last wednesday, the 22nd of october: a goldenrod update

last wednesday was incredibly windy. (milly was looking for a treat from me which i had forgotten to put in my pocket.)

we were really getting blown about as we walked along the river. i purposely walked by the goldenrod plants at the playground.

they've all gone to seed and they look beautiful.

and here are my two goldenrod skeins resting in the sunlight with zuzu in the background.

today's project

on wednesday i was running errands (i visited a library branch on 23rd street to pick up a book to take when we travel soon to florida to see greg's mom) and i stopped by the union square petco store for a few more cans of cat food. it was then that i realized i was near the green market where korrina had just bought a huge bunch of goldenrod. when we were visiting vermont at the beginning of september, i kept exclaiming at all the goldenrod everywhere one turned! fields and fields of goldenrod! i didn't bring any back with me as in order to dye with it, it's best to work with it fresh and i wasn't going to be able to do that as we were stopping in lenox, massachusetts for several nights. however, on wednesday i picked out a large bunch to bring home. i shook the branches out in the courtyard and snipped off the flowers and a few inches of the stems. once upstairs and in the pot, i brought the temperature up to 180/200 fahrenheit and let it sit there for an hour. then i let it cool till the next morning so that i could easily strain it and have it free of debris for the yarn i wanted to dye (which was already mordanted).

(flowers and stems were composted)

i first wet the skeins before putting them in the dye bath . . and then followed a similar time pattern. i brought the temperature up to 180/200 and let it sit for an hour, and then it cooled overnight.

after a few cool rinses in the sink, i hung the yarn up to dry. i can't wait to see how it looks in the daylight.

pichinku!

i've been following this fiber company on instagram for over a year now. it's a small company of several women in peru. they collect plant material from the surrounding countryside and boil it up in a courtyard in cusco. you can see their short kickstarter video here (scroll down), and their website here. they don't always have their beautiful dyed baby alpaca wool available but a few weeks ago they announced that the iskay dk weight was up in the shop. i took a few days to decide on a pattern and colors, and then finally placed an order. it came today and i am very excited! i'm really pleased with the colors i picked (it's not easy choosing from a computer screen) and am glad i took my time and thought carefully at how they would work together. i hope to make joji locatelli's odyssey shawl. i was first going to put the brown in between the greens, but am now considering having the greens next to each other. should the brown be the top color of the shawl, or the bottom?

i love how they include the plant on the label.

----

greg made us an omelette for dinner.

i also had a wonderful book club meeting with homeschooling friends in the afternoon . . we'll be reading braiding sweetgrass by robin wall kimmerer for the next meet-up on february 23rd.

books and yarn

 watching akhnaten inspired me to reread one of my favorite books from my childhood: the lost queen of egypt by lucile morrison.

 i originally found this book years and years ago, when i was about ten or twelve, on my hometown's library shelf, and excitedly checked it out to read at home.

 i bought the copy pictured above several years ago from alibris . . it was a pretty penny as the book is out of print.

it needs to be held carefully as the spine is a little loose.

 it's historical fiction, and tells the story of what the author thinks happened to tutankhamen and his queen, ankhesenamun . . from ankhesenamun's perspective of growing up in akhetaten (tell-el-armana) with her father and mother, akhnaten and nefertiti.

the yarn is from ginny sheller . . she was selling pre-mordanted single ply, and i hope to dye it with avocadoes that i currently have in the freezer.

----
p.s.

i got caught in the rain again today, when returning from an errand to the health food store . . 

dye project results . .

the onion skin dye was successful. i love the color.

 
however, today i tried dyeing the second skein of cotton yarn with powdered pomegranate extract . .

and it did not go well, unfortunately. i'm not sure why . . perhaps i hadn't cleaned the pot out well enough after working with the onion skins? from my research, it should have dyed a golden yellow. i'd like to dye over it, but i'm not sure what plant dye would help it look better.

pluto parked himself on top of a yarn stash bin while i was looking for a particular skein for chanda.

wednesday dye project

 i set up the kitchen for dyeing a large skein of cotton yarn i had purchased from downtown yarns in april (they were doing home delivery service at the time).

 these are two gorgeous skeins of galler undyed cotton . . i think that they were, perhaps, too beautiful to dye, but i wanted to experiment with plant dyeing . . so . . on with the project!

 in april i had simmered about 50 grams of onion skins i had been saving for several months, plus a bagful from janet . . 

 and then i stored it in the refrigerator until my new stainless steel dye pot arrived. the old enamel one had a deep rust hole, which would have affected the dye results.

the new pot: a 22 quart pot for $20 . . from india and found on the amazon website.

 getting 8 ounces of cotton yarn to submerge itself in the water takes a little bit of time, and heat. it finally slipped under when it started simmering . . 

this was the scouring and mordanting process . . 2 tbl liquid scour and 2 tsp of soda ash per 16 ounces; followed by 4 tbl aluminum acetate.

 hmmm . . no treats during this cooking spree, pluto.

 i used a mask and gloves for this first part . . 

 

but these yellow gloves had a hole in them, and then pluto managed to dig his claws into the second pair i had, as they fell off the towel rack into his clutches.

 i think the next time i dye, i'll refrain from scouring and mordanting with chemicals, and just do a gentle wash with castile soap. the mordanting helps the plant dye color last through many washings, but i think that maybe i wouldn't mind the gradual fading that would happen.

 on to dinner preparations! korrina called while i was chopping shallots, carrots and zucchini.

after saying goodbye to korrina, i realized it was wednesday, and time for class with wendy.

cooking, dyeing . .

and a few tendus . . and that was the extent of dancing for the day.

here comes pluto. he had better luck with getting something to eat this time around . .

chili dinner . . 

and one skein of cotton yarn dyed with onion skins in its lavender castile soap bath.

natural dyeing

these are the three skeins of yarn i dyed in logwood yesterday. i'm pleased with the color. the silk scarves i did several weeks ago came out too dark (too much logwood extract in the dye bath), but i added just the right amount for what i what i envisioned this time (1 and 1/2 teaspoons in the enamel pot). 

the yarn in the pot last night . . 

and chanda getting ready to go to her modern dance class yesterday afternooon . . 

and breakfast yesterday morning, which was coconut pancakes (from amelia freer's cook, nourish, glow book) with bartlett pear slices and scrambled eggs with herbs.

a blue day

it wasn't blue in terms of feeling blue . . but in looking blue. i took these photos with my cell phone and was surprised at how blue they came out. it was dusk when i took them, and very grey.

new art work put up near the library. i've actually seen this statue in dumbo when we went to the seining field trip. i'm not sure if this is the same statue, or another casting.

 i met chanda at o cafe after her modern dance class and before her ballet class. o cafe has very good gluten free brownies!

 pics i sent morgana from jefferson market library . . 

 should i read it?

chanda and i decided to dye the silk scarves in logwood purple, and not osage orange with iron shavings. i decided i needed to do more research before attempting the green . . logwood was simple and we just diluted the powder into hot water.

morgana took her little friends for a haircut in austria . . 

they're so adorable . . 

this bunny is adorable . .