Dye fest!

 This years table-mopper (so far). It's a big piece of what I call "spanking" cotton. The kind that snaps when you shake it right. Sturdy, not vintage. I'm going to use it all season to see what it can become.

It's going to be hot and humid today and I'm all prepped for a new batch of Dirty Threads. They will probably get the last rinse in a thunderstorm.

What colors do you crave?
Comment and let me know.

breakfast in good company

Jake and Charlie stopped by to take me to breakfast. Do I look tired? For a string of dumb, self-inflicted reasons, (I was writing) I only got about three hours of sleep last night and I'm facing a regular working Saturday. I may sleep right through Sunday.

And don't ever make one cup of iced coffee with two spoonfuls of Cafe Bustelo unless you plan on running a marathon.

Rain and cloth

the annual miracle

We are late this year. I've tried getting in the water as early as May 15, but the fresh water was always much too cold, even for this Yankee seal.

As late as this is, we were still way ahead of the Annual Frog Fornication Fest. There were no tadpoles for me to round up and relocate this year. They've been noisy at night but slow to get busy. Maybe because the water level was too low?

Tomorrow, Colin will crawl under the deck and replace one of the large delivery hoses. The entire water-carrying infrastructure has been in place since 98. That's the original liner! The deck needs some work but there WILL be swimming this season. Splashing, paddling, drifting and dreaming. The bones of my next book will be born in these waters.


Jimmy was so smart to make this investment.

Mothers Day morning

I sat with the morning light and tried for a little stitch but it didn't hold me for long - I had scenes to revise. And the studio is heaped with a lot of raw material right now, all of it nagging at me quietly. I'm thinking I'll shove it all into the closet and close the doors until the next rainy day.

Or have a big damn yard sale.

I've been working on the high gardens - redoing and replacing the dirt in the long boxes and clay pots.
This diffenbachia was a wedding gift from our friend Donald. We named it Louie years ago. With almost no care, Louie persists, but a repotting was long overdue.

Way down at the bottom was a thick old stem and a tangle of roots.

I've given it a fresh start. We'll see what comes of this.





The peonies continue their fabulous, stinking riot!!

milestones

The current run is sold out!
For everyone who placed an order as of yesterday, today is shipping day. International friends, I'm getting quotes from the Man Behind the Counter and will email you the bitter results.

It may be a couple of weeks before I can commit to another run, but it will come.  In the meantime, there are still plenty of hand-dyed scraps.

On a most personal note, those of you who see me on FB are probably familiar with Charlie Monday. Yesterday was the last official Charlie Monday. (yes, you heard a sob). Of course, I'll still have him for chunks of time on the weekends, and all the Mondays that schools are closed. Still...nothing stays the same, least of all puppies, kittens, and babies.

He's a little young for explanations, so it was business as usual for us. Not so much for me, but we cracked each other up so often that I didn't have time to get broody. At Publix, he asked the deli man if they sold Monkey Butt Hair Pancakes. The gentleman was sad to report that those were only available on Sunday.  Charlie's life is going to be filled with people that he has charmed just by smiling and saying hello.

I fully credit this little being (and the trust of his parents) for throwing me a lifeline after Jimmy left us. We will continue...

sweet saturday

 Jake and Charlie were here early. The pickup has been languishing for a couple of months. It's been needing a new fuel pump. Mission accomplished. Now, all I have to do is figure out why it doesn't have a current registration sticker!  I know we celebrated back in October when it passed the necessary emissions. Jake tells me that lowlifes will steal the stickers right off the plates! Let's hear it for the lowlifes and hope that's the case.

Meanwhile, I got to watch another artist's process. He's very interested in the names of things, like marigolds and bluebirds - the one who pooped on my car!

We had a fun few hours.

Later,  a friend with a chainsaw came by and those massive hedges in front of the house have been pared back drastically. Long overdue!

round 1 - the locals

I feel like an old spider, spinning. There's a whole new batch of Dirty Threads ready to ship. I'll hit the PO shortly and again come tuesday.

I'm experimenting with some 'close cousins' colors. Just the warms this time. Lots of blue or green based heathery ones. Mostly mid-tones.

The process is in place. Now I can focus on the color variables that I want to play with. As things are now, no two of these are alike enough if someone wanted to use them in a project that called for more than ten yards.

If you are interested in more, email me and we can discuss custom orders. It's an unpredictable process results-wise but that's not to say I can't make a whole set of the same results.


purchase info 

I've had to bump the price a tiny bit. Postage has just gotten ghastly!

first of the season

It was HOT today! The first time (that I've been home) that it was hot enough to break out the dyes. I had a lot of thread prepped and ready to go. 
There was every intention of some restraint, colorwise. Hah! I made the twin mistakes of taking down the umbrella and forgetting my hat. My brain fried and I went wild, color-wise.

After pictures tomorrow.

There was also a trio of vintage huck tea towels in the mix. Wonderful hand!

mending

I could have mended my Dixie Mink (a denim workshirt) in five or ten minutes on the machine.

This time spent was worth what I felt doing it more than the results, which are a ve'ey seedy boro indeed. I had no idea what I was doing.

And, the backside is in concert with the breast pocket. And a little help from friends.

cloth and touch

Seasons change

We had a Charlie Monday yesterday complete with the traditional, terrible lunch of fried chicken and red velvet cake. It was a crappy, rainy day so we stayed in, played music and made Duplo towers until Dad came home.

I'm counting the Mondays down now. Soon, he'll be in school five days a week. Oh, I'll still see him on the weekends, but it's the end of an era and, yes, I cried.

Hug your babies. They grow up so fast!

Spring cleaning continued

I was afraid this might happen. The cloths that gave up the ghost shouldn't have been in that mix.  The repair will be an interesting enterprise. I have no intention of trying to crochet a fix.

This rug usually resides in front of the kitchen sink, folded in half.

No one need ever see the scar. I may have to back the whole thing with something to stabilize it.

No good deed goes unpunished.