A Class In July

Looking for a simple and temperature friendly rug project this summer ?
Come out to WandaWorks and find out how to make a simple but gorgeous geometric pattern.
You can create a pillow top or a table runner or a bath mat.
We will be using nylons but you are free to use the material of your choice.

This class will be held July 10th from 11:30 to 4.
The cost is $30 plus materials needed.
Bring your lunch, backing of your choice, linen is available here, There will be
delicious snacks and drinks will be provided during the day.
Here is a sample of what your project may look like :



If you are interested in having a great fun filled days with plenty of laughs let me know asap, space is limited. wlm@bmts.com
Spread the word.

NOTE, I will be in Michigan until June 30th but will accept students on a first send, first serve basis as soon as I read my email.
I'm looking forward to seeing you this summer.

Put a lid on it! - Adaptations

It's dying day. At this time of year, that can only mean that the weather is cool. Unfortunately, it's a day to do wanderings, and I am down to just two burners--one of them being a small. With two bolts to dye and deadlines looming I have to use some ingenuity for a change.



My big stewpots have lids which I seldom use (usually because I want to re-hydrate my wood heated house--but in June, of course, that isn't really a consideration!) So I hauled out my dusty lids and shortened my wandering dye time by half using them on the pots! An added bonus was the lack of water running down the walls since it is already raining outside!

I am thrilled with this discovery! Though I love the effect of wandered wool, the wait times tend to make me nuts! (And that's not a far trip to go!)

This way, the smaller amount of steam sent up by the frying pan isn't as oppressive.

How'd you do that ?

This question came to me via the welcome mat and I thought that you guys might be interested in reading it. I always appreciate questions and welcome them any time.

Wanda said on her blog:
For a brief period when I started to dye I kept recipes and used recipes or formulas if you'd rather, when I dyed.....I no longer do this with the exception of my articles in RHM, where I am meticulous.

Jo's Question:
Wanda, how are you able to supply buyers with your great wools, if you don't dye by recipes for replication? What am I missing here? Really Really Curious!

My answer:
Well, when I'm selling wool and need to replicate, I depend on three things. First, MY EYES, combined with the knowledge of my dyes and what they do. Second, BLENDING: combining many variations on the same value to be used as one colour. And third, I depend on customers BUYING enough the first time ! (My daily prayer.)

That was a great question!

What About The Recipe

For a brief period when I started to dye I kept recipes and used recipes or formulas if you'd rather, when I dyed.
For two reasons I no longer do this with the exception of my articles in RHM where I am meticulous ( I grew new brain cells for that )

#1 I'm not an accurate person and it was too painstaking to record what I did as I got involved in the act of creating
#2 I don't like doing anything twice.

There is a wonderful freeing sensation letting your mind flow to what might be done as you dye. Following your instincts can be very rewarding.

I noted as I held an audience directed dye class I consistently wanted to take the dyeing one step further by adding yet another colour than almost every else there. I would rip the fabric in half and dye one and save the other as a before for comparison.I had a feeling I could enrich the whole thing by one simple addition.

This was because I was willing to take the risk. Next time you dye try just doing one uncomfortable thing, see what happens.

I also only take a set of 14 dyes with me when I travel.
I love the constriction of the limited palette to draw from and what I can invent with them I might not have thought of before.

I hope you will try something you haven't though to do before, there are no guarentees in dyeing as you might have noticed using formula books and samples and my articles. Just loosen up and let it go.
Know what your dyes look like in your home by dyeing samples of each then just bust it loose.

Just once.
For me and for you

Hungry for Colour

This evening I was doing a "down on my knees" hunt for a book I wanted to reference for someone special today but I couldn't get my greasy little hands on it right at the time.

So as I readied the room for my hookers tomorrow I decided to really look.
In my library I categorize things according to topic.
The book I hunted for is called The Colour Of Nature. But I have one called the Colour In Nature too.
The first one is merely photographic. The second actually tells you scientifically how colours and colour effects happen.

I found the IN one but not the OF one.

So as I looked closely at each book in the colour section I realized it was somehat like looking down memory lane.
I chanced upon a magazine put out by Amnerican Artists and it was a compilation of articles written about each colour.
It was from years ago but I remember announcing it on Padula and how we all scrambled to find it. What struck me was the HUNGER for colour knowledge. And yes I found it ! Now they live side by side.

WE WANT TO KNOW:
how to use it more effectively, how to be more expressive with it, how to have it do the work for use we struggle to do with outlines and he like.

Somehow we are always searching for a better understanding of it.

Reading books is great.
But like joining a gym you won't get any benefits from the buying until you do some work.
Playing with your scraps is a good way to improve your colour power.

Sort them into light , medium , dark..... can you further subdivide each of those piles ?
Sort them into piles of bright and dull,
Sort them into cool and warm piles.... notice any relativity action? How as you remove the darks, medium step in to be the next best dark ?
Or the coolness of any certain colour will change as you remove the warms from the pile?
Or when you remove the dulls, some brights will become more dull appearing so because it is all relative ?

If you want a full rich experience with a big range of colours go to paint stores and GET LOADS OF CHIPS.
I prefer the bigger square ones.
Be sure to pick colours you LOVE , ONES YOU HATE, ONES THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL AND ONES THAT ARE USELESS.
You might not have these in your wool stash.

Play with them,
Make up colour storys, blend them .... paste them in books. Rip them in half or quarters and create something like the pears from the last post.
Make a story board of your favorites.
Take a picture you love and find all the colours that are in it in chips. Paste them as a border or stripe beside it in a colour journal.

Okay I've nagged you enough ... if you are hungry , eat up !

Rearranging Resources

Well, it has been a few days since I had breathing room to even think about blogging.
We can all thank Mary Anne Wise most heartily for taking some pictures during class because goodness knows I didn't even though I had two cameras.

We did a fun and creative exercise in class and soon realized how useful it was for colour studies of things we might want to create.

Here are the parameters if you wanted to try it.

Decide on a subject.
We chose pears.

Grab a magazine and rip out pages with colours you want to use in your object.
Define your outside edge and use pieces of the pages ripped into small chunks, slivers, squares or whatever shape suits you.

Glue down the shapes to create your three dimensional object.
Take a look at it from a distance.... does it need improved ?
Just lay on whatever you need to create your ideal.

Here
is what the hookers did in class.

Does Cheddar need to be on everything ?

Yes my friends, here it does.
That answered I must say this is a beautiful place we are in.
We had bit of a mishap with our booked room, but now are settled into a lovely room and are as happy as bugs in a rug.

Yesterday was the first day of class and I'm puffed up with pride and happiness with my students who were clever and caught on to my ways right away. They also were so interested in finding out what kind of values they had and did serious thinking about their values. After lunch we also dyed.

Today we are going to talk about creativity and design, then we are going to make whatever we like with out new found understanding of what we like.

I wish you were here.

I hope to take some photos today for you.

Day 2

We are tired bunnies. We went to bed too late, we got up too early and we ended the day driving thru Chicago. It was pretty downtown. It was rush hour. We got to see all the pretty sites when traffic was at a standstill. Sites of interest:
A turquoise seagull- yes it flew and was real. Try to explain that one.
A nest of three starlings in the letter a of a Hardees sign.
More signs than any two people need to look at, it is almost to the point of visual pollution.
Going off to bed,
Wanda

I am on a Lonely Road and I'm Travelling Travelling Travelling

Well, not so lonely as I 'm travelling with my daughter Thea
After a few narrow misses of nearly forgotten passport and missing night wear and several parodies of the moving out scene in The Jerk , ALL I NEEED IS THIS ___________ and cramming yet one more item into the car...... we hit the road.
All was completely uneventful. We had a great lunch when we arrived in Thea's other home and I spent several delicious hours looking every where in Chapters while she did work and other stuff.

It was so nice to spend all that time in the book store because I'm only in one about twice a year and on the way somewhere else and always in a hurry usually.

Here's what I found:
Style Statement- this book promises to or rather invites you to make more powerful personal choices, to communicate all you are in all you do.

Paul Klee Painting Music. This book show cases the work of the artist Paul Klee. My friend christine compelled me to look closer at his work. I'm deeply interested in the shapes and layers of it all. COLOUR WORKED WITH COMPLEXITY

Julia Cameron's How to Avoid Making Art
This is a tongue in cheek look in cartoons on how we keep ourselves from DOING OUR STUFF.
For instance. Take every phone call. Or Complain about not having money for supplies as you gulp down expensive coffees with friends...

Jokes every man should know.

Magazin art

Cloth Paper scissors Studios

Celtic Messages because I like the little pictures on them and they used a repeated palette which I love to demonstrate what is possible with a few colours.

Soul by Tobsha Learner

And an Oprah Magazine.

I also went and visited the mysterious gypsy " the Tattooed Lady" in her glittering tower while in London. Yes, picture that. The views were lovely.
No hooking , picture taking or dyeing was done today.

More tomorrow !

Old Recipe - New Method

Daughters of Darkness

Yesterday I needed dark yellow and blue greens, VERY DARK.
I had every available element and outlet occupied.
I decided I would dye in the oven as well and try some of my very dark recipes.

I dyed 1/2 yd of natural in the spot dye method but I mixed all the dye colours in the solution as though I was going to do a straight up dye bath.

Instead I poured it over the wool, mashed it up until I felt dye covered everything nd popped it in the oven.

The results were spectacular.
Will post picture later.
Here are the RHM recipes I used so I wouldn't have to type them out for you or try to remember what I did !!! LOL

EAGLE NEBULA SKY
1 tsp. Brilliant Green
1 tsp. Black

ALIEN
1 tsp. Black
2 tsp. Yellow

Insipration

I have had several days, perhaps it's weeks now, of intensive dyeing.
Two things come to mind.
#1 It's damn hard to think of colours to create.
One of yesterday's task was to fix up the blue green pile which is customarily about 3 ft high. It was down to about 2 feet.
I look through the pile to determine if any of the colours are duds and to see what I'm missing in the value and saturation department as well as warm and cool.

I redye the duds. Fill in the missing blanks. And frankly I do this for me, to change my view of the wool, I get tired of looking at the same old stuff. Also it helps me to better help in the colour planning of client's rugs.
So as I'm doing this I find I'm blank minded about what I want to create. I know I need to make 6 different medium darks, and several medium lights. And I have several dyes that are blue green but I'm leery because I often create the same colours in this blue green world over and over using completely different dyes. If only I had something to look at to inspire me.

As soon as I have a moment I'm starting a visual journal for each colour. This way I can have somewhere to turn when I'm making colours.

You might be asking why I don't turn to a dye book or perhaps my own RHM recipes ?
Well.... I don't dye that way. I like to create new as I go along. This way I develop collections of colours that are "current " and don't keep rehashing the same stuff again and again stagnating myself and my client's rugs in the process.

#2 My feet hurt. Soon I will be of them for Wednesday and Thursday as I finish off some rugs for display in my booth.

Dyed Nylons Today

Wow !
I've even impressed myself, I dyed over 50 lbs of nylons today. My feet are killing me though....

One beautiful combo use the equal ratio
Military , emerald and dark green from Aljo dyes
Spot dye or pour over wool in dye bath, one at a time.

Another:

Blue,Turquoise and Blue Violet, Majic Carpet dyes

Noticed :
One interesting thing about dyeing these is the rate at which they absorb the different colour contents of the dye.
I used a vast amount , about 1/2 tsp of PC 503, threw in the nylons , about 7 and left them, when I returned the water was pure strange yellow and the nylons were a dull dark NAVY !!!

Also Avocado about 1 tsp , in a dye bath yielded me about 4 terrific different greens as I added nylons as the dye was absorbing.

I Love Reds

Yes I admit I love hooking with red, what a change from my 20s. When we moved into a house with a bowling alley length living room with a red floor I BLANCHED inside and out and vowed to wear sun glasses. But now I love red and try to use it whenever possible in my home and work.
Jules Feiffer said :
Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid.

I have spent a whole week immersed in the colour red. I dyed up several terrific recipes for RHM and even made some comparison ones for Pro chem users.
The original Majic Carpet colour is on the right over natural and the Prochem one is on the left in each picture. You can see you can't really make a direct transfer but the reds are still beautiful. Even if you don’t own Majic Carpet dyes you can still make a stab at some great reds

Gabriel Garnet Dyed over 1/2 yd natural with Majic Carpet
4/32 Tsp. Red
1/32 Bottle Green
2/32 New Formula Red Violet

I dyed these over 1/4 yd each.
First I choose to “translate “ Gabriel Garnet into “Prochemese”

I retitled it - Imitation Gabriel Garnet
2/32 tsp.351 Prochem Bright Red
1/64 tsp. 725 Prochem Green
1/32 tsp. 338 Prochem Magenta

Please note I followed the same measures ( these were cut in half because I dyed 1/4 yd, not a 1/2 yd as per the original) and came up with a delightful red, though not the exact one. For a possible correction to the Imitation try adding 1/64 th magenta and 1/32 Bright Red and a hint of some blue.

Next I tried Hanchett’s Vermont Barn. Not able to approximate the chocolate brown and moss green accurately with out lengthy recipes I opted to use Brick to do the work of the brown and green.

Hanchett’s Vermont Barn In Majic carpet
4/32 tsp. Red
2/64 tsp. Moss Green
1/64 tsp. Chocolate Brown

Hanchett’s New Hampshire Barn with Prochem
2/32 tsp. 351 Prochem Bright Red
2/32 tsp. 255 Prochem Brick
Shown with it’s Majic Carpet counterpoint you can see it isn’t exactly the same but it is a very good red. For a closer call add the same formula into the dye bath again.

OHCG Annual Show Midland Ontario Canada

Winner of Last year's Theme Award "Blossom Time " in Belleville
And the Day came

I wanted to let you I'm going to be in at the OHCG Annual Show as vendor.
“HOOKED ON HISTORY” is the 2008 theme. Date: May 2, 3 and 4, 2008. Location: North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre
Midland, Ontario. It is open to the public on Sunday.
If you come to my booth and tell us you read my blog you can pick a pair of dyed nylons up or something from the dollar bin for free.
This is a good show with great diversity and there are many terrific and varied vendors. I hope to see you there.
Here is the OHCG website for more info.

http://www.ohcg.org/

Tornado Sky

Last year I dyed an interesting sky using the following method I wrote in RHM.

If the colours represented don’t suit you, being a little on the glowy side, just add a bit of their compliment ( the colour opposite on the colour wheel ) to the dye formulas. Though I would encourage you to try a sky that is bright... just pep up the other colours you use in the rest of the rug.

This method is dyed over 1 yd of natural wool with Majic Carpet dyes, if you don’t have these use a likely substitute, have a little fun.

The Big Kettle Method
By now many of you already have a big soup pot or canning kettle you got to try Wandering or to dye yard lengths. If you don’t have a pot like this yet they are very useful to include in your dyeing paraphernalia. Buying one may seem like a bit of an investment but you and your beautiful rugs are worth it.

Fill your soup kettle 3/4 full, set on stove to heat. You might want to make sure your kettle is impeccably clean because we will be useing small amounts of dye and the least little speck of dye on the pot from your last session will corrupt your recipe. Though having said that I honestly love what happens when I use a “dirty “ pot.
Soak your wool thoroughly using synthropol. Have a bowl or pan nearby to place the hot wool in.

SPLENDID SKY

Formula One

1/32 tsp. Red Violet
1/256th Brilliant Green ( just use a tooth pick ) This colour dulls the red violet, just don’t add too much or your sky with be a purplish grey which is lovely result if that’s what you want.

Add Formula One into the water (dye bath) in the kettle.
Arrange the yard of wool so the selvedges are running up and down and you have gathered the wide edge in your hand.

Hold your wool by the upper 1/4 and immerse it into the dye bath to the half way point.

Just hang on to it and swish it around, no dipping. If you want this wool to have a bigger section of more let it go into the water 2/3 of the way now.
You might notice the colour gets taken up pretty well without acid, but add 1/32 tsp. at this point.
NOTE: If you are stature challenged as I am stand on a sturdy step stool, be safe.

As the water begins clear dip up to the 2/3 height then finally let the whole piece submerge.
When water is clear, remove the wool to the pan or bowl, cool it off by rinsing in cool water.

Add 1/128th tsp of Yellow into the kettle, stir well.

Arrange your cooled wool as described before but place the other end of the wool into the dye bath, the lightest end.

Swish around as before, immersing your end in as far as you want yellow to appear, when yellow and pink cross orange is what appears, or in this case peach.
Dip your wool in deeper as the colour in the dye bath disappears, swishing as you go, creating smooth transtions from one colour to the next.

After the dye bath is clear, remove wool and cool.

Next add 1/64th tsp. Blue into your kettle, stir lots make sure none flew onto the kettle sides, creating glories and merriment you might not want.
Now arrange your wool as before and lower in the dark end, the one that is pink.
Swish and dip as you see fit creating the sky you wish.Once again as the colour disappears dip more of the wool in.

Remove wool when dyebath is clear, cool , rinse thoroughly. Acid left in wool is not good for wool longevity.

This took me a total of 15 minutes. I wasn’t reading directions and I knew what to do but soon you will be whipping these out in no time too.
You might notice this wool looks a lot less “smooth” than traditional dip dyes.
The colour transitions are still subtle but there are up and down striations that are lovely to hook. There are two ways to use this wool: keep your wool in order as you cut it by taping it down to a piece of paper or let caution go to the wind and hook it as you pull out each stripette from your basket. Both have their own beauty.

For the Tornado sky I used blue violet on one end and Brilliant green on the other end WOW !
Today I finally sold it to a lady who wished to use it for an aurora borelais in a deep blue and violet sky.
It looked a somewhat dull colour but against the dark sky it was tremendous and glowing.
See picture for a collection of different colours dyed this way.

Dyeing Reds

Yesterday I was dyeing a bevy of beautiful reds for RHM. I was surprised to note the rising of my blood pressure and a mild anger forming.
Hmm could the old colour and mood influence be true or am I just a crotchety old dyer ?
LOL
As more evidence in the case, I was promptly relieved when I discovered a 1/4 yd of orange and 1/4 yd of yellow plaid wool left over and dyed them turquoise. I actually felt the stress leave my shoulders, I took a deep breath when I saw it begin to take
up .....
Do you think I should ask for stress pay ?

I had a red dye mislabeled by the factory that did cause me some heartache so all the tension might not be from the immersion in colour red only.

When dyeing reds you need quite a bit of dye, over a quarter yd. upwards of 1/8th tsps or more. The reds can be very garish too, try tempering them with 1/32 yellow green , blue green or black for interesting depth, or dye reds over already red wool or yellow, orange or fuschia wool or light green or blue green or violet or tan...... heck you can dye reds over anything !!!

Go for Broke !

Getting Organized

Sometimes it takes quite a bit to get organized but once you do the steps you are on maintenance.
I hired someone to keep me on top of tasks because I'm easily distracted.....oh look at that pretty blinking line running ahead while I type, don't you love the sound typing makes, I'm hungry.....
you get the picture.
I am highly organized while I workcreate ( dye, make, hook) and when I workinspire (teach) but when I do workmath or workwhen am I supposed to be there and workwhat is my subject ? things can get a bit slippery if I'm highly involved in the first two.

But I don't feel the least bit worried about this. I would rather have my free mind to engage in acts of expansive and creative thinking on a big scale than worry about my daily minutiae. Nothing wrong with hiring a go getter to do the things they love that help you and help them as well.
It is very enjoyable for me to feel the support of the "committee" as we work solving and examining possibilities.
NEW IDEAS FROM A FRESH SOURCE !

Long ago I was a clothing designer and I had little kids. Surprisingly they often wanted to eat. I often didn't want to switch off my create to cook or even think about what to cook.
I took 60 minutes of my time and created a list of 20 things I could make for dinner and a coordinating grocery list on the computer.
14 years later I still consult those lists. The relief I feel at knowing it's there to rescue me if I need it is HEAVEN. You can build you own support committee by figuring out what will ease your day and reduce stress and getting helpers ( human or otherwise )

Ask for help
Don't suffer
Be realistic
Be good to yourself, who else knows what you really want and need ?

Redwood

Today while out walking I saw a curious colour in a stream bed. This brook travels downhill and each step had a orangish glow on the edge.

Redwood
over 1/8th yd. using Majic Carpet Dyes.
Dyed in a crock pot, very little stirring, add acid at the 5 minute point after adding wet wool and dye.

1/32 tsp. Reddish Brown
1/32 tsp. Yellow
1/32 tsp. Chocolate Brown

Hints for dyeing

Save electricity and don't fill your cup up to the top. 1 CBW ( cup of boiling water) is overkill.
When dissolving your dye particles in boiling water you only need to use a few tablespoons at most 1/4 cup.
Top it up with cool water, it is safer to handle too.


Replace vinegar with citric acid crystals for fume free dyeing.


Don't be tense when dyeing, put on your "happy " music.


Make something perfectly nice, then think about how to make it glorious.
Enjoy the adventure of it.

Use of Yarn Sample

Believe it or not I used the yarn shown to create strands of hair in my rug precious.
Where it turned blue and light brown it looks like light shining on it !
It all happened with planning !