Dyeing lesson

Yesterday I went to E's house to learn how to over-dye my wool. It is quite a process, especially using things found in nature.

We used lichen found on the rocks near E's house. She collects it in the winter month when it's easier to get off the rocks.

 

Because it is such a long process E had already boiled and strained the lichen based dye.

 

 

 

Here is the result: (E also used another plant to get a gold color, I forgot the name of that one). The wool in the middle was the original piece. The pink on the right is from the lichen, and the gold was from the unknown (to me) plant.

 

 

Here are two more examples. The wool on the left is the original color.

 

 

 

 

 





I like the way the one above turned out, it's more purple than pink.

Like I mentioned earlier it was a long process but I had some beautiful scenery to look at. This is the view from E's back patio:

 

I could have set there all day enjoying the view.

 

But E had other entertainment for me. She had just returned from a 10 day trip to Monument Valley and I got to see her amazing pictures. She went on a tour where you take your horse, camp in the valley and take horseback tours of the valley. I got E's permission to share one of her pictures:

 

 



I told you they were amazing, they didn't look real. She even got to go shopping on horseback, how cool is that?

As promised I took a picture of E's rug. This is the picture I posted the other day:

 

Here is where E is now:

 

 

I had a great time yesterday and am worn out today. Think I'll work on designing my next rug.

 

Til next time, Ronda