Holly Hocks

I did a dye bath yesterday of Holly Hocks. I'm operating under a new idea that fresh frozen flowers will dye just like fresh flowers (as opposed to dried flowers). So far so good. The holly hocks had been collected all summer and they dyed a beautiful dark purple (with a blue-grey lean). I've got black eyed susans, coreopsis, marigolds, and carrot tops all frozen and stock piled. Much better than drying everything.

Dyer's Garden

My dye garden is up and running! So far I've got:
-Madder
-Chamomile
-Daises
-Black Eyed Susans
-Lady's Bedstraw
-Purple Basil
-Marigolds
With more to come...

I put together a dyepot of wild daises today--I've set them in my pot in a black trash bag so they can sit and heat and steep... Seeing as I don't have a stove yet, I've got to do everything the hard way.

We've also got veggies...Sweet Potatos, tomatos, strawberries, boston lettuce, carrots, garlic, parsley, basil, sage, mint, green and yellow peppers, eggplant, blueberries, and broccoli.

Naturally Dyed Yarns on Etsy

Take a look at my new additions. I've added some naturally dyed yarns, as well as recycled t-shirt woven rugs.

Squidfire Summer Art Mart 2010

I have been asked to join one of my friends, the magnificent Mallory Steele at her vendor table! We will be selling book and woven goods, as well as naturally dyed yarns for your own projects. If you're in town, stop in and see us!

To dye, to sleep, perchance to dream!

The dandelions are taunting me. I just thought somebody should know. They've been out like little lions with their scruffy manes taunting me something fierce the last two weeks. I want to try a dye bath of just heads, no green. I believe it will be a pale yellow, instead of a yellow-green. This is the time of year when there are enough of the buggers to actually collect enough in weight to try it. Of course I've had no time to dye, not with all the work I've designed for myself. I really need to get on all that-- the last of the cutwork, finishing the first and beginning the second weavings, another book, designing and printing my show cards............ I know I can accomplish all of this, but it's not going to be pretty.

In better news, my website: katievota.com Still in construction, but it's serviceable.

Also, I'm almost certain I want this to be a predominately dye blog. If I update every time I do a dye bath, it'll be more consistent than when I remember I should update about whatever is in progress (lacking in-progress photos). So that's how it's going to go.

Some natural dye stuff

I'm doing my best to do as much as I can in natural dye as possible this semester. Most specifically, I'm using natural dyes in my thesis work, predominately weaving, and the work I am doing for my Surface Resist and Dye class.

This is my studio right before Thanksgiving Break. My natural dye plaid is on the wall, as well as my new set of supplemental weft (tapestry) weavings for an upcoming competition. The blue and green weaving is the second of my sister set (void) weavings.


This is the first of my sister set-- intentionally weaving holes (voids) into the cloth, until the weaving becomes about the construction of voids and how light and color interact due to the holes in the cloth and the cloth's transparency.


This is a detail of the second sister (void) weaving.


Printing and painting with natural dyes:


These two panels of silk are printed exactly the same with the same dyes. Their mordants are different, however, resulting in the differences in color. On the left it is mordanted with alum, on the right oxilic acid (beet leaves).


Natural Dye Painting with a Iron Oxide Mordant




For my next project, I'm using the painting and printing techniques I learned from this last project to do warp painting on bamboo yarn. It's the next sister weaving, thinner yarn, more transparency, distinctive voids like the second weaving. I'm using turmeric, logwood, and henna to paint the warp. I'm planning to use henna, walnut, turmeric, and possibly sandalwood/alkanet (other pale reds and purples) for the weft yarn. I've been adding "static" (inlay) in the form of wool yarn on the other two, but wool may be just too much for this one, so I may just go for 5/2 cotton walnut I've got (or maybe the indigo/turmeric green 10/2 bamboo I've got-- interruption in color rather than in visual regularity or uniformity).

Surprisingly Queer

Really, I didn't know.