Saturday, March 19, 2011

So Long Winter!

It's been lovely here the last few days, with temperatures yesterday nearing 80F. (That's upper 20's for you in the metric majority. :-)) The garden is being dug out by hand this year after several years of rototilling when I discovered that there was solid clay only 6" down in some parts of the veggie bed. O.O Now I'm down to more like 18" in that part of the garden, which should make the carrots grow a lot better this year. LOL

Today the hubby has taken The Sproutlings to an animal expo so I can get ready for next weekend's craft show. I've dyed a dozen things so far and have twice run out of towels, and so far I'm pleased with the results I've seen. My favorites in terms of "dye it fast" are the Low Water Immersion items, what I call "dye in a jar" garments.Put dye at the bottom of a jar, stuff in a garment, pour another color on top, let the dyes seep around and interact and make cool patterns and combinations, add soda ask so the dye "sticks" to the fibers, and rinse out anywhere from an hour to a day later. It's pretty random and sometimes strange things happen, but that's half the fun. I did a rayon top this morning in shades of red which is going thru the washer now; looked at it before the rinse came on and the darker reds came out pink, almost lavender, while the brighter red came out more scarlet. Not the effect I wanted, to be sure, but still pretty cool, and very unique. :-) Did another in shades of violet only to discover that the trim is polyester, so it remains to be seen whether someone wants a casual shirt in shades of purples all marbly across the shirt - with a white collar. (D'oh!)

That said, it took me most of the day to dye a dozen items. Yowza. And I haven't gotten out in the garden to pick up any new blisters! LOL

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