Dyeing with avocado

Using this site as inspiration, I decided to try dyeing with avocado. But first, I had to *eat* enough avocado, not easy for me. I found that mixing avocado with lime juice (one lime per avocado) created a kind of guac that actually keeps a day or two in the fridge if the surface is protected from air with saran wrap. Definitely needs salt, though.

Unmordanted on left, rhubarb leaf mordanted on right

I stored the cleaned peels and pits in the freezer until I had accumulated enough for the dye pot, in this case from 5 avocados. On day one, I simmered them for three hours, then let the dye bath sit overnight. The next day I strained the dye bath, soaked both skeins in the room-temperature dye bath for an hour, then raised the temperature and simmered for an hour. After turning off the heat, I let the yarn sit in the bath overnight.

Mordanted with rhubarb leaf

Apparently, the pits have tannin in them, so no mordant is required. So one skein was unmordanted, but the other had been previously mordanted with rhubarb leaf. The results are close, but the color of the rhubarb leaf mordanted one looks a bit deeper.

Unmordanted

The end results turned out more brown than pink. This could be from several different causes: dye materials not clean enough, dye materials kept in freezer too long, the dyer was not careful about keeping the dye bath temp at a low enough simmer, the yarn was kept in the dye bath too long, etc. I plan to repeat this experiment with cleaner dye materials and keep a better eye on the dye bath temp, to see if I get shades of pink. I may experiment with separating the pits and peels, to see if each produces a different result.

A-spindling we will go....

Many (MANY) years ago I took a class in how to spin using a spindle. It didn't take - too slow - so I bought a wheel. Recently, after watching a weaving guild member spin on a supported spindle during a meeting, I became interested in spindling again. Fortuitously, a spinning guild member offered a class through the local parks and rec department. That - and a few YouTube videos - got me going, so now I can spin on a spindle. (Plying is another story.)

(An aside: as you recall, I could not find my supported spindle a while back. When I did find it, I put a newly purchased spindle with it and tucked them in a safe place, or so I thought. Now I can't find them. The class fee included a spindle and fiber, so no problem there, but I would really like to find the missing ones.)

Dyeing: I dyed a couple of skeins in a dye bath made from avocado pits and peels; separate post to follow.
Knitting: Still working on the socks.
Spinning: Just the spindling, ma'am.
Weaving: Finally put on my big girl panties and wrestled with the poor tension on the houndstooth towels; the added weights help... sort of.

Wove a sample using some handspun for the weft (not sure if the warp is handspun - if it is, it was spun by someone other than me), that may lead to a table runner.

As if that is not enough, I am also experimenting with cyanotype on this lovely sunny day. Fun stuff!

Housekeeping

Per usual, the so-called studio is such a mess that I can barely get through it. I thought I could spend an hour or so in there and make it useable, but no. There was just too much handspun hanging here and there, awaiting further development.

The 900g of Romney needed to have its twist set. There is so much of it, it had to go into the washing machine. No, I didn't agitate it, just soaked the skeins in warm water for 20 minutes.

It is undyed, and I assumed I would dye it but maybe not? It's a lovely ecru color and there is enough for a sweater, me thinks.

Today while putting away all the handknit sweaters that had accumulated on a chair in my bedroom, most of which I barely wore this past winter, I wondered *why* I would want to knit another sweater. Yet, I probably will. And I will probably dye at least some of the Romney for it.

Knitting: I made some real progress on the current sock project while in meetings and listening to recorded Zoom sessions.

One of the meetings was with the Austin guild, on natural dyeing. In Texas, one can easily grow indigo and harvest cochineal, neither of which I can do here in zone 5/6, although I could grow some indigo as an annual. I can always buy dye materials that I cannot obtain locally, though. The idea of having an indigo bath for dipping already dyed yarn appeals to me. Also, anything that gives me shades of red and pink like cochineal interests me.

A recorded session I listened to was about weaving with handspun, which is giving me the courage to do just that. So I'd better get the current project off the loom.

Inspiration

The fiber club met today. The participants practice stitchery outside my wheelhouse, so inspire me. One member remembered me from the cyanotype workshop I attended a few weeks ago and brought a blouse she sewed using fabric she dyed using cyanotype and the iris from her garden.

This is in the neighborhood of what I want to do using cyanotype.

Another member showed us these stitched art projects: reels of appliqued and stitched vignettes of a sort. One reel was inspired by drawings her granddaughter did about the local zoo.

Another reel is the result of a YouTube "class" (Roxy's Journal of Stitchery) she has been taking, where the instructor supplies periodic prompts. This series is "Down the Garden Path".

She also sewed together samples of eco-dyeing.

Ditto some old fabric samples she picked up at our local Johnny Appleseed Festival.

I'm not about to become a stitcher like this, but I'm thinking of how I have been wanting to weave a diary of sorts. Little samples may be just the ticket.

Bucket list(s) revisited

After executing a search through my blog for "bucket", I found several references to fiber bucket lists. Have I made any progress on any of these? Let's see.

From April 9, 2023: 

• Dyeing: 
• With mushrooms 
• With lichens 
• Precipitate natural dye from the dye bath 
• Weaving: 
• Double weave 
• Weave with two heddles 
• Spinning: 
• Chain-ply 
• Core spinning 
• Projects: 
• Weave rugs from tee shirts 
• Weave rugs with all the rug yarn I have 
• Weave rugs from "rags" 
• Weave with "plarn" (yarn made from plastic bags)

From December 29, 2024:

• Sweaters:
• Adult-size baby surprise, using acid-dyed Cascade 220
• Imitate one from the cover of the Fun Times (local Parks and Rec publication)

From March 1, 2026:

• Weaving:
• Italian hemstitch

Hmmm. About the only items on these lists that I have accomplished is learning to chain-ply and playing around with core spinning (and not very successfully). Are these bucket lists still important to me? Is there more I want to do? Less? Something to ponder.

Knitting: The toes are done on the latest pair of socks and they are on their way.
Spinning: The Polish merino is plied, mostly three-plied with the leftover bits chain-plied.

We may not live by bread alone, but I am still exploring baking with sourdough. This week I made scones from the discard, plus baked a third loaf. My starter is finally beginning to develop a tang. I'm also learning that, since my house is a bit cooler than most, the dough needs more time to rise.

Speaking of scones, I think it is time for my afternoon tea break. Ta!

Red and black houndstooth scarf

Houndstooth is so easy to weave but produces such an interesting result that it has become my go-to technique when I need something quick, like for a weaving demonstration. And that is how this scarf began, to demo at the Jay County Fiber Arts and Artisans Fest.

Pattern: Houndstooth scarf
Weave structure: plain weave
Loom: Ashford SampleIt
Warp: Cascade 220 Superwash worsted in red and in black
Weft: Cascade 220 Superwash worsted in red and in black
EPI/PPI: 7.5/7.5
Ends: 43 (I think)

Weaving with superwash yarn has some challenges, especially regarding tension. Superwash yarn is rather stretchy and springy, but if you keep tightening the warp, the houndstooth pattern will become flattened out. I make it a practice to apply just enough tension on the warp to allow the shuttle to slide through easily. When I take a break from weaving, I loosen the warp a bit so there is not constant tension on it.

Since I am starting a study group for rigid heddle weaving, I (roughly) timed how long this 5" wide, 6' long scarf took: about an hour to warp (and that included looking for this and that - I didn't hurry); 3-4 hours to weave (including some interruptions); about a half hour to finish. If you are looking for a weekend project, this is one option.

Toe-up anklets

Since there was enough yarn left over after completing the top-down anklets, I decided to knit another pair, toe-up this time, with the intention of using up all the yarn. Mission accomplished!

Pattern: Short-Row Toe and Heel Basic Socks, by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Some kind of sock yarn I must have dyed at a dyeing workshop of some kind
Needle: US1
Modifications: 2x2 ribbing for the leg

I haven't worn these yet, as our whiplash weather doesn't stay cold for very long, but I hope the extra ribbing helps keep them on my feet better than the top-down ones. Otherwise, not much to report on this pair.