tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29587220507792178542024-03-13T23:38:27.067-07:00Caterpillars and CocoonsRamblings of a dyer, spinner, weaver and silkworm fanaticjane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-45383521685233205372014-08-03T11:03:00.002-07:002014-08-03T11:03:24.047-07:00Time to catch up!Once again I seem to have been far too busy to post anything and I've been fiddling around with the layout of the blog. Still not got it right!<br />
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May was busy with lots of dyeing and the best way to show you is to post some photos. Who says natural dyes are boring?!<br />
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A spinner always needs fibres and I have my silkworms but now I have some sheep! Well, Nick Viney, at <span style="color: blue;">http//:www.leewood.co.uk</span> and I have some sheep! This year we introduced some coloured Wensleydales to the flock and they are delightful!<br />
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So what else have I been doing? Well the silkworm season is in full swing and I have caterpillars chomping away all day and all night. I have been asked to give a talk at the V&A in October, and hope I will have some live cats to take with me. The Eri moths are continuously brooded, so as long as they don't eat us out of privet, I might have some of those. The photo at the left shows a large tussah caterpillar and some baby eri caterpillars for size comparison - there is about 4 weeks age difference and the tussah will be spinning soon.<br />
The other caterpillar is a calletta and you can just see a new, incomplete cocoon in the centre of the photo with the caterpillar still visible within it. Within a few hours the cocoon will harden and the cat will be out of sight until it emerges as a moth.<br />
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Not done a lot of spinning but I've been washing fleece, all summer it seems, though have speeded up considerably since I've been using the fermented suint method - soaking the fleece in rainwater in a warm spot until the natural cleansers in the fibres do the job for me. This is not the same as just soaking in cold water - it needs to be warm, a lid needs to be on the soaking vessel and the fleece needs to be quite greasy, at least to start the bath. The drawback is that taking the lid off to inspect the contents can be quite an unpleasant experience - if you don't like farmyard smells, I don't recommend it. Now the fibres are clean I can get on with my next excitement, using the knowledge I gained in the most fantastic week long course with the superb Michel Garcia. I am an unashamed Garcia Groupie!<br />
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Before I move on the dyeing, I am going to post some pictures of one of this year's courses at the Bovey Tracey Contemporary Craft Fair. I taught Katezome, or flower hammering, in the morning and indigo resist in the afternoon. I don't have any photos of the afternoon but the morning produced some fantastic results.<br />
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The results were impressive, although the colours will fade quickly unless they kept out of the light. For a special card for a birthday or Christmas card perhaps, they are lovely.<br />
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Last week was something very special! I spent it at Chateau Dumas, about an hour from Toulouse, in beautiful surroundings with superb food, excellent company and one of the best courses I can remember - and I've done a fair few, including one with Michel in 2011! Michel Garcia is a treasure and we should all be so grateful to him for the amazing amount of research he has done to enable us to dye easily and safely with natural dyes. The details are for another day but these photos might give you a flavour of what we experienced.<br />
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More in the next episode....jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-43195980693037153612014-03-28T03:08:00.000-07:002014-03-28T03:08:05.760-07:00I should have done it yesterday...I am thinking of starting a new blog with the title of this post as its name! I seem to have been chasing deadlines for months now but have finally, I hope, got to a point where I can reach the next 4 - or is it 5 - with a degree of equinamity.<br />
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The dye plants are beginning to show their faces again, either the perennials popping up or the seeds germinating, including the cotton. Last year's flax awaits retting when the weather warms up a bit and the this year's seeds are on order. Traditionally they are supposed to be sown by Easter but I was much later than that last year and still had a good crop.<br />
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The photo below shows some of the colours from the solar dyed Wensleydale fibres using plants from the dye garden and indigo from the vat I made using Jim Liles Saxon vat: A dirty fleece is put into a container of water and left in the sun for 24 hours. The fleece is removed from the smelly, filthy water and well dissolved indigo, together will a little washing soda if the pH is a bit low, and left to reduce. In the meantime, the fleece is scoured. When the vat has reduced, the clean fleece is re-entered and dyed blue. It is such a satisfying process, to use nothing but water, fleece and dye, plus the heat of the sun, to achieve the chemistry necessary for the indigo process. It's not for the faint-hearted though, as I have to admit that I can see now why Elizabeth I did not allow dye works within 5 miles of her residencies, the smell is dreadful! But it goes when the dyed fibres are washed.<br />
The blue at the bottom of the basket is the indigo, the blue at the top of the basket is woad - another favourite of mine. We have walnut, red dahlia, madder, weld and marigold as well - the yellows from marigold and weld are rather washed out in the photo and are much stronger in reality<br />
<img alt="Photo: Fleece from our Wensleydale sheep dyed with plants from our own Dye garden here at Leewood, at the hands Jane Deane, South West Leading Textile Artist!" src="https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/p403x403/1479189_450555845066663_1196653998_n.jpg" /><br />
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I've washed a huge amount of fleece that somehow seems to have appeared in the workroom but before I get too smug, I have to remember the sacks in the garage and the shed....Still, I started on one fleece, drum carding and spinning into a chunky single on the Ashford Country Spinner and the wheel is gobbling it up at the rate of knots!<br />
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Romney Marsh single, spun from a drum carded batt</div>
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I am dyeing some greens as a commission and have so far been using a variety of yellows; marigold, weld and pomegranate and modifying with iron but will be making an indigo vat for some brighter greens either on Sunday or next week - helps with indigo if the weather is a bit warmer than it currently is!</div>
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Tomorrow will be a good day, I think. At Peter Tavy Guild we are getting together as weavers and those of us who are a bit more experienced will be helping new people to get started. It's always exciting to introduce weaving to someone who hasn't done any before and see that amazing moment when the weft crosses the warp for the first time and instead of threads and air, there is suddenly fabric! Well, maybe it takes two or three weft picks, but you get the idea.</div>
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Spinning is starting again in earnest at <a href="http://www.leewood.co.uk/">Leewood</a> on Thursdays from April 10th. lambing may have started again by then, or it may not, depending on how the sheep feel about it! I am keeping everything crossed for some black lambs - we had one last year but she sadly didn't make it past a few months - at least we know there are black genes in the flock, Wensleydales and one black mongrel ewe! She should throw a black lamb, we hope! Lots of lovely pix of the sheep on the Leewood website, plus dyed fibres and yarns.</div>
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The silkworm season has begun, or at least the cocoons are out of storage though none of them seem inclined to wake up just yet. This year, although I have several workshops for which the silkworms are an integral part, I am trying not to panic and buy in more. It usually results in both overwintered and new moths all emerging at the same time and then we spend our lives running up and down the hill to the oak trees as the eggs they lay hatch and we have hundreds of hungry little caterpillars to feed.</div>
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jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-15532630705959984072013-08-16T09:29:00.003-07:002013-08-16T09:29:46.128-07:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PEr6Leqk_aQ/Ug5MbzFVr6I/AAAAAAAAATM/-re0NWyaQ4c/s1600/Summer+school+pix+022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PEr6Leqk_aQ/Ug5MbzFVr6I/AAAAAAAAATM/-re0NWyaQ4c/s1600/Summer+school+pix+022.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a>It's been a busy few months, with a talk on silkworms for the London Guild, a Natural Dye Workshop for Tawe Guild and a week teaching Designer Spinning at the Association Summer School, held this year in Carmarthen.<br />
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My students and I spent a wonderful week designing yarns from inspirational pictures that each one had brought with them and we also managed two group projects. Students chose either to select fibres that related to a blue picture, or fibres that related to an orange picture, made a giant batt of the fibre selections then divided the batt between them and spun the yarns.<br />
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The Blue Yarns<br />
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The Orange Yarns<br />
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In addition, the students all produced wonderful work from their own inspirational material and we explored many spinning techniques to produce the huge range of yarns produced. Among the techniques we tried were:<br />
hand carding and long woollen draw refresher; core yarns; coil yarns; cable yarns; wraps; boucle; entrapment yarns using fibres and fabric; bead yarns; snarl yarns; blended batts; Navajo ply; all sorts of insertions, including washers and press studs.......<br />
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I am extremely proud of Ineke, Jane W, Joanna, Carolyn, Sue, Jane S, Helen, Carol, Christine and Hilary and I hope they are proud of themselves!<br />
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Below are images of their work:<br />
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jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-21872648475043063812013-06-15T05:03:00.000-07:002013-06-15T05:03:55.673-07:00A Busy Week...Last Friday I had the pleasure of teaching two workshops at the Contemporary Craft Fair at Bovey Tracey. They are only two hours so one can't expect to achieve a lot but what a wonderful set of students!<br />
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The first was 3D weaving - those amongst you who are weavers will understand that this is a concept that has limitless potential but I confined myself to two options.</div>
The first was to use a cardboard tube (the inside of a tube of wrapping paper for straight sided pots and cardboard cones from weaving yarns for pots with narrower bottoms than tops) used to support the warp whilst the tapestry technique was employed to produce a weft faced fabric.<br />
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The second option was to use willow prunings to create areas of fabric in the spaces between the branches.</div>
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The afternoon session was the perennial favourite, indigo dyeing</div>
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We made a vat, stronger than I would normally make but in two hours there isn't much opportunity to hang around!</div>
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We clamped, stitched and tortured cloth in various ways, wetted the pieces out, then dipped them in the indigo. Then came that 'Ahh..' moment when the cloth started to turn blue, the stitching was removed and the white patterns on blue revealed.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cloth emerging from vat and just beginning to turn blue as the oxygen returns to it</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The star of the show! Anna, the felting tutor, had this example of nuno felting with devore to show her class. It was a pale orangey/yellow and she bravely put it in the indigo. It is just glorious!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of our results<br />
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jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-36968434369200375802013-05-29T13:06:00.000-07:002013-05-29T13:06:05.447-07:00Anne FieldLike the rest of the spinning and weaving world, I am so sorry to hear of the death of Anne Field. She was an inspirational teacher, a wonderful craftswoman and a lovely person. I saw her last about 14 months ago in Christchurch when she took me on a tour of that devastated city, taking care to show me the positive things that were emerging from the chaos. She was cheerful and looking forward to her teaching trips overseas. Sadly, this wasn't to be and the cancer she had fought for so long returned with a vengence. I will miss her and treasure the memories of that last visit to Christchurch. The textile community has lost one our heroinesjane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-32834323418704920712013-05-27T10:33:00.000-07:002013-05-27T10:33:58.119-07:00Happy New Year!I realise of course that the end of the May is hardly an appropriate time to wish people a HNY, but it seems that for some reason I haven't posted here this year!<br />
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I have been busy with lots of things, including working at the wonderful Leewood, <a href="http://www.leewood.co.uk/">www.leewood.co.uk</a> , teaching spinning, weaving and dyeing. The course dates are on the website under Textile Diary, but do check with me about the costs....<br />
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My first batch of silkworms are hatching, though they have slowed down now the weather has turned wintery again and I wonder how my dye garden at Leewood is faring. We are growing woad, weld, tansy, saw-wort, soapwort, Japanese indigo, madder, golden rod, achillea, dark red dahlias and more.<br />
Pictures sooner rather than later, I hope!<br />
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On the weaving front, I am working my way through the samples that I started with Ann Richards last year and learning a lot, even that Ashenhurst doesn't necessarily have to make your brain hurt!<br />
I have just designed a yarn for Yarnmaker but you'll have to wait for the issue to be published to find out about that.<br />
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Next on my list is the work I need to do for the course I am teaching at the Association of GWSD Summer School, in Wales in August.<br />
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Highlights since I last blogged have been the Spring Course in The Netherlands, at despinners.nl and the birth of a little black Wensleydale at Leewood - I bagged the fleece within minutes of her birth!jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-47609576428432659442012-09-23T03:33:00.001-07:002012-09-23T03:33:36.761-07:00I have surpassed my personal best this time with a four month absence from the blog. This not because life has been boring - far from it!<br />
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I have taken a workshop with the wonderful Jette Vandermaiden in tied weaves at Devon Weavers Workshop, delivered successful indigo workshops for Oxford Guild WSD, and for South Hams Spinners, taken a 3 end block weave course with Jason Collingwood in Cornwall, done 9 days of Drawn to the Valley Open Studios at lovely, lovely Leewood, (<a href="http://www.leewood.co.uk/">www.leewood.co.uk</a>) and been helping with the organization for the textile programme for next year. I've written articles for future editions of The Journal (<a href="http://www.thejournalforwsd.org.uk/">http://www.thejournalforwsd.org.uk</a>) and Workbox Magazine and watched the rain and cold put paid to the birth of the Leewood Dye garden - for this year, anyway.<br />
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There is a small Wensleydale flock enjoying the 30 acres and I am enjoying the fleece! It is beautiful - long, lustrous and curly and dyes beautifully. It justifies its existence simply by being gorgeous to look at, as far as I am concerned.<br />
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My latest involvement has taken me right out of my comfort zone. I am one of a group of craftspeople who have been working with Royal Opera House choreographer, Freddie Opoku-Addaie as he creates a piece for the Compass Project. <em>Bespoke</em> will tour Devon in October/November 2012 and will unite the art of dance with sculpture, weaving, environmental art and silk spinning. The initial workshop was a unique and profoundly challenging experience. The result will be, in my case, an interpretation and fusion of the movements of a handspinner with those of a dancer - it will be a relief to those of you who know me in the flesh to hear that I will be spinning during the performance, not dancing!<br />
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This has not been a good summer for my silkworms - I hatched some of last year's moths and enjoyed their short lifespan, and have observed mating. The eggs went in the fridge for next year as the weather has been dreadful, cooler than normal, less sunlight than normal and the impact of foodplants unpredictable. I decided not to try and hatch caterpillars I might not be able to feed, so nstead of lots and lots of different species, I have raised one batch of Japanese Oak cats, and have saved the cocoons for next year, along with last year's Giant Atlas, whose eggs are now in the fridge.<br />
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Now to finish my Jason Colllingwood warp.....<br />
jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-18365710114691236652012-05-06T03:57:00.000-07:002012-05-06T03:57:35.765-07:00Silkworms, bananas and excitement!It seems that though my intention is always to update the blog at least once a week, that my default setting is once a month!<br />
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Since my last post I have taught a workshop and rashly decided to put my faith in the Garcia vats - not taking with me a failsafe traditional Spectralite vat (when people are paying, they want a successful indigo vat!) and I am delighted to report that both the henna vat and the fructose vat worked splendidly. This success was repeated yesterday at Peter Tavy Guild of WS&D when I made a vat with a banana (it was a small vat!) and got some gorgeous blues. I will be working out how to lower the pH slightly to make the vat more appropriate for wool, so watch this space.<br />
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The silkworm season is upon us again and my first batch of Japanese Oak Silkmoth caterpillars are hatching. The first emerged on May 1st, appropriately enough and today the first few have changed from yellow skins to the green that they will keep until they cocoon. There are lots of pix of these on the blog already so I don't feel that you need to see more of the same!<br />
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The excitement part comes from two aspects - one is the fact that Nick Viney's new studio space is underway at <a href="http://www.leewood.co.uk/">http://www.leewood.co.uk/</a> and we will be starting to run courses there in the not to distant future. We have started a dye garden - it's a bit bare at the moment and though it is fairly goat-proof (a relative position, as anyone who has kept goats will know) we are wondering how the rabbits will take to the prospect of new diet possiblities. We shall see.....jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-91213962942831299062012-04-03T10:12:00.000-07:002012-04-03T10:12:10.499-07:00Quick organic indigo vatsWell, the banana vat pictures are finally downloaded, along with the henna vat that I made this afternoon. After blogging, I shall go and make the iron vat and hope to spend some merry hours doing some printing with it tomorrow.<br />
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These are the mashed bananas with one of the skins to show how black they had become - I was surprised the bananas were still edible! They'd been in the kitchen for at least 8 weeks....though as we were away, the heating was off, there was no cooking or washing being done, so in Feb/March the room must have been like a fridge.</div>
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The vat, containing indigo, calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and mashed bananas - I forgot to weigh the bananas before I mashed them, and then couldn't be bothered, so the </div>
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quantities are possibly not as well matched as they should be (1-2-3, indigo, lime, fruit), but Michel says that fruit is not going to be as measurable for fructose content as fructose powder is, so one has to use one's judgement. Obviously that is what I must have done! <br />
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The first dip in the vat, 10 minutes after it was made (these vats reduce instantly), and the second and third dips after about 30 minutes. The second dip was followed with the material being plunged into a bowl of clean water till the green changed to blue, then straight back into the vat again for a minute.</div>
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The henna vat is made with 10g indigo powder, really well wetted out, 20g calcium hydroxide and 30g henna powder - I bought mine from an organic beauty shop and it is intended for hair colouration.</div>
I added the indigo to 2 l of boiling water, then the henna and finally the lime, gave all a gentle stir and in less tha<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XobjQMQ6aoI/T3sj7wYHlSI/AAAAAAAAAP4/koNJCFMpAE8/s1600/P4030017.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727210860637033762" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XobjQMQ6aoI/T3sj7wYHlSI/AAAAAAAAAP4/koNJCFMpAE8/s200/P4030017.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a>n a minute, the blue froth and metallic flower had appeared on the surface.<br />
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The cloth dipped in this vat, though it is still damp and difficult to be sure, looks a deeper blue than the previous vats. This is my recollection of what happened at Michel's workshop.<br />
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</div>jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-83990799454047761852012-03-28T08:10:00.002-07:002012-03-28T08:33:12.434-07:00Another New Year Resolution gone down the Swanee!Well, I was determined to keep up-to-date with the blog in 2012 but life has a way of throwing curve balls....<br /><br />My studio was in a building called Duchy Square Centre for Creative Arts. Sadly, the operators of the building have gone into voluntary liquidation so I am currently working from home, and am blessed that my good friend Nick Viney has at last got planning permission to convert her stable block into a teaching space, so by the end of May, courses should be back on the agenda.<br />My house is not quite big enough to contain all the stuff that was in it before the studio equipment moved back, so we are living in a permanent obstacle course...<br /><br />Had a fabulous trip to Australia and New Zealand to visit various family members. I had the great fun of meeting up with Anne Field and attending a Christchurch Spinners' meeting, plus all the family stuff, though getting an email from the liquidators telling me to render them an account of money I might be owed, during our first week away wasn't the best way to begin a holiday. Wish I hadn't taken the laptop!<br /><br />I am overwhelmed with new design ideas, some of which may appear on the blog during the next few months, relating to landscape and fauna. I had an encounter with a deadly poisonous spider, a funnel-web, and a non-venomous but still scary python. Spiders don't bother me in the slightest, even poisonous ones but snakes are vile! For me, it is 8 legs good, no legs bad.<br />I was privileged to meet a tuatara, a prehistoric lizard-like creature that takes 90 years (they think) to become old enough to breed and may live for 200 years. The one we saw was a mere 25, so a baby.<br /><br />Back home, having sorted out all the post-liquidation crisis and having had a trip to The Netherlands to teach silk spinning and Whacky Fibres, I came home to find some truly black bananas. As no-one wished to eat them, I decided to make an indigo vat using Michel Garcia's banana recipe (you can substitute other sweet fruits if you prefer to make banana cake!) and to my surprise and delight, it worked! And the conservatory smells delicious. Pix to follow.<br /><br />Time, too, to inspect the oak for leaf development. I have cocoons in the fridge and they will need to come out fairly soon as we get back on the silk rearing conveyor belt again. Time to plant the Japanese indigo, check the woad, inspect the weld....then it will be shearing again and why haven't I finished last year's fleeces yet? Life is never dull!jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-79769052427107792052011-12-20T05:10:00.000-08:002011-12-20T05:32:48.484-08:00MusingsThis is a time of year when we traditionally look both back at what has happened and forward to what may come. It has been a busy year for me, with wonderful opportunities but I am increasingly wondering who I am, as a textile artist. I wasn't even sure what I meant by the question when I thought about it, usually in the shower.....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I think back to those people who have had enormous influence over me, things they have said, things I have seen them do and how I view them. I was very struck by one of my first teachers telling me that she sees things in numbers: if she is planting a flowerbed she will see 7 tulips, nine daffodils, three iris and twenty-one crocus. When that is sorted in her mind, she will move on to the subtlties of colour, texture, spacing and timing of flowering. When I repeated this apparently bizarre account to another weaving friend, she said: "Well, don't you see it like that?!"<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />No, I certainly don't! But I wonder now about how I do see things, and if I was planting that same flowerbed, how I would visualize it right at the beginning? And I realise that I see things initially as textile, or aspects thereof. I look at a catkin and see a braid, I look at bourgainvillea arch and see a shawl, in silk. I look at a painting and my brain automatically begins to translate it into cloth, yarn and dye. A flower will be a subtley shaded, naturally dyed fleece; a skyscraper will be a repp woven mat; popcorn will be a textured yarn.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I like to do everything from scratch and, stupidly, feel that if every aspect of an item hasn't been produced from the raw material (scoured, carded/combed, spun, dyed and knitted or woven) by me, it has somehow failed a test I set myself. I am, however, realising that if I want to produce more textiles, I need to give myself permission to use commercially spun and dyed yarn - after all, I have no problem with my friends and colleagues using these 'short cuts.' And the skills of dyeing and weaving are valuable and satisfying in their own right.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />A very happy celebration and 2012 to you alljane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-45595805824772916542011-11-10T09:24:00.000-08:002011-11-10T09:37:01.291-08:00Long time, no blog<div>Well, what a lot has happened since I last put in an appearance on this page!</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>Fleece First is up, running and nearly over - finishes next week for those of you near Bovey Tracey who haven't seen it yet; I've managed to crack the lampas weave and finish my sample from Jetta Vandermain's course in - well, some months ago....</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>Since then I have been on two more courses - one extreme to the other, you might say. Ann Richards with collapse weave making very fine, delicate samples; and Jason Collingwood making fab rug samples. Both of these, in their different ways, made me very happy and I will be taking pix at some time in the near future and showing you what I have achieved.</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TUpVTDvm4OQ/TrwLhOZQ5MI/AAAAAAAAAOU/g4tLI_OGUOs/s1600/100_1640.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673422296007632066" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TUpVTDvm4OQ/TrwLhOZQ5MI/AAAAAAAAAOU/g4tLI_OGUOs/s200/100_1640.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>In the meantime, here is a photo of the woven fabric in the exhibition:</div>jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-51187550709576731382011-09-02T04:20:00.000-07:002011-09-02T04:53:21.023-07:00
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<br /><div>What happened to my resolution to update the blog every week without fail?! Life, I suppose. I am still spinning madly away to get the yarn done for the fabric and when that is finished, the dyeing and weaving are still to do.</div>
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<br /><div>This is the colour sample on the loom - the blue is woad and the brown walnut. The yarn is Bluefaced Leicester, combed on English woolcombs - hard work! - and spun worsted. I've currently spun just over half the warp.</div>
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<br /><div>Combing - you can see the unwashed fleece on the floor, though the fibres were clean when I combed them</div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GXMtVLJbdvg/TmDBqDIv_hI/AAAAAAAAAN4/6d991Kc14jE/s1600/Combing%2B027.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647726860863274514" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GXMtVLJbdvg/TmDBqDIv_hI/AAAAAAAAAN4/6d991Kc14jE/s200/Combing%2B027.jpg" /></a>
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<br /><div>Pulling the fibres through the diz - this preparation is more than worth the work - properly combed sliver is a joy to spin.</div>
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<br /><div>Fibre Fest was a busy weekend for us and it was very nice to see lots of old friends there and make new ones. The silk workshop went well and it was particularly nice to have Maria from Moscow there, though I haven't been able to suggest what she can do with 10kg of carrier rods! Well, I have given her suggestions but I think she has a lifetime's supply...</div>
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<br /><div>Last weekend was a family party, and lovely to see so many relatives- though a bit of a shock to see that a gorgeous baby I remember is now 6 and at school! Still gorgeous, of course, but he might appreciate my saying that!</div>
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<br /><div>The bee-keeper is currently in occupation in the kitchen and is quietly delighted at the amount of honey he has this year, despite the weather being unhelpful for these wonderful little creatures. I really don't think the world in general appreciates insects as much as we should.</div>
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<br /><div>Next week, if anyone is in the Tavistock area, I will be spinning at the Alexander Centre on Monday afternoon - teaching, so there's still time to sign up, indigo dyeing on Tuesday, likewise, and helping with textile design on Thursday.</div>
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<br /><div>Tomorrow is Fleece Fair day at Dulverton - see Devon Fine Fibres webpage for details. I shall be there with spinning wheel, spindles and assorted spinning and weaving gear, so maybe see some of you there? It is an opportunity in particular for farmers to see how we use their fibre.</div>
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<br /><div>Am I the only one whose inbox is filling with suggestions of what to buy friends and family for Christmas? The children haven't one back to school after the summer break yet and already the rush to part us from our money has begun.</div>
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<br />jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-48261119124938714682011-08-14T03:41:00.000-07:002011-08-14T04:06:33.017-07:00
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<br /><div>Well, it's a while since I updated this blog because I have been getting some much needed inspiration and education and preparing a major piece of work for Fleece First, an exhibition to be held at Devon Guild of Craftsmen in September, October and November. September is next month.....</div>
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<br /><div>First the silkworms. They are all but two in their cocoons now and I won't be raising any more this year as the oak is not good and my privet bushes for the Samia have taken a bit of a hammering and need to regenerate.</div>
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<br /><div>I've been on two marvellous courses, one weaving, one dyeing. Weaving first - Jette Vandermain from Canada came to Devon Weavers Workshop to teach a course on Lampas, a structure I had never tried before. It is totally fascinating and has such possibilities. My sample warp is still on the loom and I am longing to finish it, not least because I will be doing a course with Ann Richards in September and already have my high twist yarns and instructions for making the warp......Plus a recents small bequest has enabled the purchase of a mechanical Magic Dobby loom and I'm longing to have a go with it!</div>
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<br /><div>The other course was with Michel Garcia, natural dyer extrodinaire. I had been one of the mob surrounding his instant, organic indigo vat at ISEND and was delighted to hear that he would be teaching at the National Quilt Festival at the NEC.</div>
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<br /><div>We made vats with bananas and indigo, henna and indigo, indigo balls, metallic vats (not organic, but non-polluting). We made resists, we overdyed with madder, cochineal, weld (found in a field near the NEC!) and an indigo paste we could paint with. Absolute <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u-PkxGvicxY/TkerPBulPHI/AAAAAAAAANg/PTnOdiosOrk/s1600/Michel%2BGarcia%2BWorkshop%2B066.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640665332955036786" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u-PkxGvicxY/TkerPBulPHI/AAAAAAAAANg/PTnOdiosOrk/s200/Michel%2BGarcia%2BWorkshop%2B066.jpg" /></a>bliss!</div>
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<br />The picture shows some of the resist effects: white on blue, and mordant resists with weld and madder
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<br /><div>Inbetween all this excitement we had a family wedding in Wales, beautiful bride, handsome groom, lovely countryside - shame about the rain but it was Wales in August!</div>
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<br /><div>Now I have a week, nearly, to get ready for FibreFest, so back to the dyepost, spinning wheel and loom and hope to see some of you there!</div>
<br />jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-87416883355276740542011-07-10T13:17:00.000-07:002011-07-10T13:32:54.125-07:00Sunshine and showers<div>Well, the weather is behaving in the way to which we have become accustomed - rain, then scorching dry days and then more rain and chilly winds. The Japanese indigo doesn't seem to mind, and I've already had one very successful woad vat from a plant that decided to spend the year in the polytunnel! Lovely blues, and I will be doing a woad vat on Wednesday with Claire Crompton, of Give Fleece a Chance fame.</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>This week I have been trying to make a start on my project for the Fleece First Exhibition to be held at Devon Guild<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BQMhhcDua6A/ThoKuF2hbrI/AAAAAAAAAMI/tUVEXRWUWUc/s1600/sliver%252C%2Bwaste%2Band%2Buncombed%2Blocks.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627822471313977010" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BQMhhcDua6A/ThoKuF2hbrI/AAAAAAAAAMI/tUVEXRWUWUc/s200/sliver%252C%2Bwaste%2Band%2Buncombed%2Blocks.JPG" /></a> of Craftsmen, in the autumn. I'm using Bluefaced Leicester fleece, from a local farmer, Neil Coles, and will be combing the fibres on English woolcombs in a traditional preparation. It will be woven on my Delta loom but the yarn design and weave technique are still at the mulling over stage - the adrenaline is beginning to kick in, so hopefully this time next week there will be something positive to report.</div><br /><div>The photo shows the fibres at the bottom with the combed sliver on the left and the noil (waste from combing) on the right. I have to make dye decisions too - woad is obviously on my mind so maybe that will be the colour to choose.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>My a.pyrni caterpillars are now the size of my index finger and they have gone quite pale, so I hope that they will be spinning soon. The S.ricini are still munching merrily away on the privet and the first few hatchlings of the Eri eggs have started appearing - if all the eggs hatch I hope the piviet will be able to cope! I hope there will be some caterpillars to show at FibreFest, particularly if the silk spinning course gets any takers....</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Back to the combs - no wonder woolcombers were usually big strong men, my shoulders are aching and I've only done a few grams!</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div>jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-45987206245670703162011-06-30T09:35:00.000-07:002011-06-30T09:37:28.775-07:00Just a quickie!Just to remind you that Fibrefest is happening at Bicton College in August and that I will be doing a mini-silk spinning course during the event. If anyone wants to come and try their hand at spinning this most wonderful fibre, look at <a href="http://www.fibrefest2011.org/">www.fibrefest2011.org</a> for detailsjane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-21304677603840834262011-06-27T05:06:00.000-07:002011-06-27T05:25:25.350-07:00Another MondayThe weeks whizz round so fast and each new Monday brings with it the knowledge that everything I needed to do last week still awaits me...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I had a fantastic time at Devon Weavers' Workshop, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, learning all about lampas. Jette Vandermeidan is certainly the best tutor I have ever had, and I've had the benefit of doing classes with some of the most highly regarded in the world! So, I am really enjoying the workout my poor old brain has had - doing two seperate warps that sometimes interlock and sometimes don't, each capable of weaving two structures and all the possibilities that offers, has been a bit of a shock to the system! Pictures when I am happy with the samples.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Yesterday I travelled to the other side of the moor to teach a dye workshop at Organic Arts. We had a fantastic time, got lots of colour from the plants growing on the farm and I was pleased to have a squizz at the new dye garden. I have given them some madder and Japanese indigo, so hopefully that will get them off to a good start. Wonderful to see how the dye garden movement is taking off in this part of the UK.<br /><br /><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 169px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622872761523275266" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKi1648K_Kg/Tgh0_D_QhgI/AAAAAAAAAL4/dW82EYTyyIE/s200/Organic%2Barts%2B008crop.jpg" /></p><br /><p>We dyed with weld, madder, woad, oak, ash, beech, willow, nettle, onion skin, and then overdyed some of the yellows and the madder with woad to get purples and greens. Fantastic! And the weather was wonderful, too.</p><br /><p>The caterpillars are growing away, doing their thing quietly. I have high hopes that my Eri eggs will hatch and give me the option to continuously brood this species, as their silk is good. They eat evergreen pivet, so I can feed them all year round.</p><br /><p>The plan for this week is to get lots of dyeing done for a school fair on Friday - my little gradaughter's school, so all the stops pulled out, and to make a start on an exhibition project. Will also need to fit in gardening, washing, housework, etc, so don't expect to hear from me for a while....<br /><br /></p>jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-42700463128776527362011-06-19T02:59:00.000-07:002011-06-19T03:49:43.139-07:00Rainy Sunday<div>Summer is on a break at the moment here in gloomy Devon.<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div>Last weekend I taught a very successsful session on indigo in a tent at Bovey Tracey Contemporary Craft Fair, an event that gets better with each passing year. The indigo vat did what it was supposed to do and the participants had some lovely dyed fabrics to take away.</div><br /><br /><div>On Saturday I gave a talk on natural dyeing to Devon Guild of WS&D, followed by a workshop the next day.</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>We used two yellows, weld and dhak; two reds, madder and red lac; and we had a natural indigo reduction vat on the go as well. Considering we started with unmordanted fibre/yarn and only had 6 hours, the group achievement was excellent. We dyed protein fibres, cellulose fibres, yarns and fabric. We painted top, painted yarn and immersion dyed and did colour mixing, when the indigo came into its own. There are photos, but sadly I didn't take them! If anyone likes to send them to me, I will post them on here</div><br /><br /><div>The skein below was painted with weld and red lac extract, covering some white areas in clingfilm to prevent the colour spreading into the white. It was well wrapped, steamed and then dipped in indigo to produce the blues, greens and purples. Careful measuring of the dye extracts to provide the required depth of colour without wasting any resulted in an almost clear rinse - there was a minute trace of the red lac but that was probably unavoidable.</div><br /><br /><div><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IsEKKFguLKA/Tf3Ngytxq0I/AAAAAAAAALo/4xK_WEzOYGI/s1600/Multi%2Btopwalnut%2B002.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619873873281526594" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IsEKKFguLKA/Tf3Ngytxq0I/AAAAAAAAALo/4xK_WEzOYGI/s200/Multi%2Btopwalnut%2B002.jpg" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UFhhIcR04a0/Tf3NWJDl3bI/AAAAAAAAALg/CkOYnfXD8os/s1600/Multi%2Btopwalnut%2B001.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619873690300046770" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UFhhIcR04a0/Tf3NWJDl3bI/AAAAAAAAALg/CkOYnfXD8os/s200/Multi%2Btopwalnut%2B001.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div>Lac, weld and indigo skein, both sides<br /></div><br /><br /><div>Friday took me to Cornwall Guild, once more in the rain and wind, to do a Whacky Fibres workshop. The group had taken advantage of the recent Wingham Wools visit to stock up on all manner of weird and wonderful fibres so we had plenty to choose! We worked from one picture, chosen by the group, everyone selected a some fibres that they thought related to the picture and then we made a giant batt (or several!) on an Ashford Wild Carder and some rather more sedate batts on a Barnett. The batts were divided, spun according to individual preferences, and then the yarns were put back around the picture. We found, as usually happens with this exercise, that every element of the picture was represented - colour, texture and form. That said, I'm not sure that there were any obvious uses for this collection but the aim was to get people really looking at the relationship between the fibres and image. There was great excitement and soon the students were rushing off to repeat the exercise with their own pictures....</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>A similar exercise from a class in The Hague is illustrated on our <em>Creative Spinning</em> blog.</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>I've finally got round to photographing the walnut leaf dye yarns. </div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619877813764922866" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zQLoHpHHvY8/Tf3RGKKOnfI/AAAAAAAAALw/E8IVVH2kQqU/s200/Multi%2Btopwalnut%2B003.jpg" />The darker skein and silk have been dyed in the walnut leaf liquid with no mordant and the lighter skein and silk have been pre-mordanted with alum and CoT. There is a more tobacco-like colour to the unmordanted skein and it is definitely more of a yellow brown than one would expect from the hulls. The alum seems to have increased the yellow potential and though the baths were split equally, so that the strengths were the same, the mordanted skein looks as though it has been in an exhaust of the first!<br /><br /><br /><br />On the silkworm front, I have some S.Ricini cats coming along nicely and some <em>a.pernyi</em> getting very fat...The Eri moths are mating and laying so I hope that I can continuously brood this variety but we will have to wait and see how it goes.<br /><br /><br /><br />I'm hoping the rain will keep away long enough for a jaunt round some Open Gardens this afternoon, my reward for spending yesterday doing a stock-take at the studio!jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-10317382883654764102011-05-31T00:32:00.000-07:002011-05-31T00:38:01.684-07:00Vat RevisitedI forgot to say that the jar in which the vat was made holds approx 2 litres and I filled it to about 75% of its capacity. I apologise for the two photos being marked 'Left' and 'Right' being on top of one another instead of side by side, but however often I move them back to where they should be, save them, blogspot moves them back again........<br /><br />This morning the vat is cold but still at pH 11, so I will try again but it won't be till this evening. In our south west facing, double glazed conservatory, it may well warm up by itself during the course of the day.jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-44195946638766625572011-05-30T09:48:00.000-07:002011-05-30T10:48:03.748-07:00Michel Garcia vatThis vat has been a puzzle since La Rochelle but I have clarified the oyster shell component with Michel, who explained that in order to use the shells, they need to be heated to 1,000deg C. He has a pottery kiln, so this is not a problem for him. He suggested I use calcium hydroxide<br />This afternoon I made the vat according to Garcia (his proportions, my quantities):<br /><br />1 teaspoon of indigo - I used Pure Tinctoria powdered extract<br /><br />2 teaspooons of calcium hydroxide<br /><br />3 teaspoons of fructose<br /><br />The teaspoons were level and the vat is a large Kilner Jar.<br /><br />The pH was 11, as recommended by Garcia<br /><br />Within 10 minutes the vat had gone from grey through green to yellow<br /><br />By 25 minutes, there was blue foam forming on the top and a coppery scum developing - much like my rising levels of excitement!<br /><br /><br />After 30 minutes the foam had turned dark blue<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ifYQYz12RdI/TePLk855wqI/AAAAAAAAAKI/PCRs3nLV0sk/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B004.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 163px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612553396318487202" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ifYQYz12RdI/TePLk855wqI/AAAAAAAAAKI/PCRs3nLV0sk/s200/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B004.jpg" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tZV31Ur8r4U/TePNiCx2CkI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/CHjaB12xAzI/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B009.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 162px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612555545378949698" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tZV31Ur8r4U/TePNiCx2CkI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/CHjaB12xAzI/s200/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B009.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Left: Vat at 25 mins, Right at 45 mins containing cotton<br />At 45 minutes, the vat should be ready, according to the instructions. The pH was still 11 and remained at that level throughout the dye session.<br />I put in a cotton wool ball and a piece of cotton in the vat which now had the sherry colour that one expects from woad<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="justify"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 178px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612558386084066914" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p-494Lz0hGM/TePQHZOuNmI/AAAAAAAAAKg/V-DRi5XgY0E/s200/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B010.jpg" />The first dip, airing<br /><br /><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="justify"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p-494Lz0hGM/TePQHZOuNmI/AAAAAAAAAKg/V-DRi5XgY0E/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B010.jpg"></a></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="justify"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p-494Lz0hGM/TePQHZOuNmI/AAAAAAAAAKg/V-DRi5XgY0E/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B010.jpg"></a></p>The second dip for cotton (large piece) and first for linen<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9mzY3he_JvI/TePRqYMmL5I/AAAAAAAAAKo/vF6UK9GBkqs/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 152px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612560086613766034" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9mzY3he_JvI/TePRqYMmL5I/AAAAAAAAAKo/vF6UK9GBkqs/s200/Michel%2BG%2Bvat.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Third dip for cotton and second for linen<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tSOxuLJvsao/TePSbulxDlI/AAAAAAAAAKw/SVS5oCfH_ro/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B011.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612560934438506066" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tSOxuLJvsao/TePSbulxDlI/AAAAAAAAAKw/SVS5oCfH_ro/s200/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B011.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="justify"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p-494Lz0hGM/TePQHZOuNmI/AAAAAAAAAKg/V-DRi5XgY0E/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B010.jpg"></a></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="justify"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p-494Lz0hGM/TePQHZOuNmI/AAAAAAAAAKg/V-DRi5XgY0E/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B010.jpg"></a></p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p-494Lz0hGM/TePQHZOuNmI/AAAAAAAAAKg/V-DRi5XgY0E/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B010.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><p align="justify"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p-494Lz0hGM/TePQHZOuNmI/AAAAAAAAAKg/V-DRi5XgY0E/s1600/Michel%2BG%2Bvat%2B010.jpg"></a></p><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><p>All in all, very successful and the vat is by no means exhausted, so I will go on until one of us gives up! What I'm not sure about is how to revive such a vat - there's no problem with reviving more usual vats. I warm them up, correct the alkalinity and put some reducing agent in and they come round. This will need some experimentation, I think<br /><br /><br /></p><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div>jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-69955658200946124872011-05-22T02:52:00.000-07:002011-05-22T03:12:54.294-07:00Things are hotting up!I've got two huge dyepots on the go, one full of mares-tail that I am hoping will give me some green though so far there is no indication it is going to give me anything, and one full of walnut leaves that are bound to give a nice brown. Some walnut leaves, rescued from a branch that needed to come out, are being boiled up as one might with any fresh dyeplant, some are soaking to see if the colour is stronger for soaking. Research seems to indicate that it will be, but time will tell.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xkgeWp79kKQ/Tdjg-v_NSvI/AAAAAAAAAKA/L-SsF_aygWc/s1600/New%2Bmoths%2B001.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609480704528042738" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xkgeWp79kKQ/Tdjg-v_NSvI/AAAAAAAAAKA/L-SsF_aygWc/s200/New%2Bmoths%2B001.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I have moved one lot of moths from the breeding cage - they have all sacrificed their lives for the future generation as is the way with moths - and put the eggs in a quiet place to hatch. I will have to transfer a bumper population of a.pyrni into the mating cage, though some are already enthusiastically creating the next lot of babies! It never ceases to amaze me how powerful the mating urge is but I suppose if you only metamorphasise in order to produce fertile eggs, it wouldn't be much use to spend your short life with a headache...As the photo shows, the male is in great demand! Not sure if you can see from the photo but he has three ladies in the queue!jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-21993098696783159202011-05-20T11:40:00.000-07:002011-05-20T11:58:22.886-07:00Dyehards<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HS2MvN-4p2M/Tda5PQuG2tI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/0HbPjq-1yms/s1600/Maristow%2B005.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608874057774062290" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HS2MvN-4p2M/Tda5PQuG2tI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/0HbPjq-1yms/s200/Maristow%2B005.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>Not a spelling error - a group of us went to Maristow today to begin clearing the dye garden. I suggested to Jenny, whose gardens they are, that she should apply to hold the national collection of perennial and annual weeds! Nevertheless, a stout hearted gang of us: Philippa, Janet, Sue, Paddy, Jill and I, spent the day pulling out bindweed, bramble, giant hogweed, groundsel, nettles, docks and other sundry unwanted plants. I know that nettles are good for dye, but there are plenty in other places in the gardens. We cleared about a third of the ground and were joined by my husband, Mike, for the afternoon. </div><br /><br /><div>We moved a smoke bush, <em>cotinus,</em> from its rather unhappy position outside the walls and into our dye patch, marked out two beds and sowed safflower, coreopsis tinctoria and woad. We planted hollyhocks and edged one of the beds with Lady's Mantle. There is a small elder already <em>in situ</em>, and when we have cleared some more space, we will move two small New Zealand flax plants into the dye garden in order to give us some fibre!</div><br /><br /><div>Though we may be rather late in sowing, we hope that we will get something to use this year to show for all our hard work, and we have made a start - probably the single most important thing.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The photo shows the progress we have made - the whole bed looked the area you can see behind us. Sadly, I forgot to take one as we finished for the day, so you can't see the beginnings of the beds!</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div>jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-39701222320062533452011-05-07T00:26:00.000-07:002011-05-20T11:39:45.081-07:00ISEND<div>My brain is still overloaded with all the information that bombarded us in La Rochelle but I am still experiencing the warm glow of hope offered by the Symposium - a machine developed in Taiwan that can dye fabric in natural colours in industrially sensible quantities; the high quality extracts being produced in Europe as well as Asia; the coming together of all manner of people from 80 countries in pursuit of the goal of making natural dyeing culturally and commercially viable and forging new relationships. If you want the ultimate networking format, ISEND is it!</div><br />
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<br /><div>Delegates ranged from university professors to practioners, via dye producers to retailers, fashion designers, textile students, chemists, anthropologists, historians, botanists and individuals who like to 'play.' Friendships were forged - and a sense of community created, particularly necessary for those of us who sometimes feel we are a lone, eccentric voice preaching to the uninterested.</div><br />
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<br /><div>And there is more moth mating today - so if only the weather would improve so the dye plants can go out, all would absolutely perfect. The rain is much needed, though the bees aren't terribly keen and I am going to Maristow Gardens tomorrow to help Jenny Tunley Price start the dye garden - sh e has been using a digger this weekend, so I hope we are not going to be drowned in mud! If you don't know about Maristow, look at <a href="http://www.maristowwalledgardens.co.uk/">www.maristowwalledgardens.co.uk</a> </div><br />
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<br /><div>I am off to my land guild, Peter Tavy, to talk about Isend with my travelling companion, Paddy Younge, then this afternoon I must start potting on the Japanese indigo before they all expire from overcrowding.</div><br />
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<br /><div></div>jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-82339958288156903092011-05-04T08:37:00.000-07:002011-05-04T09:01:50.199-07:00ISEND, or Dyed and Gone to Heaven<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VMljCoXy_Vg/TcF1Fgh89lI/AAAAAAAAAJo/R2bSOBEYINc/s1600/ISEND%2B2011%2B302.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602888148917745234" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VMljCoXy_Vg/TcF1Fgh89lI/AAAAAAAAAJo/R2bSOBEYINc/s200/ISEND%2B2011%2B302.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>Well, not sure where to start really when reporting back on the International Symposium and Exhibition of Natural Dyes! It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my textile life and I came away feeling much more hopeful for the future of this vital way of creating colour from the resources provided by nature. The photo above shows me on the left and Alison Daykin, under the huge sign that advertises what is happening inside Espace Encon.</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>450 people attended, from 60 different countries, all bringing their expertise and enthusiasm for natural dyes and with a willingness to share what they knew. We understand that this knowledge, some of which is still confined to very small populations in remote areas of the world, must be preserved before it is too late.</div><br /><br />There is so much to say that I think it will gradually emerge over the next few postings, but I had the opportunity to meet two of my dye extract suppliers, Andi from Renaissence Dyes and Patrick from Coleurs de Plantes, and even better, to go to Coleurs de Plantes premises and see for myself the care that is taken in producing these extracts - no synthetics used, just plant material and drying techniques. I watched Yoshika Wada make resist paste from rice bran, tried to see Michel Garcia's indigo vat but the crowd was too deep (got the recipe, though!), have a tiny piece of silk dyed with shellfish purple extract during a demonstration with Dr Takako Terada from Kwassui Women's University in Japan, made a piece of marbled indigo on silk...some much to do and so nice to meet up with friends old and new, and put faces to people only known up to now online.<br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>La Rochelle, the venue, is a beautiful old town and I have taken dozens of photos of the buildings - just my style, late medieval and early modern. Wish I'd popped across when doing my degree as my essays would have been far more interesting! Eating fresh strawberries from Provence, bought in the market, in the gardens of the Natural History Museum, in the sun - April doesn't get much better than that!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Then to get home and find moths emerging and mating taking place made the perfect end to the perfect week. More soon...</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div>jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2958722050779217854.post-74344172467715365662011-04-22T05:42:00.000-07:002011-04-22T05:49:23.142-07:00Swarm<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4EtnYoVo28U/TbF5IPtjLrI/AAAAAAAAAJg/MX3zj0EXYAc/s1600/Swarms%2B001.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 134px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598388994361732786" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4EtnYoVo28U/TbF5IPtjLrI/AAAAAAAAAJg/MX3zj0EXYAc/s200/Swarms%2B001.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D5Shkrxd2F0/TbF4ySTLElI/AAAAAAAAAJY/B88CYoELRrk/s1600/Swarms%2B002.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 134px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598388617099285074" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D5Shkrxd2F0/TbF4ySTLElI/AAAAAAAAAJY/B88CYoELRrk/s200/Swarms%2B002.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Well, it's a couple of hours later than my post and I now have a picture or two, though it is another swarm! We are running out of space, and desperate bee-keepers all around us are in the same predicament. It will be absolutely wonderful if we can keep all these casts that are developing - it will increase the bee population dramatically. At this exact moment, at least three bee-keepers I know are frantically trying to rearrange their hives, build more supers and generally keep up with this population explosion, the like of which, we can't remember!</div></div>jane dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01206409451094153462noreply@blogger.com0