Counting down

I have only three days left, including today, to clean the house from top to bottom (this almost certainly won't happen, it is a compulsion that I have to leave home to go on holiday with everything pristine and orderly. This is a state rarely achieved.) To finish the ironing (see above). Gather together everything I want to take with me (those items of clothing included in that objective waiting to be ironed will be...although there will be an iron at the gite.......)

This is all learned behaviour from Mommy Dearest, who takes great pride in her ability to panic over every last thing. I have at least reached the stage where I not only realise what I am doing but can moderate it by perhaps 50%. I regard this as a major achievement. So, I have spent the morning so far doing the round of blogsIlike, including the one or two I keep on my list as what used, I think, to be called a "hate-brace" (can't think what that means, but it is the term that springs to mind.) Or perhaps, to make me realise that not everyone in the world is a gentle, kind, liberal, supportive person like moi. (Even I need to rush to the loo at this point - to remove my tongue from where it is stuck in my cheek if for nothing else.)

Then I finally fluffed out the latest silk and soy samples.



In both cases, the soy came out slightly paler, but with a better coverage. Silk top is much easier to dye than brick; this may be a scouring issue, a dye penetration issue, or most likely, both of these.

Again, in both cases, it was much easier to get a better result both in terms of colour and the condition of the fibre with natural dye extracts rather than plant material. True, I was using "wood", not "leaf". But I soaked the chips in both cases for a good long time, and did the dyebath slowly, and left it alone until completely cold never mind cool. By condition of the fibre, I mean just how much the structure of the preparation is disturbed by tangling or matting. Still and all, they all come up quite nicely when smoothed and tugged and whatever.

All in all I am well pleased with these dye runs. I have got colours that I really like, and a reasonably satisfactory dye job - for instance, in handling the logwood, it hasn't crocked on my hands. Now this may change when working with it for a prolonged period, but that is logwood for you - what I didn't want is colour coming off immediately. The madder is paler than I had wanted, but I think that this is something to do with the madder itself - I had the same problem with the same batch at workshops last year. That is one of the troubles with natural dyes, you can get these fairly wide variations. If this had been a different kind of exercise, I would have samples and adjusted. However - when I get back from France, I must face up to the last big one. Indigo. Or....just maybe something else! I found us a nice place to visit, and easy day out from where we are staying, see?

I also found us a bead shop in Toulouse - well, I say us, you know what I mean. But as there is also a daily organic farmers market and a vegetarian restaurant, it will actually make a nice day out on one of the days we are being promised showers.

gw