Inquisitive Felines and Fibers

It’s been very busy around here of late and I’ve been lucky to finally get the time to catch up on a few things so here I am again. Last weekend I took advantage of the two days of unseasonably warm weather and did a bit of solar dyeing. If I’d any idea just how easy and how fun it is to do I’d have been doing this for years! It started because I was tired of looking at the little bits of dyes left over from our dyeing party in August. They were on a shelf in the mud room and since the forecast seemed promising I decided to dig out the quart Mason jars that I’d saved and use up some of my mystery roving. I was asked about felted beads a the last show that I did so this seemed a good way to experiment and maybe actually make some felted beads to boot.

I left it out from Saturday morning until about 1pm on Sunday. The green, blue, and pink/red are the left over acid dyes from the party and the beige, yellow, and scarlet are Rit dyes. I just added very hot tap water to the jars, poured in the dye, wet the roving, and stuffed it in. Two of the jars are old Yankee Candle jars that I kept “in case.” I’m happy to say that they work well, but some of the dye will work its way under the rubber stopper on the lid. Overall I was very pleased. And it looked very cool when the stool was moved into the back yard near the horseradish bed.

After rinsing until the water was clear I laid the roving out on a sweater rack in the sun to dry. It wasn’t properly dry until Monday afternoon, but I’d had the foresight to cover the rack with an old blanket overnight. I didn’t want to bring it into the house on the rack because one never knows just what the cats will decide is a wonderful new toy.

So once I get a few more moments to myself I will begin making up the beads and I will certainly do this again. I still can’t believe that it was that simple and the results so enjoyable. What is the last thing that you tried that gave you a bit of surprise and enjoyment? I hope you get to continue you doing it because anything that makes us smile while crafting is another bit of inspiration. Now I’m off to set up my loom and wheel to take to school for Spinning & Weaving Week.