Hodgepodge Residency Part 3: The Final!

There's always time for the "swimmin' hole"!

This is the last post about my Hodgepodge Summer Residency! I have other things to blog about that are piling up (like the Sheep and Wool Festival).

Cal with dyed fabric.

The last few days of my residency were spent dyeing with fibre reactive dyes. I was dyeing both cellulose and protein fibres and you can do that with these dyes. I soaked my cellulose fibres in a solution of soda ash and water and my protein dyes in a solution of vinegar and water. This way, I was able to dye both of the same time.

Cal's dots.

We had a lot of fun using the dyes in squirt bottles, droppers and syringes. We were able to create fun designs on fabric and create interesting colour ways on yarn that didn't get "muddy". I used both solar heat by placing the items in a plastic bag and left it in the sun to bake and plastic containers with lids heated in the microwave.

I can't wait to use everything I dyed this summer over the next several months in some weaving.

Cal, Jill and myself!

The best part of the first day was Jill Draper coming by with this amazing piece of linen she had sewn dried beans in shibori style!

Jill's creation!

When it got too hot to be outside, Cal worked on her sewing machine while I started working on my EPS Crochet sweater out of Empire!

The gang at work!

This was an amazing and productive two week residency. I experimented with different types of dyes on different types of materials, hung out with amazing friends (both human and animal) and got started on my first EPS and some rubber stamps for creating my own printed fabric!

 

Next up.... Sheep and Wool Festival!

Notice the Rhinebeck mug...

Hodgepodge Farm Residency Part 2 - Natural Dyes

Cal and me peeking...

It's about time for me to go back to upstate NY for the Sheep and Wool Festival! So, I thought I should post part two of three about my August residency at Hodgepodge Farm!

The first week I was there, we spent our time dyeing both protein and cellulose fibre with natural dyes. To make it easy I used only use alum and cream of tartar to mordant the fibres. Mordanting allows the fibre to accept the dye and make it colourfast, it can also alter the final colour significantly. A lot of mordants are very toxic, alum is the least toxic, so that factored into my decision as well...

Mordanting yarn.

Since I had recently done some natural dyeing from plant matter I gathered from my own backyard which, in my area, gives mostly browns, golds and greens, I was excited to try something different. We wanted some blues, reds, pinks and oranges! So, we experimented with Indigo, Madder Root, Hibiscus Flowers and Jewel Weed (attn. Cal - jewel weed is a natural cure for poison ivy!). 

Posed demo.

I was really excited about the jewel weed, Paula at White Barn Farm told us all about this plant. It is a pretty green bush with tiny, pretty orange flowers. The exciting thing about it is that the WHOLE plant yields a very pretty light yellow. Buttery!

Jewel weed.

The hibiscus smelled wonderful and the chickens loved to steal the flowers right out of the pot! It yielded a pretty, mellow red/brown and a cool thing happened when I left some skeins in the dye vat overnight - they turned a pretty steel grey!

Hibiscus flowers.

We had a few indigo vats, the first was an instant vat that Cal had read about, since an indigo vat can take several days to prepare, this seemed like a great option. The other was a vat that Cal had in her workshop that had been sitting around for a few years. The cool thing about these natural vats is that there really isn't as long as you follow proper storage instructions. We had a great time with the indigo! We didn't achieve any deep inky blues but I think that was because we tried to to jam too much fabric and yarn into the vat - more fibre than dye yields more subtle colours.

Vat one of indigo.

Vat two of indigo.

Indigo dyed stuff.

The madder root vat was a fun one too. We did two vats. Ideally, you want to really soak any roots or bark to extract the colour and there are very strict rules for temperature and timing to yield certain colours. With the first vat, I was concerned I let heat up too much, the fibre was more of a dark orange than red. So, I brewed up the second vat, didn't let it get too hot and let it sit for several days with the fibre in it... we still only got a dark orange colour. No red this time - but the orange is beautiful!

Dippy in madder...

The set-up.

Next time - we get crazy with synthetic dyes!

Hanging to dry.

Pile of yarn.

A few classes!

I'm so excited to be a new teacher at Bee Modern Fabrics in Niagra-on-the-Lake!  I have a Granny Square making workshop coming up and will be running some classes alongside the very talented Alison Ellet!  Here are the details on the Granny Square Class:

CROCHET GRANNY SQUARES (and Granny Circles and Triangles)! We will teach you the basics and you will then be able to make many more, join them into a blanket, make coasters, placemats, bags, more blankets, pillows, rugs...if you love vintage, making granny square accent pieces is a must! Thursday, September 20th, 5:30 to 8:30pm, with a follow-up review/troubleshoot or show & share session on Sept 27th, 5:30 to 6:30 - $40 plus supplies. Call to sign up! (905) 468 8190

I will also be teaching a two day workshop with Spark of Brilliance coming up on Tues the 25th and Wed the 26 from 1-3pm.  It's a textile technique workshop where participants will be working on sculptural wall hangings.  Please check out the poster!

 I'm so excited to be attending a Pluckyfluff class in St. Catherine's this coming weekend with my good friend Andie L.!  I will be reporting on that AND more about my Hodgepodge Farm Residency coming up next time...

Annual Hodgepodge Farm Residency Number 1

Cal and I wearing our new cowls!

Well!  I have been back from my two-week long dyeing (and more) residency at Hodgepodge Farm for about a week now.  It was amazing and I have so much to tell...  so much, it will require multiple posts!

AMTRAK coffee is sooo gross...

This is the second time I've taken the train to visit Cal and it's a fine journey.  It can get a little caught up at the border, but an 11 hour ride is great for doing some crochet and watching movies or having a nap and reading a good book.  I struggled with my luggage though, the biggest case I had was full of undyed yarn and fabric.  I also brought a sheet of rubber and carving tools to make some stamps.  I had a tiny case for my clothes and then my backpack with all my train food and computer, books, projects, etc.  Hauling all that by myself was difficult but I got there in the end!

The red one is FULL (like I had to sit on it to close it) of undyed yarn and fabric!

It was so great to be upstate NY in August.  It was gorgeous weather, which allowed us to do most of our work outside.  We set up a dyeing station under an "easy-up" tent.  

Swimmin' Hole.

It was wild mushroom season and Smith foraged for some beautiful Chanterelles as well as supplying us with delicious Shitakes that he grew himself on some old logs.  Yumminess all around.  Also, the Swimmin' Hole was open for business and refreshing to our toes...

Wild Chanterelles - yum!

Smith's mushroom logs.

We had a few fun outings!  I finally got to visit Lagusta's Luscious Chocolate shop - deeelicious!  We also went to White Barn Farm to visit Paula's Cormo sheep and fancy chickens...  it was knit night, which was great AND they get a visit from Farmer Dave who brings an array of fresh veggies to sell to the knit-nighters.  Talk about service!  Paula was wonderful and gave us lots of advice about nature dyeing.  We got a great tour of her farm and shop!  I also got to visit with my pal Hanna - who is an amazing artist and rescuer of dogs (and animals in general)!

Lagusta's Luscious Chocolate - I can't even tell you...

Hanna, Cal and myself.

Paula's wonderful farm/yarn shop!

Cormo feeding frenzy.

Farmer Dave's Knit Night Bounty!

Speaking of animals - Slinky Malinky loved her some hand-dyed yarn, Gertie is cute as ever and the Hodgepodge Farm's chickens are curious!  My new favorite is Olivia "Livers" the chicken.  

Slinky Malinky and the big stretch!

Gertie - fine as ever!

Livers.

Lixolux was kind enough to think of our needs and sent us a wonderful package full of chocolate and fancy spinnin' fibre all the way from San Francisco.  She's been participating in Verb's Seam Allowance group - which sounds amazing!  I will be participating remotely and in spirit...

Lixolux bounty!

Cal and I also finished the cowls we started in April when she was here.  Made out of beautiful Indigodragonfly silk/merino yarn - soft.  I (finally) started and am about half way done my Crochet EPS sweater out of Jill Draper's Empire yarn.  I will be done this sweater by Sheep and Wool!

Just a little newt.

Night pigs... blurry pic, but worth seeing...

There's going to be a flurry of blog posting because this is just the tip of the iceberg!  Next post.... Nature Dyeing at Hodgepodge Farm...

Stay tuned for more Hodgepodge Farm fun!