Dyeing with goldenrod

My stationary bicycle sits next to the shelves that hold most of my natural dye samples. Sometimes I'll pick up some of them to see what they are; my technique and range of colors has definitely improved over time. In fact, I've developed a fairly steady routine for natural dyeing.

• Day 1: Create the dye bath and mordant the yarn.
• While the dye bath is heating up, I soak the yarn in plain water. When the dye bath is done "cooking", I transfer the yarn to a cool alum mordant bath. Both the dye bath and mordant bath sit overnight.
• Day 2: After rinsing the yarn, it goes into the (strained) dye bath, which is then heated; the temperature is held for about an hour. The yarn sits in the dye bath overnight.
• Day 3: The dye bath is heated with the yarn still in it, to a low temperature. Then the dye bath is divided and modifiers are added. The warm yarn is added to each modified dye bath (keeping one out as unmodified). For the most part, the yarn does not need to spend much time in its modified dye bath. Then everything is rinsed and hung to dry.
• Day x: After the yarn has dried, it is washed with fiber wash, then hung to dry again.

And that is it.

For golden rod, I used 625g plant tops in 3 gallons of water and heated the bath to 160-ish for an hour. Since the dye material was mostly blossoms as opposed to whole plants, I kept it on the low side. Meanwhile, 265g of Cascade 220 (6 100-yard skeins) were soaked in plain water. The dye bath steeped overnight while the yarn soaked in a 10% WOF cool alum bath.

The dye bath looked surprisingly sudsy the next day (is this normal?)

I "cooked" the rinsed yarn in the dye bath for an hour at 170-180 degrees. To keep the temperature under surveillance, I use a ChefAlarm. I can set a high and a low temperature, plus the time on it. Simplifies the need for babysitting a dye vat.

The yarn sat in the dye bath overnight, then the next day I applied the modifiers, using about 1/2 t for each of the iron, copper, and chrome baths, but I think the amount can be reduced to 1/4 t next time. These chemicals are dangerous, so I wear a mask while handling them and add them each to a cup of boiling water - out in the garage, not in the kitchen!

After a rinse, voila!

Here they are in their dry and labeled glory.

No modifier

Vinegar modifier

Ammonia modifier

Iron modifier

Copper modifier

Chrome modifier

I simply *love* the range of colors the modifiers provide. And they all go well together.

Now... what shall I make with this yarn?

Two terrible, horrible, very bad days

I have a sign posted on my refrigerator door: "Procrastination is the thief of time." This reminder is supposed to motivate me to not leave things until the last minute. But still I do.

This week's rigid heddle weaving study group topic was to be double-width weaving, and I wanted to demonstrate how to do it. My SampleIt is designed for two heddles, and for some reason I thought I had two heddles of the same dent. But no. I do have matching heddles for the 24" loom, but it was already warped with a (stalled) project. The Cricket? I bought it secondhand and it came with two 10-dent heddles, but the loom is not designed to hold two heddles. *sigh*

So I decided to go with string heddles. The weaving area on the SampleIt is 9.5", so a double-width project would be 19" wide, just right for towels. I have never done double-width weaving and could not find anything in my weaving books to help, so turned to AI for help. Following its instructions, I warped all the way across the loom, adding a stripe (which should have been on the other side, but whatever). So far, so good.

I added the string heddles, which was not an easy task - they kept slipping off the dowels, I repeatedly skipped warps, etc. Finally, I was ready to weave. Except the instructions from AI were WRONG. We went back and forth a few times before I decided it really did not know what it was talking about.

The Internet basically let me down as well, as apparently hardly anyone anywhere tries to double-width weave with string heddles. I found one 5-part YT series that was incredibly tedious, but it helped me figure out that only one warp could be in the hole and three went in the slot.

I abandoned the idea of doing a towel and rewarped for a two-inch band. The top layer is yellow, the bottom navy, so I could tell which layer I was working with. I also switched from Texsolv heddles to cotton ones so they would be less slick.

The weaving order was: 1) heddle up and string heddles up, navy pick; 2) heddle neutral, "front" string heddle up, yellow pick; 3) heddle neutral, "back" string heddle up, yellow pick; 4) heddle down, navy pick. And it seemed to work.

All this took the better part of two days, and coupled with an aged cat who won't eat, left me in tears. But I was able to demonstrate double-width weaving at the study group.

Now... should I buy a second heddle and try double-width weaving with that? Do I continue to weave with the string heddles, just because I'm stubborn? Or do I abandon the whole idea of double-width weaving because one can always weave panels to sew together (which I have done and continue to do)? The jury is out.

Knitting: I worked on the quirky socks at the fiber arts club meeting. I also finished the second headband and started a third.
Weaving: See above. Also, still finishing that 2025 project (which is a large lap blanket); a gap in my progress left me puzzling over exactly how I was executing that baseball stitch. My experiment with weaving two halves of a towel to be joined later did not work out very well, as the two halves *seemed* to be the same length, but did not feed through the sewing machine at the same rate. I'm beginning to wonder if I am meant to weave at all.

The fiber arts club could not meet at its usual location, but a new local yarn store (LYS) that is having their grand opening this weekend graciously allowed us to meet in their place. This provided us with a sneak peek, but their POS system was not working yet, so no purchases were possible. I stopped in on Friday - and it looks like they are having a great turnout - but still did not purchase anything. For one thing, the yarn is "upscale" - lovely but I'd want a project in mind before committing to a purchase. Also, a lot of it is merino and alpaca, my least favorite wools. They also carry a lot of knit goods like tools, kits, notecards, etc. The store is called Bad Cat Knit Goods. Check them out online or on FB.

Fun but not what I expected

This past week I attended what was billed as a "self-striping sock yarn" workshop. The yarn was not sock yarn - it was superwash sportweight or DK merino - and the results were not self-striping but painted. It was also supposed to be over by 12:30pm but ran late into the day. I had a guild meeting that night - and I'm the president and have the key to the building so I *have* to be there - it was a long day.

Dyeing: See above.
Knitting: Working on the second pair of "quirky" socks. Almost done with the second colorwork earband (headband? not sure what to call it).
Spinning: While listening to zoom presentations, I spun on the Fold e-spinner.

I'd tell you more about those zoom presentations, but I bailed on them both after a while. Both had technical difficulties that were more annoying than usual, but during one, some of the members of the audience could not seem to keep themselves muted, so we overheard phone conversations and other background noises during the presentation. Very rude, people! Also, don't eat while your camera is on - it's not a pretty sight.

A lull

What do you do when there is a break in your busy schedule? If you are like me, you hit the fiber arts, HARD, while also perusing some interesting fiber arts books in the evenings.

My latest dye experiments have left me with some gorgeous colors that I want to do something special with. These short-row knitting motifs look like a good candidate... once I master the techniques.

I am always looking for unusual ways to document my garden plants. Cyanotype doesn't provide the detail or color I would like to capture, but ecodyeing just might. Again, I'll have to practice.

Dyeing: Dyed yarn with goldenrod; report to follow. More indigo dyeing.
Knitting: The snowflake headband is done; I started another headband in my granddaughter's school colors: black and yellow. I'm discovering I really hate knitting with acrylic.
Sewing: I made drawstring bags for the guild banners as the old ones were falling apart; nothing special, just some leftover polar fleece from JoAnn.

Weaving: Not really weaving but hemming handwoven towels and stitching together panels from a March 2025 weaving project, using the "baseball stitch" which is like lacing one's shoes.

Part of the mess in my so-called studio is from unfinished projects. It was time to either stitch or get off the pot. Now the red and black houndstooth towels are hemmed and the buffalo plaid blanket is on its way to being finished. What's next?

Quirky socks

There is nothing quirky about these socks except for the name of the sock yarn. I'm not sure if it is supposed to be self-striping, but I chose to believe not since I could not find a definitive place where a stripe started.

Pattern: Short-row Toe and Heel Basic Socks, by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Simply Socks Yarn Company Quirky Socks, colorway QS1111, for the foot and leg; Cascade Yarns Heritage, in natural, for toes, heels, cuffs
Needles: US1
Modifications: None to speak of

These socks are knit toe-up, my usual MO. One different thing I do is not purl back on the last row of the toe and heel but go forward. This probably does not make any difference, but it appeals to my sense of structure since that last purl row is not like the others. But now I'm wondering if that contributes more twist that handknit socks naturally have. They are basically one big spiral.

This pair is to be a holiday gift, not sure who to yet. Most of my recipients (myself included) require a larger size, so these are knit 72 stitches per round, 72 rows per foot, 72 rows per leg. That seems to work out just right.

There is more quirky sock yarn to come.

Dyeing with purple basil

It's funny how the color of a dye plant may or may not be reflected in the dye bath, and the color of the dye bath may or may not match the dyed yarn. The latter is so true for purple basil. The dye bath was, well, purple, while the yarn turned out green, or with undertones of green after being modified.

Day 1:
The dye bath: I used 900g of plant material, three whole plants, which is WAY more than necessary. (Note to self: shake off bugs *before* bringing plants into house.) After roughly chopping the plant material, I added it to three gallons of water and heated the pot to around 175 degrees. I maintained the temperature between 160 and 180 for an hour, then let dye bath cool overnight.

Meanwhile, I applied a cool alum mordant on 200g of Cascade 220 yarn - 4 100-yard skeins, 2 mini skeins - using 10% alum by weight of fiber (WOF), as described in Wild Color.

Day 2:
After straining the dye material from the bath, I add the (rinsed, wet) yarn, heated the pot to 170-180, and held it there for one hour. I then removed the yarn and divided the dye bath into five containers for my experiments in modifying.

• One container - no modifier; removed one mini skein, left the other mini in the unmodified dye bath overnight to see how much darker it might get.
• One container - ammonia modifier for one 100-yard skein (a small glug); tested the pH to confirm.
• One container - vinegar modifier for one 100-yard skein (two healthy glugs); tested the pH after one glug, but a little off, hence the second glug.
• One container - iron modifier for one 100-yard skein (half tsp?)
• One container - chrome (was supposed to be copper but I grabbed the wrong container) modifier for one 100-yard skein, loose crystals in bag (1 T?)

I let them all set for "a while" (less than an hour), then rinsed and hung to dry.

Day 3:
I rinsed remaining mini skein and hung it to dry.

A few days later, I washed all the skeins with Eculen, then hung them to dry again.

And here are the results:

No modifier

Vinegar

Ammonia

Iron

Chrome

No modifier, long soak

I just love, love, love these colors. Now I am wishing I hadn't used all my plants at one time. I guess I'll just have to grow some more next year and try again.

My fidgetspinner

I've been so busy lately that I found myself rebelling by just sitting and knitting. For me, knitting is soothing, even when it doesn't work and I have to rip it back. Knitting is my fidgetspinner.

Dyeing: More indigo dyeing.
Knitting: I'm continuing to work on the snowflake headband. I started another pair of "Quirky" socks - toes finished. The previous pair is done-done.
Spinning: I demo'd at the farmer's market again this past week, using both the e-spinner and a spindle; both last week and this I was (jokingly) told I was "cheating" by using the e-spinner.

Many (30+) years ago, I purchased a quilt at the now-defunct L.S. Ayres. It shows the many years it spent on my bed. A quilting friend of mine thinks it is beyond repair (or attractive repair - there is always "visible mending"), but I got it into my head that I could make a quilted jacket from it. Finding a pattern that matches what is in my head is another matter. The one in this book comes close:

My only concern is my sewing skills - they may not be up to this jacket.