An Indigo Morning

Last week I was privileged to accompany staff members and volunteers of the Charleston Museum to an Indigo class.  Actually, it was more like a slice of a PhD course in Indigo.  Father John, our gracious host, gourmet chef and knowledgeable instructor, has been studying and experimenting with Indigo for the past 8 years, and he's still learning and experimenting.  This was so encouraging to me, since it feels like the more I learn about this ancient dyestuff, the more I realize I don't know. 

His Indigo plants are so tall! That's Jan Hiester on the left and Susan on the right (Awesome Museum Volunteer and All Around Fun Person).  Father John is describing the types of Indigo historically grown in SC, plus how he has managed to have such thriving specimens.

These Indigo leaves have soaked overnight in water.  See how blue the water is now?  Once the Indigo water has been drained off, the leftover leaves (in back) can be used as a fertilizer/compost.

If these folks ever ask you to go to a class or lecture with them, do it. Charleston Museum people rock :) L to R: Neil Nohrden, Assistant Curator of History, Jan Hiester, Curator of Textiles, and Stephanie Thomas, Education Coordinator.

Once the leaves are removed, it is necessary to aerate the liquid.  Father John used a fish tank aerator.  The blue on the bubbles is what will eventually be the Indigo dye.

After aerating, it settles.  That blue sludge on the bottom? Yep, Indigo! Next step is drying, then crushing into a powder, then mixing in water and various chemicals to further reduce the Indigo so that it will dye cloth or yarn.

He dyed 10 yards of cotton for us--and made it look easy.  See how yellowy-green the fabric is inside the vat? Awesomeness in the making. Also note the fabric hanging on the walls, all perfectly Indigo dyed by our host.

Finished product, framed by the beautiful yard at Father John's place.

 These photos only give you glimpse into our morning--and if I hadn't lost the rest of them off my phone with the lastest iOS update (my fault--I should have backed them up sooner, but I didn't foresee issues and well, I'm grateful I had already emailed these to myself!), you would see so much more.  I took copious notes and have been telling everyone who will listen about how much I learned and what a lovely time it was.  Father John even served us a gourmet lunch, in the midst of teaching us so much about dyeing with Indigo!  It was an experience I'll never forget.

I'll be passing on more of what I learned, plus giving you a chance to do some dyeing yourself at my next Indigo Dyeing Workshop at the Charleston Museum,  Saturday, October 19, from 10am-12:30.  More details and registration info at their website.

Knitting, Blogs, and The Art of Getting Stuff Done

Random linen stitch

They say if you want to get something done, hand it off to someone who is already busy doing something.  Forward momentum is pretty powerful. Or as I like to say, "Mojo, man. Mojo."

There is a truth that a person will carve out time to do what he or she really wants to do (some exceptions apply, but not many) and I wonder if the joy of knitting (or writing, or crafting, etc) is what makes us fit more of it in around otherwise hectic lifestyles.  I also wonder how many of us would be on the street, up to no good, if we didn't have knitting in our lives, but I will NOT ask for a show of hands at this time...

Motivation is a valuable tool in life and when I see it in others, it also motivates me.  I met a Particularly Motivated Gal a couple of years ago at a knitting group and as I've gotten to know her I've been impressed (and occasionally intimidated, I admit it!) by her immense pools of inner mojo. And now?  Now I'm proud as punch because Victoria has rolled out a shiny new blog and it's lovely! Please check it out and follow her knitting adventures--you won't regret it!

Many more years ago, I met a Mom Who Liked to Write.  She was the first real live person I'd ever met who had her own honest-to-goodness blog.  When I shared with her my love of writing (and the fact that, at the time, it had been ages since I'd written anything at all), she encouraged me to start my own blog.  I did, and that blog was a wonderful thing (Yes, I do like my own writing!) and while it has been put on the back burner as I have honed my focus (and motivation) down to KNITTING (shocker!), it helped me get where I am now and that makes me grateful.  I'm grateful that I started the blog and I'm grateful to Shannon for giving me the little push I needed.  And now?  Now I'm proud as punch because Shannon has done gone and gotten herself published!  In a book!  I haven't read this yet, but having read much of her other writing over the years, I can guarantee it is good.  Go buy it!  Or you can just order it from Amazon without having to even leave your computer. Ask me how I know this :)


What about you? Do you have motivators in your life, sharing their Mojo with you and getting stuff done?

Actual Knitting Has, In Fact, Been Happening!

Aside from my Cold Mountain lace journey, my current knitting has revolved around some top-secret pattern designing.  It may seem to the casual onlooker as though I'm only knitting occasionally, or even, gasp!, sporadically.  Rest assured that nothing could be further from the truth. Between the swatching and the re-swatching and the adjusting and the swatching again and the finally knitting the thing, well, I've been doing a lot of knitting.

When completed patterns are ready, I promise you'll be the first to know!  In the meantime, here is a small sample of what's been on my needles here at KnitOasis HQ:

Cold Mountain Journey: This month's lace knitting

Showing someone your lace project before it's finished and blocked is a little like showing someone your bread dough before it's baked.  It's gooey and sticky and chewy and a big ole blob of not-quite-something-good. 

Nevertheless, I will show you the progress on my Cold Mountain stole, since I am doing it as part of a Knit-A-Long and that's what it's all about--showing how it's going, even if it looks lumpy and disheveled and like something no one in their right mind would ever want to wear.  I am also overlooking the fact that I am not "caught up" to where I should be if I had managed to knit 15 rows every week so far.  I am, in fact, a little bit behind on the count...

It's getting longer! Note the cowardice displayed in the use of TWO lifelines!

I love all the flecks of color in this KnitPicks Shadow lace weight yarn.

I have to say I am starting to enjoy this project more.  I hesitate to go so far as to say I've got the hang of it, but things that didn't make sense before, make better sense now. (Isn't that a lot like life?  The more you learn about something or someone, the more sense it or he or she makes.)

The length of time of this KAL seemed a little daunting at first, but I am SO glad that I don't have to rush through this.  I have so many other projects in the works right now that I have to schedule "shawl days" and "charity project days" and "new design work days," just to cover all my bases.  It's a good thing I love to knit!

More Indigo Dyeing

Noticed today that Wendy over at Spinsjal has been messing around with Indigo.  Very cool!  I love seeing other folks using Indigo. It looks like she had some great results and I'm very intrigued by the silk yarn she dyed!

Also, Leigh at Magar Hatworks has been dyeing some fabric for fall--yep, using Indigo. Beautiful stuff!

And finally, here is a recent post from The Charleston Museum's Tumblr page featuring, what else? Indigo. 

I used to notice when people were knitting; now I see them dyeing with Indigo...

Want to have your own expereince with the magic of Indigo?  Don't forget, my next Indigo Dyeing Workshop at the Charleston Museum is Saturday, October 19. Space is limited and you must pre-register.

An adventure in felting

I recently took part in a back-to-school education expo.  This being the second year of my participation, I felt better prepared to create a display that would be bright but not too bright, colorful but not overwhelming, and above all to clearly communicate the message I wished to convey:

Y'all come let me teach you to knit!

In my efforts to stream line the display, one of the things that I dropped everything to make (with only a few days to spare--living on the edge here, people) was a felted bowl.  This was my first attempt at knitting a felted bowl, but having felted a bag a few years ago and being currently in the state of euphoria brought about by kicking "behind" on that lace shawl KAL, I thought, I can SO do this.  And I did.  Naturally, I used some scraps of leftover yarn from the bag (I knew it would felt!) and having found a simple-looking pattern on Ravelry, I busted it out.  The result was that I now think that everyone I know NEEDS a knitted, felted bowl. Also, I wish I'd tried it sooner. 

If you've never felted before, let me encourage you to try this project.  It was a quick knit (my son wanted to confiscate it as a hat in its pre-felting stage), didn't use much yarn and the resulting felted coolness of it will make you think you're a Felting Rock Star.

Indigo Dyeing, version 2.0

There's something to be said for being open to growth and change, and for never saying "never."

In my previous Indigo Dyeing workshops, I think I might have said just that: never.  As in, I will "never" use extra chemicals when dyeing with Indigo.  So, by now you can guess where this blog post is headed, right?

In the quest for ever more impressive results, I gave thio-urea dioxide and soda ash a chance to wow me, and they did. 

First, I was wowed by the odor.  I won't sugar coat this: it stunk to high heaven! On it's own, pre-reduced Indigo has a subtle scent that is not unpleasant.  When these chemicals are added, it's a whole 'nuther story!  Two words: abundant. ventilation.

Secondly, I was wowed by the richness of the color.  This blue was so intense, even in lighter shades, that it took my breath away. (OK, what little breath I still had after the smelly, chemical-laden vat took away a good deal of it.  In the interest of honest disclosure.)  Y'all, the yarn and fabric I dyed using the new technique is just amazing.  I'm going to start carrying some of it around with me at all times to show people, because, while it does photograph nicely, in person it's even better.

And third, I was wowed at how much easier it was to rinse off all the leftover Indigo. My theory is that the chemicals reduce the Indigo and this makes the Indigo WANT to stay on the yarn.  I like it--it's a good theory.  Things should make sense as much as possible, whenever possible.  Anyway, whether you buy into my theory or not, the fact is that the yarn was a joy to knit with.  The color still rubbed off slightly in the process of knitting, but it was a vast improvement over previous yarns which had not had the benefit of super smelly chemicals added to the vat.  (Two more words: vinegar. soak.)

So there you have it: Indigo Dyeing, version 2.0.  Just in time for the next Workshop at the Charleston Museum. 

Indigo All Over

My friend Kaye is a traveler extraordinaire.  She recently returned from a road trip that took her to New Mexico, and while there she visited Tierra Wools and saw their natural dyes operation.

In my studies of indigo dyeing I ran across this article about a dye master in Mali.

And then this happened in my own garage yesterday.

Just pulled from the vat, turning blue before my eyes.

Beautiful!

I've begun experimenting with a slightly different dye process.  It is proving to be rather stinky, but the results are so intense that opening an extra door for added ventilation is really no problem at all.

Learning the art of dyeing is a little like learning a second language.  You don't ever forget your first language (knitting), but eventually you see connections between it and your new language.  If you look on the rack in the pic above, you might see a wee bit of wool roving, dyed a glorious indigo.  If you think that this might mean that I plan to attempt a third language (spinning) soon, you might be right....

Red Scarf Project 2013 (plus a free knitting pattern!)

The Brickworks Scarf

Most of you who know me know that I love to knit for charity and one of my favorite charities is the Red Scarf Project.  I enjoy knowing that somewhere there are young adults who have grown up in foster care who are wearing red scarves they received in a care package while away at college.  It must be the mom in me, wanting these kids to have a tangible expression of love and support.  And it's the knitter in me who jumps at the chance to make that expression out of yarn.

This year in addition to knitting a scarf for submission to the Project, I also designed a pattern: "Brickworks".  It is available now as a FREE Ravelry download--giving you plenty of time to send one in for this year (between September 1 and December 15--address on their website).

So enjoy, and thank you in advance for sending scarves to help make a difference in the lives of foster youth in college.

Feeling Blue Again, or, Indigo Workshop #2

Today we dyed, again!  It's such a privilege to get to guide people into the world of Indigo dyeing.  I love seeing how their yarns and fabrics turn out, and watching them experiment with different techniques is so fun.  My favorite thing, though, has got to be getting to chat with our workshop participants and learn from them as well.

Here's a little of what we did today.  If you find yourself wishing that you, too could have been a part of this workshop, then plan to join us in October for our next one!

Curator Jan Hiester shows us the Indigo exhibit

Is it done yet?

Undyed wool yarn + Indigo = Magnificent!

There's a lot of rinsing.  A LOT of rinsing!

We 3 Hues of Indigo Are...

 

Amazing tie-dye! So creative!

Shaking out the fabric

And the racks filled with so much blue...