~ A Wild & Woolly Dye Class! ~

Hello Friends & Folk!

today was our fabulous Dye at the Farm day!

our guest teacher was sweet-as-pie Nancy Z. Parcels ~

{{ Oh Nancy! you have created wool-monsters out of us my friend! }}

** Kindly click on each photo to enlarge **

Nancy began the class by sharing with us a few tips and techniques she has honed...

everything from storing wool to using a smaller {than my usual} cut and lots of goodness between.

she showed us a beautiful rug that she had hooked using wools that she dyed

in the very same techniques she was to show us today ~ yay!

this particular rug was hooked from a jigsaw puzzle design!

it is beautiful and so old looking ~ a floral pattern with such a wandering background....

we got right into it with the 1st technique:

Tie Dyeing!

wrapping & rolling our wools to take full advantage of the way we were to dye ~

 using men's silk ties!! 
{Nancy has an article about this technique in the upcoming issue of Rug Hooking Magazine}

we were all fascinated with the way she showed us how to deconstruct
 and use the silk ties to their best advantage for dyeing...

into the electric frying pans our wool/ties went!

Nancy 'mashes' the wools/ties down into the water...

and then we set a timer and wait...

{NOT so patiently for the results}

while Nancy talks about mordants and wetting agents...

she has a plethora of knowledge and experience with anything to do with wools, 

wool dyeing and hooking... 

Nancy is a certified McGown teacher/instructor 

and brings her soft and carefree approach of rug hooking to class ~

we enjoyed every minute!

to learn more about Pearl K. McGown and her Hookrafters, click HERE.

while students waited for their wool to steep...
they snacked, talked, laughed and shopped ~
and got a closer look at Nancy's fabulous rug:

and then the timer went off!
we took our wrapped wool/ties out of the frying pans...let them cool a bit...
then
unwrapped the goodness!!!

we each were astounded at the way the prints of our individual silk ties
had transferred onto our wool....

there were many "oooh's & ahhh's" during this class :)

unexpected and unbelievably BEAUTIFUL results were achieved!!

we drooled over each other's tie-dyeing results, 

then it was time for the results of the 2nd part of our class:

"Color Plan in a Crock Pot" 

{or as Nancy said today - a PARTY in a crock pot!}

holy moly....

Nancy had us divied our wools into 

Lights

Mediums

Darks

{because apparently we could not really tell the difference between some 

but boy she thankfully showed us}

a table full of color!!!!

and just look at those colors ~ some we would have never ever expected even ~

yes, we were so proud of our results!

Thank you Nancy Z. Parcels

 for coming out and teaching us with your boo-boo thumb on a rainy December day!

your beautiful wools brought us much-needed sunshine :)

and thank you students for bringing your smiles and friendship today!

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori