Walnut Dyeing

Some walnuts from G'pa's back yard.













Yarn in the walnut dye bath.














Yummy brown yarn and wool fabric drying!







This was my second nut-dyeing experience. It was easy and almost mistake-proof. It did take reassurance from My Dye Friend. I make mistakes like putting the yarn in the mordant (not wetting it and just chucking it in the pan) and maybe I don't measure perfectly.

I do have rinse, rinse, rinse, wash, rinse, rinse, rinse down to a routine, tho!

Butternut Dye Bath

I tried some natural dye-ing at home. Allbymyself (well kinda, with e-mail support and with the kindnesses of My Husband).

I purchased some natural yarn (both skeins, top one dyed-- with butternut, one natural--bottom skein) from Hickory Hills (located in Nelson, WI) at the Eagle Coffee Shop (not it's real name, but Eagle Something) in Wabasha, MN. This yarn shopping was whilst on girls retreat in Stockholm, WI.

I dyed with butternuts (top brown-ish) we collected at our retreat rental home--amazing. When readying, My Husband helped schlep the water and the hot plate and the hose, and the tubs. He watched me checking the temperature and asked important questions like "is it getting warm?" and "is it warm-er?".


In the same dyebath, I put this grey wool (undyed on the right) and out came a nice brown-grey.



I am pretty pleased with this allbymyself dying effort.

Now, what to knit?

Oh, and did I mention I know The Mayor of Wabasha, MN? And, that they have a nice store where to purchase Swedish Fish? It's actually a chocolate store, but I like Swedish Fish.

Saterglantan, SE

When you arrive at Saterglantan (in Insjon, SE) you see this cheerful sign! This can only mean good things to come!

A friend and I had registered to take a one-week course (short course) "Natural Dying". We arrived the evening before the course was to begin. When we got to the train station (by train), there was an expansive gravel parking lot. We were EARLY. A few factors played into our next experience: There was no "station" or any businesses to inquire of our ride (prepared for 3 hours later), it was the weekend following Midsommer, so still considered a holiday day. It was a warm sunny afternoon.

I inquired of a family (also in the parking lot) if they knew about arriving at Saterglantan. Puzzled, the wife said there were no taxis, etc. and promptly volunteered her husband to ride us the 3 kilometers there. Which he did. Shining armour was donned and we were off!


Each meal looked like this. Serving pieces were HUGE pottery bowls with carved wooden ladles, beautiful platters with cheeses and meats, etc. Always fresh food. Later, this came to be known, that the vegetables were local and FRESH.


This was my Princess Bed (which I considered fit for a princess).


And this was what we did in Natural Dying class. It might look complicated, which it was. Our instructor, Mia Olsson, guided us through the processes--washing and mordenting the yarn; gathering and preparing a variety of leaves and bark and roots, crushing cochenile, soaking lichen, mixing indigo; rinsing and washing and rinsing and whahlah, beautiful colored yarn (next time)!

Oh, and did I mention shopping at the Butiken?