As promised

I was trying to embed the video of Sweetie in the swimming pool but I seems to have gone web stupid this morning so here's the link instead.

thunder rolls

The skies went dark and green and thunder rolled just as the Braves finished off the Detroit Tigers so I thought I'd dash out and get a few of the bigger pieces of damask out of the jars for a natural rinse in the storm that's bearing down on us.

These pieces have been stewing in the soda ash for almost two weeks. I hope I haven't hurt the cloth by putting things off  so long. They feel like wet hides, all thick and slimy.

BRAVES WIN!

Jan & I made our annual pilgrimage to a Braves game last night - my first friday night with fireworks game. The Braves won, and  we enjoyed the game in swank comfort thanks to her neighbors unused season tickets.

Jan got me into a shirt for the occasion and I picked our  pitcher KAWAKAMI who had not yet won a game this year, not because he is a bad pitcher but it seemed like whenever it was his turn to pitch, everyone else forgot how to bat! Yeah, I know it's on backwards - anything to get on the JumboTron at Turner Field!

  UPDATE...a few minutes ago KK got his first win in a nailbiter and thanks to our hero on the van Chipper Jones who hit a three run homer run as sweet as red velvet cake.

silk velvet

A few years back I did a booming season selling hand dyed silk/rayon velvet scarves at a few local craft fairs - no mean feat in Georgia. "The Velvet Lash" was quite successful for a while but in a years time were passed over in favor of the trixier ones that were crocheted or knitted with things like Monkey skins or copper wires and such..

I was probably selling them too cheaply but it was a learning experience and I came out ahead of the game. I had a few left over that were too garish for the crowd. They were originally dyed with Procion MX with bonds viciously to the rayon fibers. Since these were 80%rayon and 20% silk, I figured that the Colorhue dyes would not be wasted on them. I was right.

ColorHue Dyes

Where has this stuff been all my fiber life?
I can see with just a little monkeying around that many things are different here. The physics of wet in wet. How far color will and wont wander. The transparency effects and how the different colors work together or not.

I made the mistake of separating the various silks from their bags with labels so I don't have  the right names for the fabric.
This silk is sturdy, shiny and shrieks when you rip it with gusto. It loves the dye.

A little goes a long way and I'm running wild this morning...

Mark making with brushes and droppers. Seeing how far and true I can make my intentions and just how much is left to the whim of the cloth, dye and water.


I feel the ladybugs watching from the treeline, nervous.