Sunday, September 02, 2012

a sunday in september...

variations on berry

tweed & cables

west coast trees

Today felt quiet. AK and I have been puttering about at home, only a moderate variation on yesterday, and the day before. These last few days of holiday after our trip have had no real obligations, which has been just perfect for settling back in. Welcome to September, folks.

As usual there are some projects on the go, the shortening days making my crafting tendencies switch into high gear. Does anyone else feel like there are more projects on the "make" list than shall ever be accomplished? I could blame the internet, but I suspect it's just the fault of my over-active brain.

Yesterday on my river walk I gathered salal and oregon grape berries which I simmered into a dye liquid this morning. Last year I did oregon grape and salal separately, but I didn't find many salal berries this time so elected to just throw them together. The larger jar has this mixture; in the smaller jar I added the leftover berry mash to some logwood exhaust and simmered it a little longer.

With the days getting a bit cooler, AK *needs* a new toque, especially as he gets ready for some outdoor work this month. Some cables are taking shape in a dark green tweed, perfect for fall.

And I am slowly making progress on a completely hand stitched skirt in grey cotton jersey. It's a little bit Alabama Chanin, with a shape inspired by Eileen Fisher, and a generous dose of my own west coast skew thrown in. It may even get a dip in the dye pot before I'm done, if I keep ogling India Flint's work.

What projects are you working on?

2 comments:

Starr White said...

So intrigued by your natural dyes. I have tried coffee and tea, but didn't get the results I hoped for. I am making Halloween ornaments! Two little black cats so far...poisonous mushrooms in the making!

Anonymous said...

I chuckle over the remark: "AK needs a new toque" - how many have you already made for him? V