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Exhausting My Dye Baths

Exhausting My Dye Baths

I've been asking myself a question over the last few years, namely what to do with my used dye baths when they've reached the stage where they don't contain enough pigment to dye any more yarn but still have some remaining colour. And over the last few years, I've been researching what might work. I've looked at creating crayons with natural vegetable waxes. I've investigated ink making. And, I've sloshed through the potential of watercolour paints. However, the same issue kept arising: it took so much heat energy to reduce my dye bath to a suitable concentrate that the process was no longer environmentally...

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PHENOLOGY the study of organisms as affected by climate

PHENOLOGY  the study of organisms as affected by climate

A new design highlighting the work of the Phenology volunteers at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

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Breakfast Knit & Crochet Club

Breakfast Knit & Crochet Club

I am delighted to have teamed up with Sabzi in Edinburgh to create a monthly knitting and crochet club at breakfast time. This amazing Indian street food restaurant on Ferry Road serves the most delicious spiced meals in the morning! From November onwards, we will be meeting at 10am on the SECOND Saturday of the month and everyone is very welcome to join us for crafting, conversation and breakfast!

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Argyll

Argyll

Ooooh the Seventies! Fleetwood Mac's Rumours; Queen's A Day at the Races; glam rock; punk rock; and funk! Chic; Village People; the Bee Gees; and the Bay City Rollers! And then there were the films: The Godfather; The Deer Hunter; Star Wars; and Grease! What was on the telly in the UK? Pennies from Heaven; Dixon of Dock Green; and The Good Life. What were we wearing? Ripped black jeans; safety pins; band t-shirts! Bell-bottoms; tabards; Night Fever suits; culottes; platform boots; and granny shoes! Plus I had a fetching pair of knee high Jaws socks! Don't ask! It was...

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Mordants

Mordants

As a plant dyer, I am very interested in the mordanting process which can help the dye material better attach to the yarn fibres. However, there are many options available so which one should I use? I decided to carry out an experiment to determine how a range of possible mordants might affect the resulting colour, here in my dye studio in Edinburgh using Scottish water! I scoured five 25g mini skeins of Jamieson’s of Shetland undyed natural white Shetland wool and set one aside as a control. Next, I mordanted the other four skeins as follows: alder cone solution heated...

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