Solstice obsessions

Here is the solstice post and a small peek at what I have been obsessing over....eco printing on muslim, is the first shot...and I wrapped this in an old bed spring and which made rust marks after a few days, then I overdyed in eucalyptus....which does miraculous things because even some of the rust that was invisible, was brought out by the tannin in the eucalyptus.   Am learning more and more about eco printing on materials from the queen of eco dyeing , India Flints book, which is full of fabulous inspiration....Amazing how things change, as the first time I saw her work several years ago, I really didn't appreciate it, even though I was into natural dyeing I just could really "see" it....and then voila, I saw it and loved it, and am working with it although I am not very adept at it yet.....so many processes in my head must keep more notes the older I get, sometimes I begin something I have done before and don't remember until I am half way through it, that I had done it easier and better before, so notetaking will begin in ernest...through necessity, as I am more of an alchemist than a notetaker....I love the not knowing usually, rather than the detail repeatable process..  The next is some nuno felt shawls I did awhile ago and haven't posted yet...now I have a huge table, thank god, I can work larger than before...more work more fun, more room..Am beginning a new series of work, which is going slowly  because of a sprained right wrist but it is moving.   Summer is here, the garden is wonderful and the days doable in felt..... what more can I ask...well, more silk materials, more wool....okay I could ask for more but I am definitely blessed.

fairly fleeced

Raw fleece has been involved, and lots of water and soap, and some silks and cordage, all very invigorating and loving all the natural fleece, of course, I could always use more and different textured fleece. I have some very short very curly black face >>>something fleece  which I can't remember the name of , if anyone could help identify I would be grateful as that is the fleece I need, (want) now to add to the textures.  I have some but they are all dyed and I wanted to use the natural tones....I am making a triangulated bag from the bottom photo, and it is still metamorphing into, ??!@@
who knows but it is fun....and the larger piece is also destined for a bag...It was fun using the locks again, as mostly I have used them for collars and boas, but this was more random, although the technique was useful to know...I am working on a wee series from nature and will post more when I have worked it through...very fun..and also have wrapped some bed springs in muslin, and then put it in eucalyptus bath...which tended to turn the rust black and dye the rest camel coloured...very attractive and also have some bundles which were a mix of petals, lemons, leaves and that bundle is still holding its mystery...ah, I love that expression....."holding the mystery"   I think that is the alchemy I love about doing creative work.

Because I felt like it

Here is my latest endeavour in felting.  It is for the Grandmothers for Grandmothers auction here on the island and we all did chairs for auctioning.  I chose a stool and thought I would felt it...then I thought of zebra designs in the felt...all sounded okay and I began, then the "tail " of the zebra surfaced and I was super excited about doing it...just adding a little humour made the project way more fun for me, and I even added horsehair from a horse tail on the end...it felted in beautifully and the whole process was lengthy but rewarding and now onto more nuno shawl work...I have been doing a series of shawls from silk and wools, and now I finally have a 4 x 8 foot table to work on I have much larger pieces to consider....More work but very easy to do with the right table...I have been doing a lot of experimenting and playing and have lots of new ideas for the summer line of clothing and felting. 
Summer is still not truly here, the tomatoe plants are in the glass room in flower waiting for warmer nighttime temps and seems like we will be waiting until June here on the wet coast.

Wolf Moss makes my day

Here is my most recent dyeing with vulpina lepidinum, or wolf moss, gathered by my friend Isabelle, up in the Chilcotin...and it dyes with the clearest of yellows...I know, we can get a lot of yellows from natural dyes, but this yellow is so clear and just the right colour for me..I had dried this and then used it by soaking overnight, then bringing to a simmer and then sieving, and putting in some silk/wool combos that had been mordanted with alum and cream of tartar....I love the yellows...I was going to tip it with some iron but just couldn't bring myself to do that as the yellows were so wonderful.
I am now in the midst of felting and dyeing with eucalyptus, the leaves that keep on giving, and now that the blogging is going okay, I will post again soon....spring has definitely sprung, but still cool here, and my woad plants love it...I had one overwinter and it is tall and in bloom, started some new plants and they are loving this weather...they seem to like it cool. Have weld coming up all over the garden and so there will be no shortage of yellows on my pallet this summer.  off to felt...

trying yet again to post

Trying to post ...testing

In the Pink!!!!

Tree Tree barnacles, who would have thought, but yes, the red alders are loaded with them, and with a lot of patience and some ammonia and water...voila...we have Pinks....or orchils..did I mention patience yet, because these do take a long time to collect and a long time to see the results...but they are very rewarding. Here I have done two skeins of two weights pure silk...now, of course you could dye silk with anything and it would be stunning, as that is the nature of silk, but with the orchil it becomes a wonderful pink, or rather many shades but this one was light glowing pink.

Another wonderful feature was that they are incredibly evenly dyed, through no skill of mine, but probably because of the long standing in ammonia and barnacles, helps to dye the mordanted silk...I did mordant the silk with alum and COT, but I think the soak in ammonia for the barnacles probably had more to do with the level colouring...just my opinion...

the Latin name for tree barnacles is Thelotrema Lepadinum, and they love the west coast...and seem to be more predominant on the north side of the tree, and there are more generous amounts on some alders than others, which I haven't figured out yet . I have many lichen experiments happening at this time, and most are soaking in the ammonia water bath, which I stir irregularly.apparently I am not a regular type of person, but irregularly seems to work fine...

more experiments to come....

In the Pink@

Obsession in Spring

Sort of washed out photos of the "lichen like" sculpturals, but am loving them, and then my new selection of scarves, the oranges are from the semi sanguinea mushrooms, which I had made a very strong batch of mushrooms, and then put the mordant directly in which is not what I normally do, but I only wanted to dye the two orange ruffle scarves, and I have made silk ties for them, and the striped ones I made white and then arashi shibori dyed them, which was an adventure in patience and perseverence.

Spring gathering this morning in the alders, and looking for new and exciting lichens and moss, which are in abundance here. I have just gathered very small bits of lichen to experiment with

and see if they give colour but not taking much of any one type. They grow very slowly and so are not the best to gather. But am experimenting with small bits and putting ammonia and water with them to see what they give. The lichen off the alders is very giving and there is quite a lot of alder lichen here, as alders grow like weeds where I live. Gathered some turkey tails for making tea, and they are so lovely. I have not been able to coax a dye from them although I know you can with some versicolors. Perhaps I will make tea and drop some mordanted alum yarn in it to see what happens with this batch . lol

The scarves were part of my new spring work, as well as the sculptural felts which I still am not sure what I am going to do with these. I did put an led light inside and it was quite stunning at night...perhaps......??!!!

Spring is springing

Here are my new pieces, and I am loving the bulbs coming up and the felt flowers on the workbench...Also working on the indigo cuffs, which are made from a soft white merino and then arashi/shibori dyed and voila, indigo accordian cuffs....and some new accordian spring cuffs, made with the colors of the spring bulbs in mind. The other sculptural pieces are more lichen or sea coral or whatever they remind me of in the moment, but definitely sculptural. Am imagining

using these in a wall piece but haven't solidified anything yet, just have an array of sculptural pieces with no known destination. lol...

I will be giving a two day one evening workshop on Quadra Island at Nanci Cook's B&B, in March for anyone interested in learning many felting techniques.
This workshop will be for "beginners and beyond" and should provide a lot of tricks and learning to anyone interested in honing their felting abilities. It will be a lot of fun, and Nanci has a great B&B which she provides for people to stay and the studio space is open 24 hours, which allows for a lot of great experimentation. I will be bring lots of different fibres and many ideas with which to play.
Her B*B is Firesign B&B on Quadra Island, and should be easily looked up for anyone interested in finding out more about the b&B....

I am now thinking more about felting in spring colors so spring must be here, my tones are changing with the weather. We have been soo soooooo lucky this winter with mild weather, and now the crocii are blooming in the orchard as well as my kitchen table. Nettles are ready for the eating and life is good.

where did January go?

Springtime , well that could be a little optomistic, but we do have some bulbs blooming on our table, thanks to dh....

and where did January go? apparently more experimenting in felting cuffs...These cuffs were inspired by a Canadian feltmaker who does wonderful work and I was do impressed I had to try and make the cuffs...her name is Marjolein Dallinga, and she has such amazing felts and costumes...

These cuffs were experimental, as I used several typês of fibre for trying them out, the pink and orange were done with a fine merino, the blues with half breed, and the yellow and blacks with a combination...I preferred the half breed as it gave them some substance and weight. I had wanted to make these for some time and it took awhile to get the correct diameter of the cuff, but all worked out fine in the end.

So here is my first posting for February, because a friend nagged me about it, which is apparently what I needed.

I will continue to experiment with the felting textural work and hopefully something will come of it and I will be able to use all these techniques in future felting projects.

We have been experimenting with Lichens and dyeing with them. Right now gathering and experimenting with their ability to colour fibre..and with the orchils it is a long process. §o I am learning patience and labeling and keeping records of where, what and how they work. Dh is studying moss and lichens so he is a big help with remembering the names and where to find it, and it involves a lot of zen walking in the woods which is not exactly aerobic but is walking. lol

Happy Happy

May all be blessed with health and peace in the coming year...thanks for stopping by and hoping
the year is creative and inspiring for all.

Lichens likeness coming of the light

1. H
   
   Here's to the coming of the light and all things bright and beautiful....like xmas lights, and sanguinea mushrooms found today in the woods, and lichens found on my workbench..
2. am working on a lichen series in felt, and experimenting with many different textures in felting, which has been quite fun and relaxing. Inspired by several european artists and their work, I have been going for texture and lichens are the perfect example as there are plenty here, and dh studies mosses and lichens so we are always exposed to looking at them up close and personal.
3. the Christmas fairs were hugely successful and the felted collars and cuffs were a big hit..and so it was a lift to be able to love doing something and get rewarded for it by huge sales...so all in all felting is on the agenda for the near future, as I think I will be on the table working on more and more projects in fibre. Wishing everyone a wonderful season, and the days are truly getting longer now, so the light is definitely coming!!! annie lennox has a wonderful xmas carol cd out, which is a treat to watch...you can go to you tube and listen to a few cuts from the album...merry merry and peaceful New Years to all

fff

हल

felting frenzy

Here is what I have been up to the past several weeks, and I am loving felting more and more, and as someone said, do anything a thousand times and you will be good...or something like that, but at any rate I can definitely see my felting improving as I work more at it. The hats were fun to do and embedded silk was definitely a great addition, as for the gauntlets, well, what can I say, I have a serious addiction to them and love wearing them. Keeping our pulses warm keeps your whole body warm, of course I did not go naked in the snow with just the gauntlets on, but I am sure it works....lol
Some I put thumbs in and others I did the wild and crazy on them, and that is folded up and can be worn either on the top or bottom of the wrist, and they look stunning, (she says with no apparent modesty). I love how when we make something it becomes its own thing and stands on its own separate from the maker to some degree, at least to the degree I can love them and not feel like I am bragging about my work, but just that they look great as their own thing.

The beige ones I really enjoyed, as I made them in white and then dyed them in walnut, which brought out the different textiles, silk, prefelts etc, that I used...I also finished the edges which
I liked the look of. These I took to the Xmas faire and all my collars and cuffs were a huge hit, and that of course was just the excuse I needed to make more for the next show coming up next week-end. It will be a two day event so I am felting like a felting fool, and dyeing with shrooms and lichen and generally having a lot of fun and not too many aches and pains from felting.

fall is falling

Very appreciative of the dermocybes I found, three types and took the stipes off them all and separated them by color although I am never sure exactly what I have...I have red cap reddish stipes and red gills, semi sanguineas, and some red cap with beige stipe...so three kinds and some very large caps which was great...so I will go again once the rains ease up a bit and perhaps there will be more.\
I have been felting, dyeing with lobster mushrooms, and phaeolus, and am craving some bright yellows so I will put some weld on to cook. I grow that in my garden and it such a clear yellow.
More lobster mushrooms to be done, as friends are gathering for me also, which makes for a lot of lobsters. I did a batch the other day, and then once it cooled I put vinegar in the ammonia/lobster juice, and then reentered three separate sections and got some variegated lobster mushroom wool.
Very fun. I am working for two Christmas fairs and felting like a felting fool...so much inspiration these days. Pictures will follow...

fall frogs

new felting

Here are the latest scarflettes, so inspired...loved all the lichen texture I got from embedding silks etc....just can't get enough of these right now so am thrilled to have some time to make more.

Treasure Hunting

We have been having a treasure hunt in the woods, and found treasures...the first of the season, so beautiful and bug free and tasty..have some dehydrating now and will powder them, plus had a huge pan full for dinner last night. So fun, there we are on an ordinary quiet forest walk, not seeing any shrooms at all then voila...and there are many of them, just tucked in the moss by old downed trees, and so clean of insects and so plumb, it was a treat....

Aside from harvesting Chanterelles, no dyers mushrooms to be found. I remember once going up the mountain for dyers shrooms, and seeing a patch of Chanterelles, and I was so focused on finding the sanguineas I passed on the Chanterelles and was about ten steps away, when it dawned on me and back I went....lol

Am madly, happily felting and learning new tricks, and loving playing with the fibres and silks, and materials...I will take some photos, but seem to be selling them faster than I can photograph them...so I will be making more variation on the theme, either Nudibranch neckpieces, or Kelp, not sure of the name as people have
seen them as both...but am researching nudibranchs, should have used that as the title to this post, I am sure some weirdos would visit...lol...remembering when
I had my biggest blog hit when I referred to the phaeolus schwinitzii as Butt Rot in my title of the blog....lol

so work days for the next two and then for some more felting.

Whew! what a summer

Waiting for these fungi, and eager to dye with more shrooms.Rain for the first day after summer, and the summer folk are all leaving our island, and so the rains comes first and then hopefully some quiet walks in the woods, and some mushroom dyeing.
The summer has passed by so quickly, only really two months of summer this year, and now it definitely feels like fall. The fall faire is the next event and hopefully it will be a beautiful fall day.
Not much dyeing going on right now, as the wells are low this time of year, and the garden is taking the extra water. Much garlic has been harvested, and tomatoes still coming.
I have been obsessed with wet felting, and continue to work on a series of scarves...I will post the pics soon. For now not much to report. The rain is soothing.

OMG I got Orchil

Well yesterday was full of surprizes....just as I was cleaning up the natural dye room, and emptying some fairly gross mushroom vats etc...I was just about to throw out a jar when I noticed it was fuschia coloured...Oh the joy, yes, I finally got some orchil and it was not even stirred at all..Of course, I am always trying different lichens to see if they give orchil, but to no avail, so I had basically become very slovenly about labeling etc...and wouldn't you know it, the one I didn't label was the jar of orchil...so ecstatic!!!!!!!!! it was a jar I had put lichen and ammonia in and then left for many months...not touched. and it was so lovely...so I sort of remembered where I got it and returned there yesterday to experiment again...
in the meantime, I had carrot tops on the go...thus the first picture, which is silk/merino, with alum and COT , dyed then put in an after dip of iron, and ammonia...so now I have some lovely tri coloured natural dyed skeins....also dyed with some other fungus, which came out a lovely grey brown, which is not usually a colour I would call lovely, but it truly is...I will post more pics of the finished product today...but the dye room is kicking up again and I apparently am on a roll...of oourse having l9 days vacation in the middle of summer certainly helps. So off to open somemore of those mysterious yet smelly jars. lol

flying by

what no pictures!!

Yes, no pics today but tomorrow when everything is drying as I have been mordanting and dyeing wool as I am home sick from work. Too sick to work, not sick enough for the bed, so spent one day doing mordanting in Alum and COT, and today some dye baths. Did some mushroom dyeing and the pale hues are amazing. My water is somewhat alkaline naturally so it brought the pinks out of the sanguinea shrooms, and then part way through the cooking I took some dye bath water, one skein of 50/50 silk merino, out and added a "glug" of vinegar, definitely brought out the orange hues, and the one in the alkaline natural water from my well, was pinkish...love the subtle differences. And then did a logwood/logwood grey bath for some deep purples that will be light and wash fast as the logwood grey has some iron in it which I am thinking, will fast up the logwood. Then did pomegranate and turmeric, my mentors idea, and got a lovely golden color, which the pomegranate will make the turmeric fast of light and wash....so have been busy today dyeing and fun to get into it again. Am using up some of my bought natural dyes, before I dive into the collected natural materials, which I personally find, way more rewarding, especially when I collect them in my garden or the woods around here... I also did an osage and iron bath, cooking for 20 minutes in osage, before lifting and adding iron...oh I will get my camera out as these are too nice to not show you....

Where did spring go...

Everything is moving way too fast, much work in the garden, many things to plant, although it is a cool spring and I am holding up on things waiting for the heat. We have lots of hummers and things are definitely springing forth, thus the picture of the salmonberry shoot, the color of the thorns against the stock is very inspiring..and the Hornby Blues Festival is about to begin and an art show is always the opening...thus the Hornby Blues Rocks...literally that is . I made a series of musical blue felted rocks for the show and have a few more to finish. Lots of fun to make but hard on the wrists, i.e. rocks are heavy.
I am awaiting new base yarn, and will be ready to do my sanguinea mushrooms that I have dried and have been saving for such a time as this. I was actually hoarding them but am hopeful of more next fall, so the time has come. I also have a lovely
wold plant in flower in the garden, and ready to plant more seedlings for dyeing..maybe have my own seed. The weld is abundant this year and I still have my dried weld from last year that I haven't used yet. Perhaps time for a natural dye workshop, as my supplies are getting out of hand. I hope to write more often as my dyeing proceeds this spring, but time has a funny way of slipping by...

old dye manuscripts found

Bethany( with these hands.squarespace.com) sent me this info re old dyeing manuscripts found in India...they say the pages are yellow and brittle, but the colours from the natural dyeing is still very bright...such good news, and here is the site http://maiwahandprints.blogspot.com/2010/03/15-volumes-of-natural-dye-books.html Perhaps we can reap even more info re natural dyeing...

For the Birds

=How could we possibly create anything that even comes close to mother nature...this wee nest was in our nesting box where the chickadees had been last spring, and dh took this fabulous pic, with bits of moss lining the whole outside, followed by cat hair which we supply on the brush around our deck and then lots of wool, silk, merino fibre that we cut up and leave on the bushes and there is even some red wool...how sweet is that?

spring has sprung

And the herring are moving here, and the eagles etc...it is all springing forth. It has been awhile since my last post and the above is what I have been obsessed with. Felting rocks and beads...the rocks are embedded into the felt and the beaded one is starting to get ready to become a necklace, the small beads are felted then shibori dyed which is quite fun, they are cut little bundles and were tied with elastics, I felted white balls then elastic wrapped and put in indigo dye...the rocks have been embedded using wet felt which was a process I have been trying to work out for awhile, and I do believe I have it down now, famous last words but it took a bit of experimenting which is always a challenge for me to just experiment and not expect good results.
the blog world is giving me problems lately as it won't post pics as I am writing this and the pic just appears as symbols...so here's hoping this will work....

Trouble in Paradise

Having trouble writing and doing photos in the same post, but below are three new felting moments...I use the term lightly as "moments" they are not...for example the felting of rocks is not quick, but it does feel very therapeutic. I don't really understand that but the warmth of the wool combined with the heaviness of the rock just seems so appealing when handled...I can take them or leave them by sight, but by touch they are something very special...who would have guessed. The next photo is of a hat in process, which is in Cl/pelsull fibre, felted like a hot damn, used Beth Beede's "hat over a ball" technique which is soooooo simple and easy, and is exceptionally quick.. still figuring out where to go with the embellishing but think that hats are in my future yet again. The third piece is a vessel, and I might not make these again, but it was fun. But do I or anyone really need a wool vessel? maybe perhaps, but....
so felting is still getting me off, and I have many ideas yet to manifest. Have dyed a little wool, but nothing stunning as of yet..except for some honey tussah silk which I dyed with acid dyes and well, need I say more, the colours are absolutely breathtaking, even if I do say so myself.
So here on the west coast of Canada, it continues to be mild, and wet, and rather windy...but oh so doable compared to ice and snow. I am so into grey and rain at least until spring. so back to the felting table (which is the kitchen counter at this moment> oh for a big table...

Felting Fever continues

Coming of the light

I drink a toast to the coming of the light, to rising with a glorious sunrise, and to all the seasonal celebrations, happiness, peace, and light to you all...