Elements #2--Water

Fiddle Knits is one busy designer!  Thank you  Erica Jackofsky!     We have been working on Elements #1 Earth for a few weeks now.  This is going to be a great series of shawls and I like it too because it's a mystery!

Permission To Play!

How often do we as adults actually find time to PLAY?  Just cut loose and play?  Recently, I found a way to play and do something creative at the same time--then, I'm asking myself "why do I feel the need to play and be Creative too?  Why can't I just play?!

I've always loved color--especially Crayola colors!  I have big boxes, little boxes

specialty boxes

all unused boxes of Crayola colors

a good gift for me was always another box of Crayons

 

 

There were bags of coloring books for any child that came to visit

they could dig into my bag of -broken- crayons and color away!

Now, I'm ready to PLAY with my Crayons!  I have a box of colored pencils

My tray of Crayons (brand spanking new!)

and this book 

Look!  It's an Adult Coloring Book!

Now, I really have permission to PLAY!

Come join me!

 

Do You Crochet?

Just the other day we were having this discussion about crochet vs. knitting.  One of our gals said she was going to learn to crochet--now, to find the perfect pattern for her to do--something easy but elegant looking.  I found it!  Moogly Blog has the perfect crochet pattern for her in Branching Out Shawlette

We are beginning her on an adventure she will enjoy for the rest of her life!

30 Days Of Quilt Tutorials!

 

Longing for some quilt time?  How about 30 days of different quilt blocks with easy to follow directions?

Well, if you head over to Piece N Quilt you can find all this and more!

 

Happy stitching!

Mother's Day...........................................

Mother's Day has rolled around again!  I being a mother myself like the day so I can be pampered--breakfast in bed maybe...................................

Or maybe, it will be a day of nothing to do but read a good book................................

Or maybe, I'll take a walk or a nap..............................

I don't need flowers, candy, or gifts--just give me a hug and "I Love You!" and I'll be happy!

What are you doing for your Mother this day?

How are you celebrating your Mother's Day?

Happy Mother's Day!

 

Some Stitching Is Involved

 

Continuing with our indigo dye day, Connie had some old cotton shirts that she took apart and was doing some stitching on several sections.  She used a loose long stitch--here is where the design element comes into effect.

 

Connie is showing Susan how stitching will give you interesting look on cloth.

She used regular needle and sewing thread--although a heavier cotton thread would have been stronger

 

 

Now, it is time to pull up the threads.

 

Connie pulls each section slowly in order not to break her stitching thread

She continues pulling

Then she ties off each section with a surgeon's knot

Each section is tied securely

And now it is ready for the dye pot

Before the fabric hits the dye pot, Connie wets the piece thoroughly.

Into the bath it goes

After sitting for a few minutes allowing the dye to penetrate through the layers of stitching, Connie slowly brings the cloth to the side, squeezing out the liquid as she slowly raises the cloth to the surface--no splash back allowed.

Connie allows the fabric to dye completely before she takes out the stitching--I'm always to inpatient to wait!  Here she has removed the stitching and she has a wonderful design element where her stitching was

Shibori Techniques--try it!  You might like it!

It Was An Indigo Day

Our group of weavers, spinners had a good day for dyeing with indigo.  The skies were that wonderful clear blue which meant we'll have no problems.

 

 

We had this set of instructions.  Everyone's recipe differs somewhat but this is a basic recipe for today.

We are using natural indigo powder.  We are using 1 Oz of powder into the solution, along with Thiorea Dioxide (I use color remover for this) and lye.

and here is our stock solution--ready for the dye pot.  We had a large stainless steel pot with temp at 100*--it works well if the sun is shining on your pot too, but today was breezy so we used a electric burner in order to keep the temp constant.  A portion of the stock solution is added to the water in the stainless pot

First timer Susan was using one of Connie's fancy clamps--look closely at this--you might want to add these to your tool box!  This is one dip into the indigo pot

 

I did some overdyeing on this scarf.

I had some men's cotton hander kerchiefs to dye, which will be used as luncheon napkins. 

Another one of my cotton scarves to over dye

Susan's silk/wool blend took a nice dip

Connie had a white shirt that she didn't like so into the dye pot it went!

This will be fun to wear!  As always, indigo dyeing is magic--