A Tree

Trunk is wrapped wire, leaves are crocheted.

Wrapped Balls

  

I have a commission to work on that needs two large red wrapped balls.  I weigh the fibrefill so they will be approximately the same size.  I stopped in between wrapping the two balls to photograph the pile of fluff that gets wrapped down to the ball, it's quiet unruly in the beginning.  The second photo shows the size of the ball on my hand.

Ok, It's Official

Completely taken over by the natural dying thing.  Instead of looking at this tub in the garden and thinking it should be emptied, I thought 'mmmm, wonder if it is dark enough to get a good dye bath out of'.  Made myself laugh.

The Gift of Fungi

  

  

  

And some lichen.  Gathered from a friend's Mum's yard.  Thank you Maria.   Unfortunately trees had to be taken down, a liquid amber and a birch, but these beauties grew on the stumps and branches.  It will be interesting to see what the dye bath will produce.  I thought dyeing with fungi was a slow process like lichen, which it can be in summer, but since it is winter here I will use the boiling method to get the dye.

Japanese Maple

  

This tree is in our front yard, we planted it when we moved in nearly 18 years ago.  It is a very slow growing lovely tree.  The first photo was taken last week, the second photo yesterday.  Probably next week the leaves will all be gone.

Reindeer Gift

  

These two sweeties are off to work with Piers today.  A thank you gift for Loung who gave me the plant to dye with.  I used the plant to dye the yarn then crocheted the reindeer.  There ended up two every-so-slightly different colours, it will be the two different yarns dyed.

Dyeing With Lichen

  

This is a bit of a long term project.  I wanted to dye with licken but wasn't sure where I could get some, especially since I live in a city and licken is protected and very important to the environment.  Then I remembered that you can buy lichen in Hearns Hobbies, a model making shop in the city.  Had a look, and yes they had natural lichen, there are also dyed varieties.  So, the lichen is in a mix of ammonia and water and will ferment in this mix for at least three months, getting shaken when I remember.  Different species of lichen produce different colours, so we shall see, will keep you updated.

Dyeing with a Vietnamese Plant

  

A friend from Piers' work gave me a plant from his garden that they usually put in rice and it turns it orange.  He couldn't remember the name of it, does anyone know it?  When you scrunch the leaves there isn't a smell, just a planty aroma.  When I first made the dye pot, the water was red, then once it cooled it was a rusty brown colour.  They yarn and embroidery cotton came out a dark salmon pink.  This natural dyeing thing is fun.

An Update. The plant name is Vietnamese Magenta Plant. It’s only used for colouring rice, not for eating.

Little Black Bean Reindeer

Done.

Little Black Bean Reindeer

Yesterday was Sit & Stitch at Can Do Books.  I took along reindeer made using the yarn I dyed with black beans.  I had already made two bodies the night before, yesterday I crocheted two more bodies, two heads, one set of ears and one set of antlers at Can Do.  I put one reindeer together at the shop, then make his scarf last night.  Now to finish the others.

Dyeing with Red Cabbage

   



The red cabbage is so bright, it is a shame it doesn't get taken up by the yarn.  The embroidery cotton is close to the colour of the dye pot.  The first two photos are taken in the kitchen which has a yellow light and changes that colour in the photos, always difficult to photograph actual colour.

And This is Sammi

  

  

  

  

I adapted the horse pattern to make a cow, Sammi.  I have included one of the photos I worked from.  And some photos of Miffle and Sammi together.

Meet Miffle

  

  

  

Miffle and Sammi (which I will share tomorrow) were a commission I finished and now has been delivered.  The pattern was by Erica McBride, The Soft Scientist.  Various yarns were used for the crocheted horse.  The saddle and bridle were bought, the horse is 1:9 scale apparently.  I had to change the bridle a bit to fit and not cover Miffle's eyes.  I forgot to measure, but the horse is approximately 20cm tall.

And Another Coat Hanger

Finished my latest project and then crocheted another coat hanger cover last night.  Nearly finished the hangers, four to go.

Painted Table

I bought this little table at a garage sale many years ago for a couple of dollars.  I sanded it, painted it then painted the flowers on the top.  It was used as the side table in our spare room.  When the spare room was converted to the craft room, it didn't fit in.  Without storage, it needed to go.  So I put a 'free' sign on it and put it out on the nature strip.  It was gone very quickly.  The following week the person who took it came and thanked me for a lovely table, it was just the thing for their room and they love it. I was so happy the little table went to someone that really wanted it.

Another Visitor

We get quite a variety of birds in our little backyard.  Lately the magpies are coming to visit.  One morning I opened the curtains and there were four magpies rummaging around.

Procrastinating

Sometimes I am very good at procrastinating.  I have a project I really need to get working on, and I have started, but needed some ribbon for the project.  Oo, look, the ribbon tub needs sorting and ribbons need bagging.  An hour later back to the project.

A Quiet Visitor

This moth was resting near our front door.  It is a little close to the screen door handle which makes it very conspicuous instead of disappearing into the background.  

Dyeing With Onion Skins

  

All the books I have, when discussing dyeing with onion skins, use brown onions.  So I thought I would use red onion skins and see what happens.  Quite the surprise, the dye bath was purple/pink, the yarn after boiling and cooling was purple/pink (forgot to take a photo unfortunately), not sure when it changed exactly, but after wringing and washing got mustard yellow.  I don't know if it was the air that changed it, the tap water, or the wool wash, or thats the way it just is.  It's a lovely yellow.

More Wool for Dyeing

On Saturday I went to the Handspinners and Weavers Guild and bought some alum and three skeins of yarn for dyeing.  One is already in the dye pot.  The white one says the fibre is rose top.  Not sure what that is, will have to look it up.  It has a nice soft silky feel.

Cow's Ear Tag

The cow is finished off with an ear tag.  It is crocheted, then the name written on the sticky side of a little piece of contact, which is sewn down just to be sure it stays in place.

Flowering Gum

  

Yesterday when we went to the supermarket we spotted this flowering gum.  But it doesn't look like a gum tree.  Very interesting.

Another Eye

Working on the next commission.

Doggies and Dyes

Yesterday was Sit & Stitch at Can Do Books and, yes, I came home with a couple of books.  The new Edward's Menagerie Dog book and one with lots more information on natural dyeing.