Summer Dyeing

I was commissioned to plant dye some yarn for The Green Meadow Waldorf School this summer.  Chris is the co-director of Fiber Craft Studio and one of my teachers for my Waldorf training.  We emailed back and forth about the colors the school needed, but I was given artistic license to trust the colors that came out of the dye pots.  

The strength of color was at its best, left over dye pots were used to dye some lighter shades, but most were left to soak in the pot for a longer time or multiple dips to acquire the darker shade. So many people associate pale colors with plant dyeing, or colors that fade.  If done properly colors will not fade (as I do with Cream of Tartar & Alum) or with use of strong pots (if that is your color taste), you will be left with some amazing colors to play with.

 I obtained the different yellows thru willow tree tips (a creamy yellow) Osage Orange and also, onion skins.  The pinks and the darker pink/red was strictly cochineal mixed with cream of tartar (that brings out the reds).  Purples are made with Indigo over cochineal and then the green are Indigo over the different yellows a mentioned above.  Browns were made by a cold bath of black walnuts as well as a hot bath of the same (yes, you get different colors hot vs. cold).  The sheet of paper I used to figure out the colors and over dyeing looked like a tennis match tournament and I was surprise when it was all done correctly.

All in all I was please and so were the handwork teachers, lots of love & long hours but worth it in the end.

Rainbow of Plant Dyed Yarns - ©Ithaca Waldorf Handworks & More

Final projects for Handwork

This is the view that greats you when you walk into the main handwork building...sigh

Finishing up the Fiber Crafts Handwork Program this year was a bitter sweet week. I have had so many encouraging and nurturing experiences while attending throughout the 4 years. The strengthening of my confidence to lead a classroom is such a wonderful gift that these teachers have passed on. They taught me so much, Thank you.

My final project was to be "hats" but it turned into so much more. I knew that I wanted to spin all my yarns and dye them, so, that is how I started the project 3 years ago. Spinning lots of yarn and dyeing it a rainbow of colors. I kept careful notes and also colorful informative cards of my dyeing process. Once I decided upon hats I also wanted to bring more so I came up with the idea of doing a hat in every form of handwork that we were taught - Knitting, Textured/patterned knitting, Crochet, Wet felting, Hand Sewing, Machine sewing. I brought an example of all the yarns I spun and also got into all the different types of fiber that was spun, different sheep wools, alpaca, yak, angora, silk, bamboo. I discovered that I enjoy spinning much more than knitting (but I like both).

Bookbinding

We finished up the book binder (with interchangeable pads of paper) with the papers that we marbled.

We had a talented visiting artist show us her puppets, these needle felted heads are just unbelievable.

We each made a puppet from the Indian Cinderella story. Using all gloriously plant dyed silks.

Deb's final project work. Knit backpack, knit white boots, beautiful wet felted boots with flipflop souls, mittens and such. Stunning projects, just wish she was able to come herself.

Madeline's project was deeply involved. She bought a few sheep fleeces - washed then carded them did plant dye research and dyed lots of fleece and the spun the wool and knit two sweaters. Spectacular project to see and it took her several years - start to finish. Lots of commitment.

Rachel's project was ambitious - she had never knit a full sweater. It was from this luscious alpaca yarn. She had visited the farm and picked it out and even knew which animal the wool came from.

Narsingh's project was delightful. A story telling apron of Jack and the Beanstalk. She had also gone through many changes of what she wanted to present and had many projects that she did but did not like.

Hurrah girls - we did it!

More - Fiber Craft Studios

I want to be clever like my friend at Teaching Handworks and make a video with all my pictures from The Fiber Craft Studios but it will have to wait for the weekend when I have a bit more time. For now, I have some clay work photographs from the fabulous teacher Michael Howard - you can order his book here - Michael Howard's book Educating the Will - it was a hard read for me but once inside the classroom we had some really great conversation to make the concepts easier to understand. On to the pictures...

Being at Sunbridge is such a nurturing place and anybody thinking of taking a Handwork/Applied Arts program should really consider The Fiber Craft Studio seriously. It a wonderful place.

Fiber Craft Studios Applied Arts February 2010 at Sunbridge

Sewing the Elephant from individual drawings we each did.

This was a real struggle because all I wanted to do was copy from a book. We had to draw it from how we felt an animal would walk about - something in motion.

Here is my drawings (with others) - then we took that "live" drawing and did a sideways drawing to make the pattern from.

Cutting out the patterns proves difficult for people that generally get things backwards and upside down on a regular basis.

I did end up with a lovely elephant.

Making the underbelly and head gusset takes finesse and extra cutting, plus a confidence with your ladder stitch will help you make it look like you want. My elephant still isn't finished - I have to add his ears and tail on. I'll post him when I'm done. He is up in the top picture - second from the left.

More of Sunbridge and the Fiber Craft Studios

Here are some more lovely shots form Sunbridge/ Fiber Craft Studios.

Plant dyed hand knit socks

Here is the latest and the greatest from my last teacher training 

**coughretreatcough** 

Its wonderful to spend time with people that share the same intrest and that are really really funny!!  This is what we did in one of the classes for the first week.  More to come.

Here's to a hearty laugh.

Dye Garden

Cochineal with Madder to get that deep red.

Indigo 

Look what we dyed!!

Look at the selection we get to choose from as well as what we dyed.

Knitting...

Most of us finished the first week and some of us (me) we were the proud owners of our first pair of socks from scratch.  I'm the brown ones in the middle. Oh happy day. 

 :)

Return, to a lot of things

Well, - that was a long break form the computer.  I think I went into deep hibernation and hopefully I will now emerge from the crisp new earth ready to flower again and show you all new things.

I am also back fresh from my training at The Fiber Craft Studio (click here or see below)

http://www.threefold.org/fiber_craft_studio/applied_arts_program.aspx

This is located on the Sunbridge College campus but is now under the umbrella of the 

Threefold Educational Center community 260 Hungry Hollow Road Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977.

I highly recommend this program to anybody who is teaching Handworks, aspiring to & also for personal growth.  I can't speak enough about how much this program is enriching my life.

Here we are looking at out 4 legged animals that we did using the pattern with a spine (a wakeful project for the 3/4th grader)

Here are 2 puppets we returned with this Spring as homework.  She is having quite a cute dialogue with the two of them.

I am also taken with the beauty of the campus and simple things like their doors.

I am giving a small talk tonight at out Parent Study night about Handworks and why we teach different subjects at different grades, it should be fun.