Category Archives: dyeing

Summer Collection 2012 : Hedge Nettle

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Join us this week as each day a new colour of the Summer Collection 2012 is released!

Woo, so many goat kids born today! I thought I was never going to get here…
Hedge Nettle, it grows everywhere! You mow it down and it comes right back due to its wandering roots. It’s so pretty and I enjoy finding it around the property this time of year, adding some life into mundane bushes and brambles. I love the small delicate flowers that are so full of vibrant colour. I have been using it frequently in little jars of flowers I have around the house, but when also known as woundwort it is used by herbalists for a wide variety of ailments. But for me, its a fabulous dye plant!
My initial recipe experiments dyed a strong chartreuse, but I decided to tone it down by using less plant matter to create a softer, more green tone. It reminds me of a setting sun’s rays on freshly cut grass… oh, its summer everyone!!

: : available on etsy : :

Just one more colour, tomorrow, to complete the Summer Collection 2012. See you then!

Playing the waiting game

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Its no longer weeks, but days,  and we are playing the waiting game. Everywhere I look it feels like the others are joining in too…. There are buds waiting to open, bulbs ready to bloom and fruit growing to ripen. You no longer have to look to hard to find barrel-bellies and udders ready for action.
The barn is calm and quiet as they get bigger and bigger, and closer and closer. It could be any day now.

I’m lucky to be able to step away from the preparations for kidding today to find many more things waiting…. designs slowly progressing, projects unfinished, boxes of undyed yarn…. and the realization that it will be June in 4 days!!… hello Summer Collection!!

 

 

Piece by piece

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No matter how long you go away for, things are always different when you get back. Today is a day for catching up – there are emails, knitting dilemmas I had happily walked away from 4 days ago, dye plants to collect, patterns in various draft situations, dye pots calling me, new housing needed for ever growing chicks, vegetables to pay attention to, rainfall drainage problems, but the most exciting of all – we have a new puppy to get to know!

[sure, its nothing fiber related, but come on, shes so cute!]

She is a 13 week old Tibetian Mastiff, with no name just yet. At 45 lbs already she will grow to be a big and beautiful guardian dog. With the promise of bears, lions and coyotes about these parts she has joined the farm to protect our goats and land against anything that creeps around at night. We have a lot to learn, and so does she, but its already so much fun!

Easter Weekend

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Boil dye stuff in pan of water with a few tsp vinegar for 25-30 minutes. Then pop in your eggs and simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

onion : coffee : turmeric : beet : red cabbage : blueberries

PS. Try not to break them!

I hope you have a sunny, chocolate filled weekend. Don’t forget that I want to give you some yarn, right here. Deadline midday Easter Sunday, PST.