~ Dyeing, .... Naturally ~

 

 

 

 

 Good Morning Friends & Folk!

and a very happy Sunday to us all...
hoping you're all safe, happy & healthy this Memorial Day Weekend ~ 

 I've been saving all kinds of things for natural dyeing, avocado stones and peels, onion skins, flowers, leaves and grasses.

I wanted to just dye a couple of skeins of 'white' {beige, flax, ecru, etc.} colors to see how they would tun out. Mind you, they are not heavily dyed, but more subtly, which is a wonderful look!

I simmered my avocado stones & peels then plopped in the cotton thread skeins...all in the same pot, and let them simmer for about an hour.

 

 this is the result when still wet:

after drip drying for a little while, I then carried them outside
and dried them in the full sun, turning them and separating the threads a bit more...

and here they are all dried:

 

you can see the differences in their hues better in the photo above than below ~
I really do like the way they came out!

I made enough of the dye that I jarred it,
into the jar of dye I added one solitary clove
to keep the natural dye from spoiling until I use it again. 

 

I'm planning on using these skeins in a punch needle project design
that is living in my sketchbook...

~ I'll share that with you in my next post :)

 

Blessings from the Farm
~ Lori

~ A Handy Tip ~

 Good Morning Friends & Folk!

a glorious Tuesday on tap for us here at the Farm ~

...sunshine and warm temps, along with a subdued breeze 

will have me stitching on the front porch swing after my chores are done.

as you may know, I am stitching a new design that is entirely made up as I go ~

I sometimes feel this helps my work look more primitive, and...

well this one fits that bill completely!

the border hasn't met up at all the way I had hoped for,

as you can see on the bottom left under the yellow house I am stitching:

no worries, 

as I said before I will embrace this as a happy accident and roll with it.

 Look closely at where my needle is below:

you can see that I am stitching the windows on this tiny house ~ but ~

I am stitching them over the already-filled in house!

the threads by the way, 

of this fabulous tiny dwelling are WDW;  Schneckley, Confederate Gray & Terrapin

SO beautiful together!

I find that by filling in all of my stitches. especially on a house ~ 

then going back in and stitching the doors/windows/details 

helps keep me from making a counting mistake...

~ you all know I love frogs, but not of the cross stitch variety!!!

my stitches may look a bit different than yours, too

as I like to wax my threads before I stitch ~ the wax keeps the threads tight and neat-looking.

also, I am a 'backwards' cross stitcher...meaning, I work from right to left when I stitch,
and turn my work upside-down to stitch row-by-row. 

Sounds confusing, but

~ being dyslexic, I have to find certain ways to do things 

so my brain and hands can communicate my thoughts into what I want as a finished product!

I think in my next post I'll will show you what I mean by 'backwards' stitching...

~ or ~ perhaps a short video will show better what I mean.

♥️

So, how many of you have stitched over your work like I mentioned above?

and how many of you will do it now that I mentioned it?

inquiring minds....

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Progress ~

 Hello Friends & Folk

and happy rainy Monday to you!

I've made more progress on the rug on my frame, 

finished the background and am now hooking the border...

...this will be available soon, 

and offered three ways!

as a paper, pdf &
 drawn pattern on serged linen
♥ 
 

loving the colors in this rug, the blues/browns always make me happy.

trying to make it look really worm-y & old ~

using those overdyed wools from the other day.

 finished tonight, hopefully...
can't wait to show you!

have a beautiful day,
... doing what you love to do most.

Blessings from the Farm ~ 

Peter & Lori

~ Into the Frying Pan ~

Hello Friends & Folk!

brrrrr.....

stoking up the woodstoves 

and keeping my hands busy to stay warm here today 

I love cold weather ~ and can't wait until our first snowfall!

❄ ❅ ❆ ❅ ❄

 

 I've been hooking on this rug for the last couple of days

in  between shipping orders and decorating/cleaning ~

my progress is slow thus far, 

as I might not like the background wools that I've hooked already...

but, I won't reverse-hook them out...

instead, I'll leave them and overdye some wools that I have.

the wools below are too grey/blue for me, 

so I will put all of the wools I've previously used for the background {above} 

~ plus a few more and overdye them with black walnut dye

into the pot they go

to saturate them ~ along with a squirt of dish soap...

 once the wool pieces are saturated, 

I pile them into one of my electric frying pans

then pour the black walnut dye over the top of them...

cover & set on 'simmer' for about 30 minutes or so.

... while waiting for the wool to 'cook' 

I noticed our rogue-rooster and lone-guinea hen outside foraging under the kitchen window

where the remainders of this past summer's garden and spent sunflower heads are tossed...

~ they are best friends and hang out with each other constantly!

  ♡

once the wool has simmered, 

I add a glug or two of white vinegar to set the dye... 

then let it cool off before washing it in the machine and fluffing it in the dryer ~

I really like the colors now,

and will show more progress on the rug later on ~

have you ever dyed wool using an electric frying pan?

it's easy-peasy and quick to clean up too.

〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

 FINALLY received the back-order of threads for the PPNC {Punch Needle Club} kits!

a batch has shipped this morning, and the last batch will ship tomorrow or Monday morning.

we apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your kind patience ❤

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Peter & Lori