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!

Summertime and My Ukulele

So far, it's been a HOT summer!  I've been involved in a bunch of fun stuff though and I'm looking forward to heading down to Hodgepodge Farm in a few weeks to get my hands dyeing and weaving some stuff! 

Farmer Fern Craft Time.

Since April, I've been involved in this amazing program called, The Farmer Fern and Friends Puppet Program.  Farmer Fern is the invention and a wonderful young guy (18 years old!) who invented this program to help and empower children through learning about gardening, nature and the importance of ecology and horticulture!  I'm a puppeteer for the program (often playing the part of Cousin Cassidy).  We have done several performances this summer.  Last Monday, we were able to perform at the Silent Voices Summer Camp in Toronto and this week we performed for a group at the Guelph Enabling Garden!  It's been a wonderful experience and I'm having a ball working with such a creative group of artists. 

Farmer Fern and Cassidy!

A butterfly puppet.

I've also been participating in an abstract quilting class that has been a great experience.  I've never quilted before and this approach has been a great way to introduce me to quilting and it feels very natural to me.  I have one more class, then we will be having a show at the end of the year of all our quilts.  I'm piecing together my quilt now and I've hung it on the wall to piece so it feels very much like putting together a puzzle.  

My quilt so far...

Ukulele is my new obsession!  I've been taking lessons and it's been great!  My first song is, Here Comes The Sun and it's F-U-N!

Here comes the sun little darlin'

I also finished my Coquille Shawl.  It's made out of Kauni yarn which was amazing to work with - so amazing I went an bought another colour way....  now I have to find something to make out of it!

Coquille Shawl!

Dip, dip, dip - dry....

By the way... this is the first puppet I ever made. I was maybe 5 or so...

Lock Washing

I started washing fleece for my hand-spinning programe.  There are several different kinds and the students have to decide, based on the end use of the wool, how to wash and prepare the wool.  Some of it, I washed in a bag in the sink and some I lock washed.  


Lock washing is my new favorite way of washing fleece.  It's very time consuming but also very meditative for me...  basically, you separate the greasy fleece into individual locks then dip each lock into very hot, soapy water, rinse in hot water and lay flat to dry... 

The Set Up

At first, I kept burning my finger tips in the water, then Boomer gave me her surgical forceps. They sound scary but are really just small, tightly locking tweezer-y things.  I could grab onto the wool and tightly lock it and dip away without burning my fingies or having the lock fall apart. The whole purpose of lock washing the fleece is to keep it all organized as far as the tip of the lock vs. the end that was attached to the sheep. 

Washed and Drying!

Now I have a whole pile of different fleeces all washed and ready to go! Romney, Lincoln, Corriedale and some Merino - maybe some other stuff too!

Bags-o-Wool!

I'm getting ready for my Hodge Podge Farm Residency too!  Lots of natural dyeing will take place as well as some weaving. This will kick off a new body of work for me!  Well, actually, I'm hoping a class I'm starting tomorrow will kick it off!  It's an Abstract Quilt class.  I'm going to get all surface design on that quilt!  I just can't decide on a theme....  hmmmm.....


I have a Granny Square Class coming up at Greenwood Quiltery that will be a blast!  Get in touch with them to register!


OH!  The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada is amazing and everyone should sponsor a donkey there!

A Sheep Friend for the Donkeys

Boomer Brushin' a Donkey