High summer - finally!

After a wet and cold Spring and early Summer we are finally having some sun. The Coreopsis and Dyer's Chamomile (also known as Golden Marguerite) are fully blooming as is Black Hollyhock and Bronze Fennel.

Spring Planting

Started indoors and then moved to a cold frame/greenhouse: Japanese Indigo, Dyer's Coreopsis, Red Gem Marigold, Alum Root, Madder, Weld (Dyer's Rocket),Tomatoes, Cauliflower, and Elecampane.

Late February Snow on Thursday

Record cold temps on Friday night for the Pacific Northwest. This afternoon and evening it is raining. It will soon be time to start the dye plants for this season.

WILDEST thing you’ve ever done for your art or your craft.

My husband is one of those non-fiber people who can’t tell if his socks are inside out or not. It’s okay, he has many other redeeming qualities! He saw It Itches! and liked the cartoons. And he is wonderful at “helping” me with my fiber obsessions.

The first time I made him, I mean he offered to, take me to look at an antique wheel for sale there were some things in the back of the pickup and I was worrying there might not be room for the wheel should I want to purchase it. Mind you, this was a scant two months after I bought my first wheel (a new modern one).

The antique in question was one of those poor spinning wheels someone had turned into a lamp and had a tall post coming out of the table, and the truck has a canopy. But I thought if the wheel were really great I could rescue it you know. He said, “Well, if it won’t fit in the truck I don’t think we can get it.” To which I stubbornly replied, “No, I’m not willing to decide that before we see it!” We almost had a fight but prudently decided to stop talking about it until we saw the wheel. It was in very bad shape: warped drive wheel, lamp post appendage, nailed tight tension adjustment piece; she said it had broken and been fixed.

My husband was very relieved I didn’t want to buy it. But I did make him stop at the nearest library so I could get on Ravelry and post that I hadn’t bought it in case another woman who had been interested wanted to go look. She had woodworking experience you know, but she decided against it.

Later that day I was unpacking and looked into the bed of the truck and burst out laughing. It would have been a very large wheel indeed to not fit in the truck! Gah! Spinning wheel fumes had finally cleared out of my head! Shortly after that I followed up on a Craigslist posting for a Canadian Production Wheel. That turned out to be a perfect wheel and we had a lovely trip involving two ferries to fetch her.

Japanese Indigo - Harvest and Seed Production

Not a very focused picture but here is a bunch of cut Japanese Indigo flowering stalks. The weather is getting colder so these are brought into the house so the flowers will make and set seeds.



Japanese Indigo drying on racks. These were a thrift store find - toddler cots. I put toilet paper tubes on the feet to make more space between each level. After the leaves are dry I'll separate the stalks (those go in the regular compost) and compost the leaves in a burlap-lined bucket. Then form into cakes and dry. This preserves the pigment. It would be better if I could dry these outside in the sun but we aren't getting much of that at this time of year!

First Autumn Harvest

It is past the Autumn Equinox so it is now officially Fall. We did have some nice sunny afternoons earlier this week. Then rain. Today is overcast.

From the garden by the house:
1. A few Japanese Indigo stalks that look like they're getting ready to bloom, put in a jar of water so I can bring them inside if it gets too cold. They should root and bloom and then I can collect seeds.

2. Mars Marigold (T. patula). Four blossoms only. Only one of these plants survived the slugs. Put in freezer.

3. Coreopsis grandiflora (the perennial type I hope). Added a handful of blossoms to the bag in freezer.

From the farm:
1. Tururu Marigold (T. erecta). Added a large handful of blossoms to jar soaking in alcohol and water. I didn't even buy these seeds until June and it took them awhile to get going. Now they are two feet tall and the flowers are big and bushy.

2. Pink Dahlia flowers. All dahlias make a variety of yellow and golden yellow. Added several large blossoms to bag in freezer.

3. Several Japanese Indigo stalks. Some with the rounded leaves and some with the pointed leaves. Put these into the jar with the ones from the garden.

4. Hawthorn twigs and leaves (and a few berries). Put these to soak in water in a rectangular slow-cooker that is about 8"x12".

5. Weld leaves. Into freezer.

A Blue Blue

This skein was mordanted with alum and cream of tartar. Indigo doesn't need mordanting but maybe it brightens the color.