The yellows were yummy!
Today's dye day was a resounding success... I'm exhausted!! but the dyepots just kept going.
These are the yellows - pomegranate, California sagebrush, oxalis, on several different wools. Oh, they were great.
I didn't get a picture of the clown pot yarns!! but oh, I feel so proud... Tammi loved the skein she got so much she got goosebumps!! That's when I know I've done a good job of getting somebody hooked on dyeing.
Labels: Dye Day, dyeing, dyeplants, oxalis, pomegranate, wool, yarn, yellow dyes
Spanish Moss
This is a shot of the Spanish Moss that we collected for dye. It gives a warm tan color, very nice.
This is a shot of the mountain road we were on. See the mist floating by?
I stayed on the road and got a shot of the more intrepid hikers in our group.
Labels: dyeplants, Oaxaca, spanish moss
Stuff I did today
OK, a bit of bragging on myself, to keep up the spirits...
There's sun this morning! Ah, I love the sun, especially in January when there's been a lot of rain. I took advantage of the short bit of good weather to go out and weed the front planter, where I like to grow the dyeplants. I cleared out the leaves and put them on the compost pile, and dumped a sack of planter mix where the soil needs building up.
Now, I'm going through my shoebox of seeds, to see what I can put out. Some of these are pretty old... it's the same ol' thing. Buy stuff when I feel the inspiration, before I get the chance to work the ground I get distracted with other stuff. Or I sow half the envelope of seeds, and forget about it the next year.
So, here's the list of seeds I'll liberally dump and see what happens.
- In back, by the fence:
- Pole beans, Kentucky blue. Seeds from 2001...
- Sweet peas, Old Spice mixed color. Seeds from 2001
- Bishops Flower, White Lace improved. Ammi Majus, seeds from 2005. This looks like Queen Anne's lace, but isn't a noxious weed. I tried this once before but it didn't sprout-- QAL gives a good yellow, I wanted to see what this does.
- More in front:
- Dyer's Marguerite - seeds from 2004. *good* dyeplant! This is the rest of that dye packet, those plants kept coming back until this year.
- Carrots - packed for 2001. I just want to get rid of these, if they come up fine. Carrot tops give a good yellow.
- Parsley - packed for 2001.
- Cilantro, slow bolt - packed for 2004.
- Salad leaf basil - packed for 2004. I just want to get rid of these seeds and see what happens.
It feels good, and you know what? Going through the shoebox and seeing how much I've got keeps me from buying more. Most years, anyway!
And the other fly in the ointment? There's a ground squirrel hidey hole RIGHT THERE. We'll see how much they leave for me.
Last-minute edit: I have spun 9 bobbins worth, 24.13 ounces, in one week. I did two bobbins just today, and yes, my arm is a bit sore.
Labels: dyeplants, garden
