Natural dyeing with Judy Hardman

One of the delights of belonging to a fabulous guild is the opportunities that it affords you. Yesterday I attended a wonderful workshop on natural dyeing with plants. I took some photos to share but there are gaps as I was also participating and did not want to miss anything!

For your enjoyment (and so that I remember too)....

Preparation 40.... er, after reading again only 20 were needed... 5g skeins of yarn. I used the left over handspun from my Professoressa as I wanted to see what happened with the dyes and a different natural colour yarn.

Kit needed for protection etc.

We started the day by labelling all our skeins, weighing them all together and then they were placed into the mordant baths while we got to play with some dye extracts on a sample. We then decorated a pre-mordantant cotton bag at this table which was quickly prepared.

Equipment to the left and creativity abounding elsewhere.

 My dye sample.

Works in progress.

The bags all ready to be adorned

and hanging out to dry later. Unfortunately I did not get to photograph them all and there were some wonderful works of art.

The mordant pot was simmering and preparing the skeins gently.

When it was ready Jane removed the skeins and rinsed them

and they were taken outside where Ann and Dawn placed them in the spin dryer to remove excess water.

 
We  reclaimed our skeins. Around the room there were a number of different dye pots and we placed our labelled skeins together at each allotted pot. Mine are the grey ones on the right. This is the cocheneal pot.

Here are more collected skeins for a weld dye pot and a madder dye pot.

There was indigo too!

All kinds of vegetable matter was chopped up and made into lovely dye in dye pots. I think this was the Dyers Greenweed but honestly, I can't remember.

Once it was all ready the skeins were popped into the pots to dye. 

Dyers Greenweed

The photo underneath shows what they looked like when they came out, when I was around to capture it.

Madder 

Weld

Acacia

 Brazilwood

Logwood

Here is a brief summary of the process. The skeins are placed and left in the cochineal pots to dye.

Then they are removed

and washed and spun dry.

The skeins were spread on the table for us to collect for further dipping if we chose.

There are the cochineal, dyers greenweed and weld.

Judy dipped a cochineal skein into the indigo

and then she dipped a weld skein into the indigo

and then I got so excited by all the different options on offer that I am afraid the photography got forgotten but cameras and rubber gloves and liquid are also not a good mixture.

Every one was very excited about the indigo pot and gathered around to check their dips.

At the end of the day, I did go around and take some photos of the the completed skeins as they were laid out on the tables.

These skeins are tencel and yarn

These are mine.

At the end of a lovely day, I had a bag with herds of elephants and stars in all the different sample extracts

and a row of lovely colourful skeins.

The Enchanting Dorset Coast

Weather forecast - rain, rain and then more rain - but I awoke to a brighter room. 

I roused the Saint from his morning stupor and with a boot full of precautionary measures against inclement weather, we set off for a hearty breakfast at Dish in Romsey and then down to the coast, crossing on the Sandbanks ferry at Poole to Studland to walk the cliffs at Old Harry.

A gentle pastoral scene greeted our first steps upon the path

which gave way to a glorious wild flower meadow. There were several of these lining the entire walk along the cliff edge.

Butterflies have been very scarce this year and I was happy to see this one.

After about a mile Old Harry stands before one in all its glory. It was a day of changing light which was wonderful for photography and it was great fun play with my lovely big camera.

The coastal rescue service were patrolling along the coast.

I was entranced by the light and the play of the cloud shadows over the sea.

Others were out for recreational pursuits too

however the light continued to enchant me.

I love these huge chalk boulders that have fallen onto the beaches below the cliffs. The tide is out.

The sea is dressed in an array of greens, blues and turquoise... one of my favourite colours.

As we climbed the hill, there was an enormous meadow of wild flowers, breathtakingly beautiful against the clouds.

The view behind us was equally stunning

as we climbed higher

and higher until Old Harry disappeared into the distance. That little white dot in the water is one of the huge Channel Ferries.

At the top of the hill Swanage appears invitingly ahead....

but the howling wind driving over the cliff was astounding and the next two photos show the grass blown flat against the ground.

The Saint dug his walking sticks into the hillside to keep his balance and laughed into the wind. He does love the wind.

On the other side of the hill, out of the wind, the view is back towards Sandbanks over another wild flower meadow. That white strip of beach in the distance is where we crossed Poole harbour in the ferry

and the tiny white bit below is the cliffs at Old Harry. We abandoned thoughts of lunch in Swanage and desended back along an inland path for a while before coming out on the cliffs again.

The vista was still absolutely gorgeous and much enjoyed.

My newly made project bag had its first outing and a wonderful walk along the cliffs. I managed to add a couple of inches to my Skyp socks too on the journey.

I had a 7 km walk on uneven terrain, with few side effects today, which is a awesome achievement in itself.