Hunter-Gatherer

I suppose that is what I have become now that the natural dye bug has set in.  Today I took the camera with me as I was visiting with the horse and totally neglected to take a single picture.  But, I did manage to come home with a bounty of lichens and fungi for dying.  

Walmart bag half full of lichens and spider stow away.

Mystery fungi.  Anyone know if it will give dye?  There are plenty more small ones growing where I found these.

  

Pretty sure this is a lichen of some sort.  Found it on the base of a rotting log.

And what is this?  Well, I'm working on a free pattern for a new lace yarn.  Let me tell you this is one yummy little number!  More details coming soon!

Natural Dying #3

Yep, you guessed it, I am doing yet another natural dye on the blog.  I just can't help that the natural dye bug has sucked me in and in a big way!

Today I finished up my third go round with natural dyes using lichens I gathered from around my horse's paddock.  And here is how I did it......

I reused the mordant from Tuesday's go at carrot tops, by adding 10 more grams of alum and close to 250 grams of yarn.  The yarns used here are:  100 grams of heavy lace wool, approximately 75 grams of superwash merino and the rest was a superwash merino, bamboo blend.  This time about 1/2 way through the 2 hour mordant, I dropped in a couple of glugs of iron to the mordant.

Picture of the dry lichens I am using.  These were all collected from fallen branches.

Crammed my little nylon bag full to the brim with lichens.

Yarn moved from mordant to dye pot.  Lichens are under the yarn in the mesh bag which was periodically moved around.

And here is the resulting yarns!  From front to back, Lace Merino, Superwash Merino & Bamboo, & Superwash Merino.  I am in LOVE with how these colors turned out.

Another shot of the same.  Don't you just love the rich earthy browns!  I have to admit, I am supper impressed with how well the dye did on the Superwash Merino & Bamboo yarns.  Maybe next time, I will try an all bamboo yarn to see how it fairs.

I think I was suppose to keep the dye pot going until the lichens disappeared, but after 24 hours, I was happy to only have a couple of small handfuls of lichen left.  Saving these for another little dye experiment for a later date:)

All dye experiments to date.  From the bottom....  Lichen, Carrot Tops, & Black Bean.  Out of all the 3 the black beans were the only ones I found disappointing.  They have since started to fade which is faintly visible in the photos.

I have had quite a fun little time with the natural dyes, but this weekend is of course the big Labor Day Holiday.  Thinking it might be a good idea to lay off the dye pots for at least a few days:)

I hope everyone has a happy and safe week end!

New Yarn - Helen - Merino Lace Weight

I always like opening a bag of new little tricks. This new yarn is 900 yards of deliciously squishy merino goodness per skein. Available in my shop: http://Lunabudknits.etsy.com

With 4500 yards per pound Helen is a true lace yarn, making it suitable for super light lace shawls, lace projects and extra fine knits. You might be wondering about the name, Helen. To make a long story short, which is by the way very hard for me to do:).... many moons ago, in my younger and wilder years while visiting the local pub, my friend and I happened to be sitting by a lovely angelic Irish gal. She appeared to be alone, so we struck up a conversation. I have met many fine people that way. Anyhow, after several rounds of drink we were fast friends after that night and managed to stir up a bit of trouble every where we went. We are both married ladies now and don't stir up quite as much trouble as we use to, but we do remain fast friends to this day. The yarn very much so reminds me of my friend because it is not just thin, but lovely and refined as well.

Warm Teal

Mossy Oak

Pumpkin

Carnelian

Amethyst

FIN....... Craft or Bust

Yep, I missed posting last week about the Craft or Bust challenge.

But...... I am so making up for it today!

Progress thus far: Finished one more skein of the BFL yarn for the sweater. The newest alpaca skein is ready for the dye pot. And my proudest accomplishment so far with this challenge is that I finally finished the never ending shawl!!!

I was originally knitting the shawl for myself. But, (and there almost always is a but of some kind in my posts;) Mom is on her way to Japan to be with my Brother and Sister-in-law for the birth of my newest little nephew! I sent the shawl with Mom for Jen. I hope she likes it.

Blowing in the Breeze

Stitch Definition

Across the back

Mom did her best 'serious' face...lol

Back

hanging w/ the sheepies

hanging on a chair

Hanging in a tree. 'Looks like a bat' is what Bill said...hahaha