Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Rain and wet wool

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. We haven't had rain in Phoenix for months, so this was a blissful music to hear.

Only thing was, I had pounds of mordanted yarn and a dozen crocheted ornaments drying in the backyard!

I dashed out of bed, pulled in the yarn that wasn't yet dripping, and curled back up under the covers until it got light.

This rain, while rare and lovely, isn't particularly well timed. You see, I'm taking part in a small holiday art party this weekend. I'm not bringing much -- naturally dyed yarn, felted bangles, Christmas ornaments, maybe some hats or bags -- but it still feels like a lot of wet wool hanging about that needs to dry.


My nervousness about drying aside, I've really enjoyed putting together this collection of items. The dyeing has been a blast. I've probably worked up 40+ natural dye samples in the past two weeks, using everything from plants collected in my neighborhood (rosemary, hibiscus, juniper, eucalyptus) to the classic exotic dyes (cochineal, indigo, madder) to items from the grocery store (black rice, annatto, chamomile).


It has also been interesting for me to think about my craft in a different way, in more of a production mode. But I think I'll write more about that after the fair, when the process and my thoughts on it have gone full circle.

Anyways, enjoy the colors, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

3 comments:

petra said...

Happy thanksgiving! Hope everything dries in time for your event... good luck!

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine, even while raining, that it could take very long, in such a normally hot and dry climate, for your yarn to dry.
Although I too have just been lamenting how long it takes for yarn to dry indoors compared to the hour it takes in the warm shady breeze outside during the summertime here!
Near the woodstove it dries pretty quickly but it has to at least dry until it stops dripping over the tub in the much cooler bathroom.
40 plus samples! You've been busy!
And the stars, they're so sweet, and yet "clean". Might have to consider making some of those.
Those finely detailed crocheted ornaments seem so daunting and fussy but this one looks manageable.

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