washday at Wingdale

urg...I was run over by a migraine earlier in the evening and my head feels like a spoiled melon...I have a soft spot on my head like new babies do. please don't touch my head, pillow.

I had a lovely note from a reader regarding prayer flags and I sent her this photo of a set I made in the fall of 2010.  Looking at them now I'm reminded of lunatic laundry...washday at Wingdale which was the local nuthatch for my hometown. The place where everyone's mom would swear she'd run off to if we didn't behave.

my Monday (your Tuesday)

Here's what is not happening today, despite the continued glorious weather. No ironing, folding, sorting, fondling..no stitching. It's my Monday and there are catchup chores to do after a weekend of slacking.

If I don't do my own laundry I'll be working in my PJs tonight (although I understand PJs are formal attire for many telecommuters). The warm  weather makes me wish for an old fashioned reel style clothesline but given the insane levels of pollen we are experiencing it would probably be a waste of time to put wet cloth out to dry. My dark green Honda looks just like a Granny Smith apple right now.

 I have to go out for a few errands. Every time I leave the house I get the feeling she won't be here when I get back. Colin slept downstairs' in Jake's room with the AC last night and Karma cried bitterly most of the evening looking for him. Even if he had brought her downstairs with him, she would have bolted and come upstairs to sit on the bed and cry. Cat senility.


And speaking of diminishing brain functions, I downloaded a new application and am having the devil's own good time sticking with the tutorial. What I really want to do is just rip in at "start" like I always do but since that rarely pays off, I'm forcing myself to live by that description of "crazy" - doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.

first fruits

"subtle (for me)" would have to be the name for this lot. I used up all the remaining old dyes and can see which colors suffered over the winter and which held their ground.

 I now also know which of these cloths have a bit of poly snuck into the weave. I'm going to iron this lot tomorrow and they will almost all go up for sale in the store.

New colors have been mixed, new crayon poured and proven and a whole new batch of cloth is soaking in the sauce. Everyday this week will be a dye day as long as the weather (and my  stamina) holds up.

I did a lot of hand stitching on the big WIP this weekend too, despite my misgivings. There's nothing to say I can machine stitch right over everything if I decide to.

no eyecandy, yet.

Nope - no wet previews. I don't want to disappoint myself or anyone else. We'll just let this batch come into it's own when it comes out of the dryer; everything is in a cold water wash right now. Keep in mind the dyes were old and tired.

I have a large number of vintage damask table napkins and thought about dyeing them in sets of eight clear bright colors to sell in sets for prayer flags to be embellished as you wish with stitching, printing or other surface design techniques. I won't match the patterns...there are too many but they will all be close to the same size and hemmed all round.  Let me know if you are interested in a set for $30.00..well, let's see what the dye devils have wrought first!

warming up leftovers

Before  I could mix up new dyestock I prepped a small lot of cloth to use up the leftovers from last year. They were stored optimally in a small cooler and I took them out for the first time yesterday so they've had a full day to come around to ambient temperature.

The method was a hasty "dunk it in here" parfait affair -  I was anxious to get the squeeze bottles cleaned and ready for the new colors. There are all kinds of cottons here from an embossed upholstery woven to some squares of humble, unbleached muslin. I'll give this bunch until tomorrow morning....





I made a big mess and am not inclined to clean it up right away. It's hot, I'm tired and there's a lotta later in today still.