bee creative

so much color

I was able to come home early today and spent some time in the garden.

There is snow/rain mix in the forecast for next week but also signs of spring everywhere.  Pulmonaria (lungwort).

After I was done working in the garden, I started playing with the pigments...

The alder pigment is almost done and the lichen is soaking in water.  I think this type of lichen is Usnea.  It should make a brown, yellow or orange shade. 

After doing some research I've learned that some lichens will make purples, pinks and reds.  They need to be fermented with ammonia.  Not sure I want to do that.

I've been saving some indigo pigment made from indigo that I grew.  I decided it wasn't really enough to make a baby vat so I've made it into watercolor. 

Very glad that there is indigo seed on it's way so I can make more...

 

the blue collection

This morning I finished mending the pillowcases I recently dyed blue.

I haven't cut the afghan I knit yet but am still planning to. It's lovely to wrap up in right now, like a giant shawl. I've done that a couple of nights when I've gone out to look for northern lights or falling stars.

Blueberry ink made from some very wrinkly tired blueberries.  It isn't strained so it has some speckling. 

Maybe better that way?

 

summer colors

Not done yet.

This was a shirt that has been in the to-finish pile for awhile.

It went into the almost exhausted goldenrod dye bath.

After some stitching it is headed for the indigo vat. 

Another white shirt that I've been wearing for awhile went into the indigo vat.

And these...eventually I will try some of this for a dye bath or pigment.

bee at work

I don't really like the flavor of fennel but grow it for the bees and the birds.  I will be trying some as a dye/ink/something for color soon.

This morning I finished the shirt I have been working on by adding a few patches.

The pattern is "The One Yard Minimalist Top."  I am really happy with this pattern and know I will be making more.  There is a lot of potential for creativity and I have a lot of ideas. 

Last time I visited with Hazel I mentioned that sometimes I get overwhelmed with ideas, there is so much I want to do.  There are definitely worse problems to have. 

I want to  make more moons for sure. I am thinking of these soft ones as "children's moons."

Some of the fabric that recently went in to the indigo vat took another dip today.  Pretty sure this is the last dip and I will start putting the pieces together for a skirt on Sunday.  The skirt I have planned seems more of a summer wardrobe item so I want to finish it soon. 

The shirt counts as #3 for the "waste not" project, fabric reclaimed from another project. Patches were scraps.

more color, more words

The indigo vat was getting a little fussy and is much happier after being fed. 

This is the first dip for these pieces.  I probably will stop here.  Maybe not though. 

Some pieces are pillow cases, others are for a skirt.

Everything I planted for color experiments is doing well...except the indigo which just doesn't seem to want to grow this year.

  Looks like there will be 6 or 7 safflower blooms.  I am hoping it will be enough for a small experiment. There might be a trick to it though....

quiet

I don't think the rocks I picked up at the beach will work for pigments (and I am okay with that) but they sure are beautiful...

 

clouds, moons, dots...

I decided I wasn't going to dip these again.  This is the fabric with the clay rinsed out.

I love how the weave of the hemp shows up.

 

There were a few more sheets of paper this morning.

I read that it's better for beginner paper makers to start with more pulp in the water.  It made sense when the pulp was almost gone. 

Still, I was able to make some fairly thin paper.

For some reason there were bubbles.

I would love to know why.

And then I did what I wanted to do... which was paint the paper with ink.

It was wet enough that the paper became soft again but it wasn't a problem.  It actually became a creative possibility and I started to tear and rearrange the paper. 

The "clouds" were made by accident yesterday when I was transferring the paper off the screen and it ripped.  Now I want to make them on purpose.

I really love clouds.

indigo weather

Fabric that I was using as a sheet.  It really wasn't strong enough so I've decided to do a bit of experimenting with it.  

A puffy cloud inspired by Jude.

I am using clay as a resist.

More experimenting.

I finally made paper! 

There will be more of this. 

Paper counts as #2 of the "waste not" project since I made it with recycling, old screen that was salvaged, and left over dye water (which didn't alter the color at all).

 

 

playing with color

More time in the garden today.

Two more days of weeding and cleaning up and I might be able to pretend things are under control...

well except the southwest back corner. 

There is no hope for it this year. 

I want to try making ink with the pollen from this lily.

Here is the marigold pigment I finished today.

And the indigo vat this morning.

Better color this evening though, after it had warmed up some.

 

connections hold us

I finished listening to Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer today.  It's as beautiful as an audio book as when reading it page by page. 

Thinking about that...oral traditions and written.

As I listened I went back and forth between shelling beans, cleaning the kitchen and making ink.

This is the best crop of beans I've been able to grow.  I think because I was more careful to keep the soil moist as the seeds germinated.

I will eat some of them and save some to plant. 

I grow beans because it is a connection to one of my grandfathers.  Today I thought of watching him shell beans, of him sharing his collection of bean seeds with me and the stories that went with them. 

Also I grow beans because they are beautiful.

Two of the inks that I made today, one with onion skins and the other with coffee grounds.

The coffee sample on the right was made with coffee grounds still in the liquid.  I brushed them away once it was almost dry to have a better idea of the color.  The coffee sample on the left was diluted a bit. The coffee was roasted by Mom, another connection.

The onions came from my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box.  I love these onions enough that I might need to grow some just be sure I have them. I love this ink because I know who grew the onions; I know where the onions were grown and that they are local.

The other ink I made was with indigo.  The indigo was purchased from a business I feel good supporting.  Not quite local, but not too far away either. 

Thinking about how a family tree of pigments could be created and about stories. 

About how stories and relationships lead to care...