Spirit Cloth

Here We Go

The Maple.

The first color field to change. The first turnings are the best because the summer color is still there and I feel the process of in between as a kind of broadening of spectrum.

I changed a few things here, (continued from here) stitched it to a base.  Now it is a path through. Something. Anything. And I thought there was something missing.  I will mend the moon with this patch.  To complete the spectrum which always comforts me. Brings the palette to peace. I believe that all the colors are always there in nature, sometimes it just takes a while to adjust your eyes. 

It was a glorious fall day yesterday. I restacked some wood under the porch. And dyed a bit of thread. Heated up the old walnut pom pot and coaxed a bit of blue from a few indigo leaves. This is a beautiful cotton/silk thread that I get from Nancy. All her threads are beautiful.  I'm dyeing with some weaving in mind. And silk, even as a blend is so nice to work with. 
 

Over and Over

Big Rain yesterday. Big.

Picked the rest of the indigo, which seems to ever renew. Most of it anyway. Figuring it would get crushed in the downpour. 

Indigo, the salt method over previously dyed scrap, Pom and oak. I like an earthy color.  A colored base layer helps.

This morning.  Indigo, the salt method take 2, to deepen the color, promising. 

The pineapple top is sprouting, can't even remember how many times I tried this. Enough I guess.

 

Reviving the Dye Po(e)t

There she is, holding the earth and the sky (and me) all at once.

Indian Summer has taken hold, at least for a bit.  The most glorious of days.

Just to test the water really, the water that rises from this earth.

Here, almost dry. (there is a little video over at Instagram of the same) This was a quick, (impatient) bundle around a can, silk noil. Dogwood leaf, Oak leaf, Coreopsis, fresh Indigo, some flowering Weed. The bath, soaked acorns plus some concentrated leftover walnut brew that I actually carried here because I have not found a source here yet. A quick cook, like 20 minutes, a quick cool and unroll.  Just to see, actually. The water here is way different and I don't remember getting these great turquoises from bundling indigo before. I will continue leisurely as windfall increases here. Let them cook longer and cure a bit. Just to know. The Japanese Maple is turning.

I cooked this in the kitchen, the windows were open yesterday. Maybe we can build a little outside fireplace while it is still warm. There is certainly enough rock to work with. It is awfully dry here though, at the moment. I keep that in mind.

My energy is surging. Perhaps I have just accepted this unlikely spot as home. Acceptance is powerful. Loose the baggage I say to myself. 

Also, there was a quick sketch.

 

colors of here

Jar 1, Rainwater and whatever fell in there since we moved here 8 months ago. Oak droppings mostly. a penny I found in between the boards on the deck, along with some loose moss scraped from the steps. 

Jar 2. A few weeks of tea bags, some coffee grounds, oak galls that fell to the ground, a piece of muslin wrapped around an old metal key wrapped with copper wire, some of what was in jar 1, and oh, 2 wildflower blooms at the last minute. Heated once and set out to brew for a weeks.

Jar one is still there.

Below, came out of Jar 2:

Trying to connect. Still a stranger here.

Sky-Dye

 

Today just tired of trying to say.