my dyeing week

I haven't managed a Making Monday this week. My husband, somewhat unexpectedly, had a day off work yesterday (he works for a Scottish company that was taken over by an American company and suddenly gets an English Bank Holiday - ssh, don't tell'em!) so we took the opportunity to dismantle/smash up our daughter's old somewhat wrecked chest of drawers and get her a new one. This was of course flat-pack but I won't inflict another flat-pack Making Monday on the intartubes.

Most of the rest of the day was spent sorting out her outgrown clothes and putting them in piles for the charity shop/textile bank and the odd few which have pretty fabric that can be re-used/upcycled/whatever.

So no making. However this past week has been good for dyeing - I mordanted several skeins last week so have been able to do a quick dye-pot whenever the mood takes me. The 'pot pourri' dye from the other day has turned out a softer, slightly muddier yellow than the anthemis tinctoria one from last Monday, and I followed that up with another onion-skin dye. I love the richness of the onion skin dyes - this was from the big brown onions I use most often - and of course the easiness of it!
It photographs relatively easily too, unlike the yellows - try as I might (and believe me I've tried), I just can't seem to take a photograph that reflects even semi-accurately the yellows I've got. Never mind, here's a picture anyway!

Top to bottom is - anthemis tinctoria, brown onion skins, mixed yellow/orange flowers from the garden. The two yellows are actually closer in colour than they appear in that photo.

For my own notes as much as anything (no, still not started the dyeing notebook yet), they're all approx. 50g hanks of aran-weight wool, mordanted with alum/cream of tartar. Talking of dyeing notebooks we were at Kittochside for the Country Fair on Sunday and the lass doing the spinning demonstration had examples of her hand-dyed wool (fleece that is, rather than yarn) and her dyeing notebook on display. I felt inspired! Though not enough to actually find a notebook... But what an excellent record of her work - I must get round to it, must. I didn't get a chance to talk to her unfortunately because she was so busy. I did get out the drop spindle when I got home and had another go with that, inspired by her (wheel) spinning.

If I get off my bum and get some more yarn mordanted I might have a go at calendula dyeing tomorrow as the marigolds are blooming more profusely this week. I do like that word 'profusely' :-). Excuse the smiley but an exclamation-mark seemed a bit po-faced, like the Rev. I.M. Jolly trying to be cheery!

And on that note, I'm off!