Ragged Edges

It was not... that she was unaware of the frayed and ragged edges of life. She would merely iron them out with a firm hand and neatly hem them down.     P.D. James

Work continues to be overwhelming, the virus casts a cloud of uncertainty over every facet of our lives.  The news continues to frighten me.  Not the unrest but our government's response to it.  My natural tendency is to pull in, a turtle safely esconced in it's shell when feeling in jeopardy.   I am going to resist the pulling inward and move forward gently with myself and everyone else. 

 

The two small tapestries above were woven on the Saffron loom.  My big Mirrix is warped and ready but there is no weaving mojo to be had.  I have faith it will return.  For now, I am doing some dyeing with indigo, rust and brazilwood and exploring slow stitch.

Indigo and Rust

 

Brazilwood on linen

Indigo and Rust

I am toying with the idea of embroidery on this...

What a tool!

Dyeing for Tapestry

The three day weekend presented the perfect opportunity to do some natural dyeing.  I started with four skeins of natural white and four skeins of natural grey.

Unmordanted yarn dyed with indigo.

Madder root

Weaving Southwest single ply fine Churro tapestry yarn

Those little cochineal bugs do terrific work.

I mordanted all the yarns in a 20% alum solution and added a teaspoon of cream of tartar to the dye bath.  I achieved the deep reds desired with the first dip. The lighter colors were the results of the second and third uses of the dyepot in an effort to exhaust the dye.  With the cochineal and madder, I used distilled water in an effort to avoid dulling the colors with soft water.

Logwood purples

Osage orange was a disappointment.

The osage orange was an extract.  In the past I have used wood chips and got a brilliant orange.  Lesson learned.

Not really loving my Ode to Gunta.  Not sure her stripes work as a wedge weave.

Vicki and Louise manning our study group table.

Our guild held it's last meeting of this guild year last week.  Each study group had a table to share their work.  It is a pleasure tp be part of an active and dynamic guild.

Just playing around...

Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.

-Diane Ackerman

                                                                                 —Diane Ackerman

 

Playing with fiber is definitely my happy spot, add good friends and sheep and I am truly content.   Maryland Sheep and Wool 2018 is a bright memory.  My purchases focused on yarn to dye for tapestry weaving based on some recent "play."

Above is a bundle of various white and undyed yarns in my stash.  I pulled strands of linen, wool, silk, mohair, cotton and synthetics.  I wanted to dye the bundle and see how the different fibers and textures would take the dye.

I weighed the bundle, washed it in synthrapol and mordanted it in a solution of 20% wog (weight of goods) of alum and 6% wog cream of tartar.

This is fustic.  Old fustic is available ground or as wood chips and also as an extract. It yields a range of colors from strong dark yellows to a peach color on silk, cotton and wool and it has good light-fastness.  Fustic is an easy dye to use.  I put 50 grams of fustic wood chips in some pantyhose in a crockpot of water and simmered it on low overnight. 

I was pleased with the variety of colors.

I decided to do another bundle using a similar process with cochineal.  Cochineal is a potent natural dyestuff that is derived from the crushed, dried bodies of the female cochineal bug, a scale insect native to South America. It dyes beautiful reds and pinks. The Cochineal bugs live and feed on the Prickly Pear cactus. These little critters have been crushed and used as natural dye for hundreds of years.  A little bit goes a long way!  Note in the picture above the cottons and synthetics did not take the dye.

I needed to exhaust my cochineal dye bath and had what I thought was a great idea.  I had ordered a bunch of Vevgarn in neutrals and grays several months ago.

My goal was to get various depths of shade by putting all these shades in the same dyepot.

No joy with this one.  No variation in my reds but alot of learning.

Trying to exhaust the cochineal.

Still trying to exhaust the cochineal.

Playing with my fustic dyed yarns with textured wedge weave.

Whoever wants to understand much must play much. -Gottfried Benn

Play on!

Hahastiin

Mary Redmustache Kealy's wel loved tools.

Thanks to all for the wonderful input regarding the line between admiration and appropriation.  My dear daughter sent me a link to this article which was most helpful.  The Navajo language is beautiful and mysterious but it is not my language and I won't name any work using it.

Hubs and I went back to visit the The Gregg Museum of Art and Design so I could show him a Navajo loom in real life.

Mary schooling Preston on her loom.

Mary's rug in progress

Preston's plan is to build me a traditional Navajo loom.  Mary showed her batten to him so he can make one.

The title of this post is the Navajo word for husband.  Dear hubs is my greatest enabler, maybe facilitator is a better word.  He created a dye spot for me in the garage.

It is awesome. I did some dyeing this weekend and how great to have a dedicated dye spot.

Horsetail, madder and the mystery fungus from Carolina Beach.  I placed this picture on facebook and ravelry last October seeking it's identity.

We never definitively settled on an answer but I think decomposed turkeytail is the most likely suspect based on these results.  1 refers to first skein and 2 refers to the second skein trying to exhaust the dye bath.

In the above picture are three skeins dyed in a small black walnut vat.  First, second and third dip.  I love natural dyeing and really need to do more research.  I would love to explore a variety of greens next.

Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation

The name of this blog is based upon a traditional Navajo weaving song.  I was drawn to Navajo weaving initally by the beauty and high degree of weaving skill embodied in the work.  Very quickly however I became fascinated by the culture and cosmology of the people and the central role weaving played.

I began to build my library of Navajo weaving books and reading everything I could get my hands on.  A trip to the southwest with my daughter in 2016 fed the passion.

I was visiting the places I had been reading about.  The landscapes and vistas were stunning.

The Hubbell Trading Post was just as I pictured it.

Fast forward to this week.  The The Gregg Museum of Art and Design had a demonstration of Navajo weaving and basket making.

The exhibit was small and informal which gave me the opportunity to watch and speak to the weaver,  Mary Redmustache Kealy.

Crystal Rug, a modified Two Grey Hills pattern 1955 - 1970. Handspun yarns

Wide Ruins Weaving  1920 -1950, vegetal dyes, primarily rabbitbrush.

Handmade weaving forks

My tapestry for the ATA show in Reno, The Biggest Little Tapestry Show.  Traditional wedge weave technique, with vegetal dyed wool using madder, osage orange, logwood and goldenrod.

Plus a bit of lurex for sparkle.  I would love to give this small piece a Navajo name but am conflicted.  The use of a Navajo name would be out of my love and passion for this culture and the art.  But I am not of the culture and do not want to appropriate what is not mine.

What would you do?

Ode to Goldenrod

they rise in a stiff sweetness, in the pure peace of giving one's gold away.

~Mary Oliver

The scientific name for goldenrod is Solidago which means "to make whole."  This weekend involved experimentation with dyeing wool with freshly gathered goldenrod.

Norsk Fjord Fiber vevgarn Frid is imported from Hiilesvag Ullvarefabrikk, a fifth generation spinnery on the west coast of Norway.  This is my favorite yarn for tapestry.  It comes in multiple natural shades of natural grey and white, which made for fun dyeing possibilities. 

Dear hubs was alarmed when I explained my plan to gather goldenrod along the highway.  He decided adult supervision was required.

3.25 pounds of goldenrod.

After washing all the yarn in Synthrapol, I mordanted it.  Some in alum (4 tbsp in 4 gallons of water) and some in iron (2 tbsp in 4 gallons).  

After mordanting and rinsing the yarn the goldenrod was placed in a large enamel pot and covered with water.  The pot was brought to just under a boil (about 200 degrees) and simmered for one hour.  I removed the goldenrod and divided the liquid between two pots.  The iron mordanted yarn was placed in one pot and turned dark olive green immediately.  The alum mordanted yarn was placed in the other pot and began turning yellow.

The yarns to the far left were the iron mordant and all the yellows were the alum mordant.

All in all a successful experiment with goldenrod.  I tied some skeins before dyeing and played with ikat as well.