Raven and Sparrow

Father's Day cruise

Our sons came up to see their dad on Father's Day and since the grass pollen is intense right now and they are all allergic, we decided to escape the sneezes by going out on the little tour boat that runs through Deception Pass. It was a perfect day for a boat ride and although we cross the bridge over the pass quite often, going under it is a special experience.

On the way out we went through the narrow side, called Canoe Pass, and saw the peregrine falcon nest on the bluffs on the left.

There was some slow meandering in search of seals (many) and then we zoomed out into open water and looked for harbor porpoise (also found).

When we turned back we came close to the little island that sits right in front of our house. It is called Northwest Island because it is at the northwest corner of Deception Pass State Park. It was fun to see the back side, with Sare's Head ( a county park) in the background.

It is pretty hard to see our house, which pleases me, but there it is behind the trees. My parents, coming from the Mohave Desert, always said this was paradise, and I think they were right. I am so glad they were brave enough to leave their families and what they had known to come here so we could grow up amid such beauty.

 

 

Wax off

The addition of yellow in the forest and grayon the sky and water is done and the wax has been removed on Becky's Northwest winter tablecloth. It turned out way darker than any of the tests, which is one of the reasons I find testing so frustrating. The color of the water is more emphatic than would be likely in real life, but I think the tablecloth is prettier for it. Taking the wax out lightened the yellows (weld and pomegranate) that I painted on, so some of the blue has crept back into the forest, but I think it will do. Now that the brownish wax is gone, the marks of the rain and water stand out more clearly. I am wondering about those big rain drops in the sky, but it is too late...they are there. Also the water...is it still clunky or did the wax cracking help? These are the things I think about as I stare and stare, trying to decide what to do next. Some embroidery will sharpen and emphasize the pattern. What colors will work best, and where should they go? Time for needle experimentation.

 

Thank goodness I have help.

New results

Here are the samples from my last immersion dye class. The participants were fourth level students at Gail Harker's Center for Creative Studies (www.gailcreativestudies.com) and a wonderful group of women. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with them. The results were puzzling though. I couldn't get the madder to go red and the cochineal wasn't anything like the tests I ran at home (red yarns on top were dyed at home, and the two sets beneath came from the class). We used more fibers in more forms than I usually work with in a class... two weights of wool thread, silk thread, silk organdy and linen... but I don't think that made the difference. I'm wondering what could have caused the change. I used a 2% ferrous sulfate afterbath on the chocolate brown and it came out so dark that indigo hardly changed it. Next time I'll go back to a 1% bath so there is more of a difference.

Birds take flight

It seems like ages since we have had guests for dinner, and this weekend was tough, time and energy-wise. I taught another immersion dyeing class this week, and although it was tremendous fun with with wonderful people, I was totally exhausted. Also, preparing for and teaching a class means everything else, like housework, is left to do itself. Sometimes, though, you just have to get on with it and I'm glad we did. 

Not having too much time to fret about a table can be freeing, and when I realized my poor step-child bird runner (the one I rescued from oblivion and cut in half) looked good with the green undercloth I made a couple years ago for Thanksgiving, the decision was made. The surprise came when I pulled out dishes to go with them. My plainer yellow banded plates worked with the birds, but the more elaborate, fancier china I bought years ago in a second hand store when I was desperate for ten matching plates turned out to have more life. They also introduced pink into the color scheme, which allowed me to use star-gazer lilies for the centerpiece. The plates were more formal than the birds, which worried me a little ... I used the fanciest silverware I have to support the plates, and then the green bumpy glasses to go with the birds. Hopefully a balance was achieved.

We had a lovely evening with our friends, although the new barbie scorched the meat (some inner bad language was suppressed successfully) so it wasn't the best food we have ever served. Hopefully they will give us another chance.

Third dip + indigo

Actually, this is dip three and four...can you see where I mis-judged the dye level on dip three? I finally got a reasonable pattern of rust and black, and then took advantage of the class I taught last week to dip first the middle, and then both ends in indigo. That was after sewing some pleats in to get uneven coverage in the indigo bath. Unfortunately, the indigo was a lot stronger than I usually make the pot, and the blue took over somewhat. Now the cloth is back in mordant, waiting for me to paint some yellows in the middle to bring back more green to the "forest".

I have been working all week to get the materials mordanted for my next class. This one has more people in it (six) and more kinds of fiber, including three pots of wool and silk threads. I really do not like skeining and I am way out of practice in handling wool. I have to watch it like a hawk to keep it from felting as I mordant.

Going places, dyeing things

Wow, it seems like I'm caught in a whirlwind. On Memorial weekend we took the ferry back to San Juan Island with my son Joel and his fiancee Becca to investigate a possible setting for their wedding. Becca spent a couple of quarters in college at the University of Washington Friday Harbor marine station studying pelagic seabirds. She took us on a tour of the station and then we went to Roche Harbor, where she and Joel plan to be married. The weather was glowering and grey all morning, but in the afternoon the sun broke through most beautifully.

After we got home I worked hard all week to prepare for a class I was scheduled to teach this weekend at Gail Harker's Center for Creative Arts in La Conner on immersion dyeing with natural dye extracts. All the fabric for the class had to be scoured and mordanted for the actual teaching part on Saturday and Sunday. It went quite well. I don't usually teach very often, but as it happens, I have another class in ten days. I'm not sure I can keep up the pace.