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RESULTS AND RECIPES

FIBER ARTS

SPINNING

WEAVING

DYEING

LINEN - MY SPECIALTY

FIBER REFERENCE - LIBRARY & Lectures/Workshops

FLAXCAM

FLAX PROCESSING

DYEPOT AS ORIGINALLY SET UP - WHEN OUR BOYS WERE SMALL

DYEPOT SET UP IN WISCONSIN AND RENOVATED

WHITE AND GRAY HANDSPUN WETTING BEFORE MORDANTING

HANDSPUN DYED WITH WALNUT SHELLS AWAITING OVERDYEING - DIDN'T LIKE THE BROWN TONE

ONE POT FULL OF MORDANTED WOOL DRYING ON THE TERRACE

FRESHLY DYED WOOL (MADDER) RINSING

MADDER DYED HANDSPUN USED IN A RUG - THIS WAS DONE CA. 15 YEARS EARLIER THAN BATCH IN BATHTUB

DYEING is a natural addition to spinning and weaving. My dyeing is almost entirely vegetal - done outside in the dyepot pictured at left.

It was purchased from a farmer in Germany - it is an old wash kettle or butchering kettle - these were used to cook up the parts of a hog used for sausage or as a wash boiler in apartment buildings. The firebox burns either wood or coal making it ideal for washing fresh fleeces as well as running a dyepot. The dyed fiber can remain in the pot overnight or longer and controlling temperature is done with a floating thermometer. By using DuraFlame logs split up into smaller pieces, temperature control is surprisingly easy and accurate.