yourself-and you will have to take my word for it that this does not do justice to the colours at all what you see as grey on the screen is a lovely green. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-76493954911622623012011-12-13T21:51:00.001+00:002011-12-13T21:53:42.435+00:00Washing Art Yarns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVAb5VeixUCx_eap0nMvI0HXtzp54Ab6tllboDr95vn8kILheN32_5RvD9HJCDo9mIqWEdSClSJ3es0Na3Cr0Jc4O9fuTtDyv56Yst-wZgWPhBKbNXltx5t2x_okD5c0PURSfjBoaTnA/s1600/art+yarns+washing+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVAb5VeixUCx_eap0nMvI0HXtzp54Ab6tllboDr95vn8kILheN32_5RvD9HJCDo9mIqWEdSClSJ3es0Na3Cr0Jc4O9fuTtDyv56Yst-wZgWPhBKbNXltx5t2x_okD5c0PURSfjBoaTnA/s320/art+yarns+washing+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtjVMdliX7F80Gsgza63u9WmC4Dtqk1WVe4dYPdulnoCiTa7nQ9zxhdXr-d2ZxVtlNgBplGwdlqraFnw8JdhKw6B7IL0T2T01pmWSvOjbRg7dvV5_6FJ5m-57HP32DPzkT9T3z0V5Btw/s1600/washing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtjVMdliX7F80Gsgza63u9WmC4Dtqk1WVe4dYPdulnoCiTa7nQ9zxhdXr-d2ZxVtlNgBplGwdlqraFnw8JdhKw6B7IL0T2T01pmWSvOjbRg7dvV5_6FJ5m-57HP32DPzkT9T3z0V5Btw/s320/washing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Now the evenings are long and dark, the wind is howling and rain is slashing agaisnt the window I am having a lovely time sitting at my wheel playing with colour and texture. Quite suddenly I can't get enough and look forward every evening to to the time when I can sit down and spin. This is when I rnew my stock of art yarns which have been selling like hot cakes but I do have a few up on my website. Here I couldn't resist a photo of the yarns being washed. I thought it showed them off quite well! I wash the yarn for a very short time in very hot water with a little of my lovely organic shampoo so the yarn hangs nice and straight and it firms up soft fibres a bit. <br />
Of course every scrap of fibre is naturally dyed. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-42288242176194472652011-12-05T17:11:00.095+00:002011-12-06T08:46:16.458+00:00Multicoloured eco dyeing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I love multicoloured fibres and fabrics and although I can get this effect with the extracts of natural dyes I am rather pleased to find along the way of experimenting with eco dyeing that I had found another method of getting a painted effect. <br />
I have been solar dyeing for the last three or four years with large kilner jars and have been enjoying stuffing fibres and dyes into large pots and seeing the result and opening a pot is rather like opening a Christmas present. But of course solar dyeing here is only an option in the summer so now Iam suffering form withdrawal symptoms. I decided instead to experiment with ecodyeing in kilner jars using one source of heat. <br />
Here are the three pots I produced for a demonstration at Trefriw Christmas Textile Market .They all fit into one pan and although I stuff different things into each one they take about 50gs of fibre, a couple of silk caps, handfuls of mohair and pieces of silk for example. I usually stuff in silk cocoons and carrier rods too. This is an ideal method for a project as the different fibres all go together and in one pot you can get a lot of variation. My photo of the results of the madder logwood and persian berries pot is not brilliant because there are two different silk caps one from the bottomof the pot and one from the top. This is also a lovely technique for nunofelt as you can dye both the silk and the fibres together but I plan -as I am now into my spinning season (long dark cold nights and a woodburner) to spin quite lot of these into yummy art yarns. :)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1jAXl4K0bUlGI0jdRHPUe0jHN8XnoMOkv5KSaTJHBwNDoFexJd5c_taR3BHHU9mzIJTMvsQL57tsrPf7yWhSZWZTtVUS0p5EEh1r5R_oKr01SLjNtqET84qc8KfXa9f5ZqKrQ2p4W5nk/s1600/waterbathmcpb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1jAXl4K0bUlGI0jdRHPUe0jHN8XnoMOkv5KSaTJHBwNDoFexJd5c_taR3BHHU9mzIJTMvsQL57tsrPf7yWhSZWZTtVUS0p5EEh1r5R_oKr01SLjNtqET84qc8KfXa9f5ZqKrQ2p4W5nk/s320/waterbathmcpb.jpg" width="114" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NlrLyHfO2Y4JmMExe6v2wKx6tr6X24sGWW5fJ5S-swY-3gP8z2Ua_nvnXDmDTOunhIgQNh5-M2dX1w5YR-K4unbou-50il_30EKlCVPUFfYeRR75P2s_MgC6PfRPe4zycrcGiK7KS4Y/s1600/ecopotlpb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NlrLyHfO2Y4JmMExe6v2wKx6tr6X24sGWW5fJ5S-swY-3gP8z2Ua_nvnXDmDTOunhIgQNh5-M2dX1w5YR-K4unbou-50il_30EKlCVPUFfYeRR75P2s_MgC6PfRPe4zycrcGiK7KS4Y/s320/ecopotlpb.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwypGE-L55wALiLHDljDqxB8sS6qgGT0X2L3X7Dx35Aw_uOXO6g5Z-BhYRjVYcwEuz3LnUxHdg7Z4N5L5hf3kUMdaIbrRhVr2qKyeJsPOXOmQ133J0CvaTFlIEwjqejOQuBIgnrP3zt6U/s1600/ecopotlc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwypGE-L55wALiLHDljDqxB8sS6qgGT0X2L3X7Dx35Aw_uOXO6g5Z-BhYRjVYcwEuz3LnUxHdg7Z4N5L5hf3kUMdaIbrRhVr2qKyeJsPOXOmQ133J0CvaTFlIEwjqejOQuBIgnrP3zt6U/s320/ecopotlc.jpg" width="135" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1X5x3I8J62TiqrwTB2D2Cm0TOgrKpmBaEvdXgFXaASVgjjsDuUVMaSrFJhMhJTVcJ067qCn2HSPYX6QpWMyIXWVwg6oqGEqMefy7URlj15H42cSNQYTsAV18VcJPEesgWz0tJ_SqXxo/s1600/ecopotlc+silks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1X5x3I8J62TiqrwTB2D2Cm0TOgrKpmBaEvdXgFXaASVgjjsDuUVMaSrFJhMhJTVcJ067qCn2HSPYX6QpWMyIXWVwg6oqGEqMefy7URlj15H42cSNQYTsAV18VcJPEesgWz0tJ_SqXxo/s320/ecopotlc+silks.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnToz_bUUT-ePMuVoz55TL7Xj_9PtA9UOyzbJVVFM72BBcSbfYCdar-LqIkyTK-YiRmX_orY478GhAG7R5KYj5MPRf8BoTN7cDIEoj0td1K4VFFtCVOW7mrUR9E-M3QMzLKHDZeH9FRp4/s1600/waterbath+mcpb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnToz_bUUT-ePMuVoz55TL7Xj_9PtA9UOyzbJVVFM72BBcSbfYCdar-LqIkyTK-YiRmX_orY478GhAG7R5KYj5MPRf8BoTN7cDIEoj0td1K4VFFtCVOW7mrUR9E-M3QMzLKHDZeH9FRp4/s320/waterbath+mcpb.jpg" width="236" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnWKAT1os6VihANBwLyRe1Ok142rQIGqClK7c9hYeVIfDGARoCcqv8dNolk7YASBYZrBTsK_d_LDBHQmO27wxhFBwEJKi3zmJy-0pAgSk4Z5harcvDtqGjimLMvAw15JSFeRq0xb-cbg/s1600/waterbathmcpb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnWKAT1os6VihANBwLyRe1Ok142rQIGqClK7c9hYeVIfDGARoCcqv8dNolk7YASBYZrBTsK_d_LDBHQmO27wxhFBwEJKi3zmJy-0pAgSk4Z5harcvDtqGjimLMvAw15JSFeRq0xb-cbg/s320/waterbathmcpb2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The colours in the basket are from two lots of dyeing. The left is form madder cochineal and persian berries. The right from logwood and persian berries.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1X5x3I8J62TiqrwTB2D2Cm0TOgrKpmBaEvdXgFXaASVgjjsDuUVMaSrFJhMhJTVcJ067qCn2HSPYX6QpWMyIXWVwg6oqGEqMefy7URlj15H42cSNQYTsAV18VcJPEesgWz0tJ_SqXxo/s1600/ecopotlc+silks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1X5x3I8J62TiqrwTB2D2Cm0TOgrKpmBaEvdXgFXaASVgjjsDuUVMaSrFJhMhJTVcJ067qCn2HSPYX6QpWMyIXWVwg6oqGEqMefy7URlj15H42cSNQYTsAV18VcJPEesgWz0tJ_SqXxo/s320/ecopotlc+silks.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDulFuWrA0LMtImgYR1fnj_LGnZKh8In_hAXn7Stm3UrGeGOSj8R9aya_cuW8ni7Vrjg5Yi0otEm5hrg6sBoUEiGOb40PeSQvCPEYSIbbCf7rlon3cSK4GXLUhKpITmfrCe7HI-iYLnxo/s1600/ecopotmadder%252Ccoch%252Cpb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDulFuWrA0LMtImgYR1fnj_LGnZKh8In_hAXn7Stm3UrGeGOSj8R9aya_cuW8ni7Vrjg5Yi0otEm5hrg6sBoUEiGOb40PeSQvCPEYSIbbCf7rlon3cSK4GXLUhKpITmfrCe7HI-iYLnxo/s320/ecopotmadder%252Ccoch%252Cpb.jpg" width="121" /></a></div>I haven't opened them all yet - I have just started so will post the results of these pots when the fibres are out and dried. But in logwood and cochineal pot I have pulled out some of the silk so you can see the rich colours .<br />
The last pot you can see was the demopot form Trefriw,. Here I poured in soaked out madder Cochineal and Persan berries over the fibres and a long piece of silk. I haven't heated this one yet so this gives me something to look forward to. <br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-57435403098127958772011-11-29T22:15:00.002+00:002011-11-29T22:17:11.954+00:00Weld Eco pot and Trefriw Woollen Mill Textile Market 3/4th December.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Quite where time goes too I don't know but although I am not blogging much I am dyeing.! :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilf6s45EgOW4FdlthAJ3K1GBelpyskZ-FX99-kl2HmFan6MRgfQ-CBS9zUGnmd2WO4ObOKR2Q0TrFoGkXpUZRmrxkfo8xCEBims0reXraunPImX9CEYESWFDg12dZ_4IrYeRqcuKMCkXU/s1600/weld+ecopot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilf6s45EgOW4FdlthAJ3K1GBelpyskZ-FX99-kl2HmFan6MRgfQ-CBS9zUGnmd2WO4ObOKR2Q0TrFoGkXpUZRmrxkfo8xCEBims0reXraunPImX9CEYESWFDg12dZ_4IrYeRqcuKMCkXU/s320/weld+ecopot.jpg" width="100" /></a>Here is the colour I got from the weld ( Reseda Luteola) I found growing by the Conwy Estuary a few weeks ago,. I roughly chopped the weld and put it into a kilner jar with 50 gms of blufaced leicester and then left it for a few days. When I had time Iput it into large pan with two other ecopots so the pots were in a waterbath andheated slowly for a few hours. The colour from the weld was not brilliant-quite pale but I was too busy to deal with it so I left it for a few days before popping it back in the pan for another slow heating . This time the yellow deepened and a tad of ammonia turned it the bright yellow in the picture. I haven't taken it out as I am demonstrating eco dyeing at <a href="http://www.t-w-m.co.uk/page.php/b6e7d48c3cc35357b90703a986947f8a?xPage=news.html">Trefriw Textile Market </a>on Sunday 4th December and this is a good example of how you can test dyes without having to use lots of heat. The other advantage of this method is multicoloured dyeing and when I have a moment I shall show the results of dyeing with several dyes. Or you could come ( if you can) to the Textile Market to the Demos on the morning if the second day! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrKESTwofg_8wFRXLGgj4T6d09NadjnC2XrUVNz7QVwL7gSRdht7yA9NKDujGHZXFATuYZmfOB3Y49p_jYZoUQBjQA545f5IJNnF8YXAjuDXHY_4i8pZFRdb8-7rQqUJ_J1HQNSEtz9E/s1600/Colours+of+the+World.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrKESTwofg_8wFRXLGgj4T6d09NadjnC2XrUVNz7QVwL7gSRdht7yA9NKDujGHZXFATuYZmfOB3Y49p_jYZoUQBjQA545f5IJNnF8YXAjuDXHY_4i8pZFRdb8-7rQqUJ_J1HQNSEtz9E/s320/Colours+of+the+World.jpg" width="320" /></a>Waterbath dyeing is decribed in my book Colours of the Wolrd Ecodyeing which you can buy from my <a href="http://www.fieryfelts.co.uk/index.php?product_id=2187256&option=Prod_detail&image_id=816543">website. </a><br />
If you would like to know mor eabout the book Jenny Dean generously reviewed it on her blog and you can find that <a href="http://www.jennydean.co.uk/wordpress/?p=3531">here</a><br />
<a href="http://www.fieryfelts.co.uk/index.php?product_id=2187256&option=Prod_detail&image_id=816543"></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-23798453099313303222011-11-04T08:35:00.001+00:002011-11-05T22:41:22.432+00:00Weld and bloggers block!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>I have had bloggers block.</b><br />
Here are the reasons:<br />
<b>Boring ones:</b><br />
asthma<br />
coming off HRT so I have lots of night sweats and insommia<br />
<b>Fun ones</b><br />
A Kindle<br />
I sit in bed drinking a cup of tea reading in the morning ( telling myself I really <i>ought</i> to blog but.......)<br />
Marmite.<br />
Marmite is not what you think , a famous black yeast spread to put on your toast , but in fact a black and white sprocker ( cross beteen a springer and a cocker) now a mischievous and energetic 5 month old. ( yes we thought we were mad too!)<br />
Yesterday we were out for the day having a walk together and doing our best to tire out the said Marmite (as we call his name we hear a chorus from other dog walkers every where we go of "love him or hate him "-a reference to the famous advertising campaign for Marmite with a tag line of "love it or hate it") .<br />
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It was our wedding anniversary and we were going out of a meal in the evening so dog had to be well and truly tired out so he would sleep rather than chewing up shoes or slippers or some such while we are out-he always find s something . ) So we were walking along the Conwy estuary loking across the river to the famous Conwy castle built by Edward 1st to keep the Welsh down and trying to persuade Walnut our springer spaniel and Marmite that a dip in the fast flowing river was not perhaps the best of ideas when to my astonishment I saw huge stands of Weld. Of course I did not have my camera! (sigh ) but take my word for it there was masses of it behind fences.<br />
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I picked a bit of the seed heads where most of the dye is and tomorrow I shall dye with it. ( Not before sprinkling it the seeds around some newly dug earth where weld likes to grow.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOK2dr-iyNWWsYftlmXWMF-ZlpxIwNTKCDPyKO5UpxNIDfYkRqJ-ABC3wknkbgGPr7Zf55dqBy33hTWKzqThzXJtBPtr3UxEABdSMwXQqcVH2lK7Sp-vTgjm-Dv7qe3fUjl0RE2PpEejY/s1600/weld+from+conwy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOK2dr-iyNWWsYftlmXWMF-ZlpxIwNTKCDPyKO5UpxNIDfYkRqJ-ABC3wknkbgGPr7Zf55dqBy33hTWKzqThzXJtBPtr3UxEABdSMwXQqcVH2lK7Sp-vTgjm-Dv7qe3fUjl0RE2PpEejY/s320/weld+from+conwy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I was surprised to see it so near the sea so I am interested to see whether it might be a different variety to the one I have growing in the garden . I tis certainly very vigorous some of stands were at least 6 ft high. <br />
ps Marmite has kept me company while I was writing this and enjoyed himself ripping up an old catalogue and then enterprisingly he went down stairs, brought up the dustpan and is chewing that. <br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-12164059345828282582011-07-18T13:03:00.006+01:002011-07-19T16:01:08.354+01:00Woolfest 11 the best ever. Solar pots and afterwards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
This years Woolfest at the end of June in Cockermouth Cumbria was the best ever both personally for me and I gather for the Woolfest itself with 5000 visitors . On Friday they had 500 more than last year a truly impressive achievement I think. ]<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKNPqqIS2KxoYZqk7_XGgBs6u1p-otqyoFghWliSVhkjyvAYS3UQu8pnDzUypbB0jVdO9QJptAYrktgvj_vsVGpaALlxpTgD82WGqAw3YxkYdL-CnnO8BbNv7KDEgJZCkutk68uuq_X4/s1600/demo+area.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKNPqqIS2KxoYZqk7_XGgBs6u1p-otqyoFghWliSVhkjyvAYS3UQu8pnDzUypbB0jVdO9QJptAYrktgvj_vsVGpaALlxpTgD82WGqAw3YxkYdL-CnnO8BbNv7KDEgJZCkutk68uuq_X4/s400/demo+area.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Demo area next to my stall</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Peter Davies </td></tr>
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This was the first year I demonstrated and I had one of the new official demonstration stalls-I scheduled for 3 demos each day exhausting but worth it . FRiday was Solar Dyeing , Wild Carding and Natural Dye Inks, Saturday was Solar dyeing, Art Yarns and the Fructose and Lime vat. I was helped by Anne Campbell who taught me to spin and who stepped in and demonstrated the Art Yarns on Saturday which was a not only a huge help but actually she is better than I am anyway. ! All the Demonstrations were very popular but the one that drew the greatest interest were the Solar dyeing Demos which I did on both days and on the back of those I sold out of my new book Colours of the World Eco Dyeing and all my solar kits and I am still filling orders for these. The stall was packed and I even had people peering over the side of the stall-they must have been standing on something and I got a spontaneous round of applause. I loved it. <br />
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We finished setting up at 7.30 on the Friday having started at 3pm and after the 4 hour drive were fairly exhausted so shot down into Cockermouth and were very pleased to find the Tarantella open again -last year it was till closed after the floods and we had a lovely relaxing meal with good service . ( You can read the review<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_56585836"> here</a><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186322-d803149-r115096065-Tarantella_restaurant-Cockermouth_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html">). </a><br />
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The Woolfest was packed and thronged with people who did not seem to realise we were in recession. The buzz coming form being in such a dynamic and exciting event was tremendous and The standards of the stalls is amazing. I have been doing the Woolfest since the start and the standard and the range have gone up enormously . Sadly I had even less time to get round but managed to buy a fabulous spindle from IST Crafts and I have now ordered two more . I also bought some smooth fine shaped holly buttons form Tinker Tailor of the Woolclip which I dyed afterwards and I love them and will get some more. The downside was to get a cup of tea we had to walk the length of the Woolfest hall and queue and I always use the portable loos, which I think are fine- as the queue for the other is always horrendous<br />
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Enys who brings the dye plants sold out and I have been nagging her for ages to bring things like Genista Tinctoria and the walnut trees that Peter her husband lovingly nurtures. He digs up the sapling grown from nuts buried by the squirrels from a garden near a listed walnut tree with a preservation order on it and brings them on. Enys sold her Genista at Wonderwool within 15 minutes and the Walnut Tree at the Woolfest in the first hour. So now she has conceded that I have point. We are also looking at growing more native plants and she is planning for example to have the European golden rod as well as some more varieties of the Galiums .<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7i4v-T3YbGOIRcg-jlU2YW-V1eS_x1AqPhp85pWl8BEFmowr8pGls-jrGxNy_wsvyQ9FxORidULnarwCcqISmYD9zCVQJvjBDelWxZuGx8twYtr0ExgiF8uZ6KMaOVQIDnZVMNuUrGJM/s320/stall+form+demm+area.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /> </td><td style="text-align: center;">Photo by Peter Davies</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the stall ( and Enys) form the Demo side. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>My last demo was to have been the new Michel Garcia indigo vat with sugar and calcium hydroxide but I was surprised to find that there was very little comment from people about it and wondered if it is too new to have caught people's attention . In any event with the crowding and crushing we began to feel that despite precautions it was too dangerous to be heating water and reverted instead to demonstrating my natural dye inks again. As a result I sold a full pack of 12 inks which I was very pleased about but the customer asked me gently if I could write her instructions on how to use them particularly as fabric paints so that is my next priority. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LkVfkJagLdCUNuIN0ZSIGVpBs87UBfz6u3WrYCRr1Y2vxhMhkQMSVbTKeqcVKqYA0Eoj1uK-CPXfWHty4KbFyKDIva87D0wPF9Quy2VqGVns8v8FAS5OVI8COEhIFnMI_1b27PEzTqI/s1600/me+demoing+my+inks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LkVfkJagLdCUNuIN0ZSIGVpBs87UBfz6u3WrYCRr1Y2vxhMhkQMSVbTKeqcVKqYA0Eoj1uK-CPXfWHty4KbFyKDIva87D0wPF9Quy2VqGVns8v8FAS5OVI8COEhIFnMI_1b27PEzTqI/s320/me+demoing+my+inks.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me showing the colours you can get from inks and wearing one of my naturally dyed felted Jacket</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Peter Davies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This was the first time I had a credit card machine at the Woolfest and that took a lot of money also as much again as cash. The other thing I felt is that the people who come to the Woolfest are prepared to try things out and are looking for new and interesting things and as well as my solar kits other kits such one that using prefelt and <a href="http://www.mulberrydyer.co.uk/">Debbie Bamford</a>s naturally dyed linen threads sold well too. -and at one point we heard a cry of delight and heard someone say " oh look! Slate buttons" taking a photo on mobile and a friend arriving hot foot to get some. Our slate buttons are not any old ordinary slate buttons. They are Welsh sea washed slate carefully hand picked by Anne where they bash against the sea wall and so have rounded smooth edged and then my DH spends hours drilling holes to turn them into buttons. So they are very special buttons. <br />
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On the last night we went to the Spice Club in Cockermouth where we had the most appalling service . This came close to ruining what had been a fantastic event and is without doubt the worst experience I have ever had in a restaurant and we eat out a lot! You can read my review <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186322-d1501442-r115095986-Spice_Club_Indian_Restaurant-Cockermouth_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html">here. </a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPKszVAj8d1qp7WpLK_0-G9pYVboRQwXSrHjjlgcgJtCwkbg5gtU4dhhb-q2GSrH8PNDkwFF61BdZ60qD95BiEY3-F5I2VvzqwijZLou_48AZkcVSH53upRJhbIBTT9AvXOqgqMSMLzI/s1600/Scales+farm+Anne+spinning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPKszVAj8d1qp7WpLK_0-G9pYVboRQwXSrHjjlgcgJtCwkbg5gtU4dhhb-q2GSrH8PNDkwFF61BdZ60qD95BiEY3-F5I2VvzqwijZLou_48AZkcVSH53upRJhbIBTT9AvXOqgqMSMLzI/s320/Scales+farm+Anne+spinning.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>After the Woolfest we relaxed at a wonderful spot at Scales Farm High Lorton surrounded by the fells and Anne, who stayed with us, and I had a wonderful time spinning and dyeing with local plants while DH walked the dog off its paws. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2Y4CNVo5XJkjqFOAeYdxevbSJbBdvI-gygZ4AferuBTHwD4LCZGl62e_pBKxhMdBEcFQBD0WG-tjbG5w_iaKyfP8Ana7snqyJKeNN7Dajq09ovm2LKTicZYbcFV-_Q9peI-ZWVKaD0E/s1600/solar+pots+gettign+ready+lakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2Y4CNVo5XJkjqFOAeYdxevbSJbBdvI-gygZ4AferuBTHwD4LCZGl62e_pBKxhMdBEcFQBD0WG-tjbG5w_iaKyfP8Ana7snqyJKeNN7Dajq09ovm2LKTicZYbcFV-_Q9peI-ZWVKaD0E/s320/solar+pots+gettign+ready+lakes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what Anne and I between had in our stash to dye with .</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kilner jars came from a kitchen shop in Cockermouth </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4xuP2-7GsHmih0FNNCQMyaO4Bv8LK1yKIQTqJ777BLzxArg2aZz7Dizu2Kd5vt1-PQR5KHMB9kizkVQkZ62XSqBUCQFqD8Ox_0BUP1_PrNnfYdKwISATrvVsXKzdXhW_qii-dAoXNIU/s1600/solar+dyeing+lakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4xuP2-7GsHmih0FNNCQMyaO4Bv8LK1yKIQTqJ777BLzxArg2aZz7Dizu2Kd5vt1-PQR5KHMB9kizkVQkZ62XSqBUCQFqD8Ox_0BUP1_PrNnfYdKwISATrvVsXKzdXhW_qii-dAoXNIU/s320/solar+dyeing+lakes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting up solar pots with local dye plants such as meadowsweet, staghorn sumach, Birch , hawthorn and some Persian berries Anne had bought at the Woolfest.In the background are some lovely rusty objects picked up from the farm with the farmers permission. ( He had trouble keeping a straight face when we asked him if we could scavenge!)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPR9Vx3dR5QkXeu_88oTELYf5f_WwsKaMO5UFyJa4IiwXsUGDgfqe2K5y9rbIFxbo9zue38r6GIUvXlz2-FGFeLqfNor3xqn9H249GkO6PvI6AEHWMetev63Y-1VgzW6JIMAdGwKF6qA/s1600/sugar+andlime+Lakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPR9Vx3dR5QkXeu_88oTELYf5f_WwsKaMO5UFyJa4IiwXsUGDgfqe2K5y9rbIFxbo9zue38r6GIUvXlz2-FGFeLqfNor3xqn9H249GkO6PvI6AEHWMetev63Y-1VgzW6JIMAdGwKF6qA/s320/sugar+andlime+Lakes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the foreground of the picture above you can see some spindle spun yarn dyed with indigo. I had the stock solution for the MIchael Garcia Fructose vat in the back of the car. I warmed it up by standing it in in bucket of hot water stirred and there it was. Fully active. I started a vat off and it dyed all day and was still active the following morning without anything being added. It dyed muslin , and then wool a d silk fabric to a lovely deep blue when cold <br />
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</tbody></table><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-62886491143211093392011-06-12T21:39:00.000+01:002011-06-12T21:39:49.835+01:00Dye Garden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZT_-xD1L6l33P8-zySQGczGs4NJb4h1vsuYTh9WheDFi7Z7-Jb8az2wYS0H2Upza26EXH-XJF_e7QyuuMGtQ71EGvT1PX2FxVTF98m57fN4f6dUNFwvD_YsgBPBZkyRP32ZQmqt4gVRk/s1600/dye+plants+june+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZT_-xD1L6l33P8-zySQGczGs4NJb4h1vsuYTh9WheDFi7Z7-Jb8az2wYS0H2Upza26EXH-XJF_e7QyuuMGtQ71EGvT1PX2FxVTF98m57fN4f6dUNFwvD_YsgBPBZkyRP32ZQmqt4gVRk/s640/dye+plants+june+2011.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weld elderflower dyers chamomile and mullein</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Dye Plants <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESgUh1ipDbK3thJDsMBxoHkWWKEGQ1sOqMN78SeBf0ZwXgsgl1592NNUycxbpVUskZ7I02aezWTXaccguUPHhVF6f_g704F31VuUwFZ14RYeKD1Sy-3ZycxAM0jUX7ztrK0Mj2UH1W3I/s1600/Mullein+in+hedgerow+June2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESgUh1ipDbK3thJDsMBxoHkWWKEGQ1sOqMN78SeBf0ZwXgsgl1592NNUycxbpVUskZ7I02aezWTXaccguUPHhVF6f_g704F31VuUwFZ14RYeKD1Sy-3ZycxAM0jUX7ztrK0Mj2UH1W3I/s320/Mullein+in+hedgerow+June2011.jpg" width="170" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mullein in a nearby hedgerow- I have never seen one there before . I hope it can flower and seed before the dreaded council hedge trimmer comes along.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9NIF0W3iRkRExt-zwV8uIp5tZQTl26KO71-HS8P3nl71D8VRHl3Ed9mfm-pNO3ozaH8gvBHh1LRYROcOlUhi2Ja_XdY6dqoJvX9qfSu28WwYtVi3xpFWssLiv7Lgpm4zjcCubPZSdcmU/s1600/mullein+moth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9NIF0W3iRkRExt-zwV8uIp5tZQTl26KO71-HS8P3nl71D8VRHl3Ed9mfm-pNO3ozaH8gvBHh1LRYROcOlUhi2Ja_XdY6dqoJvX9qfSu28WwYtVi3xpFWssLiv7Lgpm4zjcCubPZSdcmU/s320/mullein+moth.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mullein moth caterpillars on the mullein </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ignore the lupins and grass.! Dye plants are Weld ( Reseda Luteola) Dyers Chamomile ( Anthenis tinctoria) about to come into flower. Elderflower (Sambucus nigra) and to the right and back Mullein (Vebascum thapsus). This is a native plant but although we have been growing it in the garden now for three years I was very surprised (and pleased) to find it in the hedgerow where I walk my dog not 1/4 mile form the house. Could it have spread from me I wonder.? Mullein is also home to the mullein moth and the other day we found ours crawling with the stripy caterpillars. The following day there was nothing, absolute nothing! Had they all been eaten by hungry birds we wondered. <br />
I have dyed with mullein leaves and copper and got a very nice green which after a year in the solar pot and a month exposed to light has not faded. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-43330682750878098712011-05-31T22:36:00.004+01:002011-06-01T08:38:06.921+01:00hallelujah! Success with the Fructose Indigo vat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">You can see that one half of this little vat is thick yellowy solid deposit. The liquid half is a deep orange almost red. I took 100ml out of this yesterday which is why there appears to be a cloudy blue bit in fact is empty with a bit of a deposit on the glass. . <br />
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Today thanks to help from Debbie and Jane and Leena I managed the fructose indigo vat. <br />
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I heated 3 litres of water to 80 degrees C, tipped the contents of the little 400ml vat in and stirred. Within 30 seconds flakes of blue appeared on the yellowy looking surface then a thick blue indigo flower. After ten minutes the colour of the water under the filmy surface was a lime green then a orangey yellow. ( the colours of this type of vat seem different to that of the chemical reduction vat using thiourea dioxide. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIMYYNeZhXc0rqx3JayIj_CmLyuN4YaiNRXZ9PERvtGF8c3MUMrVucpXTTyTJGJ3Tf1C5VybHVo9xd2beT9cg3ez117wE8qbv9UP_vF1qg0wzRQXeh5zRbclIqTX3Q5xvUdNjilN7YVc/s1600/3+litre+vat+colour+under+surface.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIMYYNeZhXc0rqx3JayIj_CmLyuN4YaiNRXZ9PERvtGF8c3MUMrVucpXTTyTJGJ3Tf1C5VybHVo9xd2beT9cg3ez117wE8qbv9UP_vF1qg0wzRQXeh5zRbclIqTX3Q5xvUdNjilN7YVc/s320/3+litre+vat+colour+under+surface.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gDw2TArZhKE1wU1fqjIJISVENnbdXH7_i7sx5tqiemXdw5BI06QxavEuySqDYh3RlBsud0lhM8rbN94n5Whq8DQPYFsKr-i_9Ncxq3oeRMsbNqb_UyuUVnAa7M_KqQtq0LMNVnzvyFo/s1600/3lire+vat+cotton+vel%253Bvet+oxisidising.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gDw2TArZhKE1wU1fqjIJISVENnbdXH7_i7sx5tqiemXdw5BI06QxavEuySqDYh3RlBsud0lhM8rbN94n5Whq8DQPYFsKr-i_9Ncxq3oeRMsbNqb_UyuUVnAa7M_KqQtq0LMNVnzvyFo/s320/3lire+vat+cotton+vel%253Bvet+oxisidising.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The vat was at pH 10 and dye dyed well the temperature dropped to 45 degrees,d dying cotton velvet then a length of merino tops a pale blue. . I dipped the cotton velvet into the vat 3 times and got a slightly deeper blue but I don't seem to have photographed it. You don't seem to need to dip the fibres for very long. Quite literally in and out. The colour change is either very slow or the stuff comes out blue and I need to go back to this vat and see if I can work out why this is. Is the stuff coming out blue in the vat longer? And as you can see there is a yellowy scum on the surface which washed off which I assume is the deposit form the bottom of the vat. I wonder if these fibres will crock.<br />
Nb It would seem that you can make a stock solution just as we do with the thiourea vat which could I think be very useful <br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-64160695997645447702011-05-30T22:42:00.001+01:002011-05-31T17:57:15.134+01:00Fructose Vat -almost there.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I made up a 1:2::3 vat<br />
15g indigo, 30g calcium hydroxide and 45g fructose<br />
I made it up as as a small vat only 400ml and put it in a hot water bath to keep warm <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDyrFO5mYJ9weathqm-TEv4JALdg0iHZm4Orv83KPqWhM3EaBih58tsV5JhEwJccf5nqOD5m5OZ_Osqcn4rE5JM__09ehi22mHzdmh5frmiGsJp5YHTVSngm0Or4DsLz8LSXoUJm8Ozw/s1600/400ml+vat+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDyrFO5mYJ9weathqm-TEv4JALdg0iHZm4Orv83KPqWhM3EaBih58tsV5JhEwJccf5nqOD5m5OZ_Osqcn4rE5JM__09ehi22mHzdmh5frmiGsJp5YHTVSngm0Or4DsLz8LSXoUJm8Ozw/s320/400ml+vat+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
It started off a pale blue colour with the indigo mixing with the calcium hydroxide and gradually reduced as you can see over about 15 minutes. It dyed a piece of linen a pale blue then some silk also a pale blue. I added 100ml of it to my vat of yesterday and got a very pale greyish blue but nothing else. Yesterday's vat was pH 9. The little vat was pH11+<br />
Thanks to Leena and Debbie for suggestions. <br />
<br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-53891483861453662702011-05-28T21:06:00.003+01:002011-05-31T17:56:36.056+01:00calcium hydroxide , fructose and indigo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>This is really there for myself to clarify my thoughts but if you can make head or tail of it do make comments.</b><br />
<br />
According to the information Michael Garcia gave us at ISEND this is a vat that should works so today I decided to have a go.<br />
For some mad reason I mixed 25 g of natural indigo into a paste-I should have mixed up 10 g. <br />
I started at 12 noon <br />
I put about 6 litres into a small stainless steel pot at 50 degrees and 1 tablespoon of calcium hydroxide . This gave a pH of 10-11. I know Michael started off with a high pH<br />
I also heated the vat as I think he started off with a hot vat and cooled it .<br />
I added 2 tablespoons of fructose<br />
1pm.<br />
After an hour the vat showed signs of slight reduction but dyed some cotton a very peculiar green .<br />
The temperature rose to 65 degrees but the smell of a vat coming into order went and it had an odd smell. The vat looked milky with grains of undissolved indigo on the surface.<br />
by 3pm<br />
I tried removing some of the vat and adding thiourea dioxide which reduced the vat very quickly and dyed a sample a nice blue so I knew the vat was okay I just need to make the fructose work,. <br />
Indigo grains had disappeared there was film on the surface but the ph dropped to 8-9.<br />
a piece of cotton dyed a very pale blue. Hooray I thought I am cracking it! <br />
I left it for a bit and went back but the pH had dropped further to pH7 <br />
At 5.30 I added 1 tablespoon of calcium hydroxide. I added 75g of fructose , there was a film on the surface the vat looked a slightly murky yellow and gas was coming off the surface. I dyed some cotton a very pale blue and some linen a patchy green with some very pale patches.<br />
However then the vat seemed to go off. <br />
I finally upended the remainder of the fructose into the vat so I had altogether added 250g (meaning all this was very expensive vat) and left some linen in. This dyed a dark green oxidizing in the air but not to a full blue. <br />
hmm!<br />
I am puzzled. <br />
<br />
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-56773346729309584622011-05-19T21:52:00.001+01:002011-05-19T21:59:04.742+01:00Weld or is it a triffid?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNhZqZcbpgWfPinjyfszqjfTfh6WCgobDrSKX7b_21TVD5KYRIT3zXqiRSQ9jtb2jXzSs5H7Hg03zGcS0oSeXVBFQxd2pdaf4YxPqKZx32uiWHdRYGdouE_NcmC3moB-BwrRwMGvOOT4/s1600/Enys+and+weld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNhZqZcbpgWfPinjyfszqjfTfh6WCgobDrSKX7b_21TVD5KYRIT3zXqiRSQ9jtb2jXzSs5H7Hg03zGcS0oSeXVBFQxd2pdaf4YxPqKZx32uiWHdRYGdouE_NcmC3moB-BwrRwMGvOOT4/s320/Enys+and+weld.jpg" width="226" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>!</b></span><br />
<br />
Its been growing in the greenhouse till Enys's long suffering DH turfed it out to make way for the peppers. It has started to seed so should be bung full of dye. I am going to have one very big dye bath! <br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6266388920813232236.post-51962113742702364192011-05-09T16:35:00.002+01:002011-05-10T20:43:14.216+01:00Michael Garcia Organic Indigo Vat Thoughts on Lime<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I am getting more and more puzzled about this vat.<br />
Michael Garcia apparently used oyster shell to make his vat alkaline. Oyster shell s are 95% calcium Carbonate . When I asked him about this he said it was a joke! He said he wanted to use mineral lime but was told nobody would think it was an organic vat. so he used crushed oyster shell, but he told us to use lime. Gardeners lime rather like Oyster shell is mostly calcium carbonate and will only make the vat mildly alkaline. I have just made up a vat suing it and the vat is pH 7-8. Builders lime on the other hand is what is known as slaked lime or calcium hydroxide and what is used in a zinc lime vat,. Michael Garcai said to use lime as it was very active ( and technical formula h wrote down was calcium hydroxide) and the whole time at the back of my mind was the thought but how can oyster shells do this but the thought stayed at the back and never came to the front of my mind! It is a long time since I did Chemistry! <br />
Lime (apart form being a fruit) can mean:<br />
Calcium Oxide- unslaked lime<br />
Calcium hydroxide -slaked lime.<br />
Fine but where do the oyster shells come in? </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Posted by Helen http://growingcolour.blogspot.com</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597640040480685246noreply@blogger.com19