yet more yarn

Darned NZ light means I can't find anywhere in the house to take photos without glare! I dyed another 30 skeins yesterday, mostly in the colours I'm selling on the website, but I did try out a few ideas: above - this photo can't quite capture the blue greens of the yarn, I'm calling this one "West Coast breakers" because that is exactly what it looks like, I love it so much I'm keeping it to make socks. The greens below are the colours of my vegie garden and almost as yummy.

No prizes for guessing who the garment made from this yarn is going to be for, and in case Mummy feels left out, I dyed up some laceweight for her too. I'm calling this one "Pinata!"

I haven't been able to get a good enough photo of the last experiment, basically it is underpainted with jewel bright pinks/blues/purples and overpainted with black, the colours peek through the black and charcoal - I'm calling it "80's eye makeup" because it reminds me of those Revlon eyeshadows from the 80's, you chose the case, then mix and matched the shadows, the first 2 I bought were electric blue and hot pink...stylish.

ticking off the list

Yarn skeined, dyed and re-ordered - done and drying in the shade

Particularly loving Blaise's input, with a colourway called "Brand new day" - light blues, pale pinks, cream and gold with a touch of indigo to represent the edge of dawn.

Custom order, which has entailed much more work than anticipated, scaling patterns up in size is not easy for littlies, their shape and ratios change so much.I am very happy with the final result in a silk/merino blend.

wonderful surprise gift of vintage buttons from Shan I particularly love the green ones, thank you so much, Auckland isn't a complete button free zone, but it's pretty much a beautiful button free zone!

Flash is home (a day late, and more than a dollar short - I got Moet for Mothers Day, there's Cointreau and sugar cubes in the pantry - think we'll have a champagne cocktail before the lamb which has now been marinating for 2 days.)

He enjoyed Shanghai - think I should start learning Chinese? Do they have yarn there?

Some 18 year old girls - gggrrrrr, I suddenly realised that Maria and Charlotte are actually our first 18 year olds to live with us full time, Holly was living with my parents while studying at Uni, and Melanie had left to work fulltime and was living with her Mum. They are horrid - society, tv, magazines all tell them that they are "adults" so they think they have all sorts of "rights" and we have 2 of them - backing each other up constantly and treating the house like a hotel, I found Blaise folding 8 loads of washing last night, while the other 2 watched t.v. - she said it was easier just to get on and do it than to listen to their whingeing if she asked them to help, they disappear when there are jobs to do, but are first in line for dinner or pocket money, they argue about curfews and we are "SO MEAN".

Draconian measures are called for.

I hate to end on such a ickky note - especially on Mother's Day, and I know that I am just having a reaction to a week of trying to parent these two in particular alone, they have gone out with their boyfriends, I did manage to get a Happy Mother's Day out of Charlotte, and will spend a happy afternoon with Flash, Blaise, my Mum, my Gran, and then knitting group, the day is warm, the sun is shining.

Pinwheel beanie

Yarn: Just Jussi light DK 1 skein (light worsted) (100 m/y = 50 grams (2 oz)
Needles: 3.5 mm dpns
gauge approx: 22 sts = 10cm
Tapestry needle for sewing up.
Fits up to 6 (12) months size baby
Cast on 66 (72) sts
Work 10 (12) rows 2x1 (2x2) rib
Work 30 (40) rows stst
Start pinwheel decreases;
Next row: Knit 4, k2tog repeat to end
Knit 1 row
Next row: Knit 3, k2tog repeat to end
Knit 1 row
Next row: Knit 2, k2tog repeat to end
Knit 1 row
Next row: Knit 1, k2tog repeat to end
Knit 1 row
Next row: K2tog repeat to end
thread yarn through sts and fasten off.

This is one of the patterns which will be free on the label of my "Bushbaby" handpainted yarn which I will be selling at the Luxury market, at the moment I am just looking at 50g (2 oz) of the light DK weight, which is enough to make a beanie, bootees or a body warmer. I am working on an adult sock pattern to go with a 100g skein.

Friday round up

Dyeing is not the simple process that it was in Camperdown, with it's huge granite benchtop, and endless bright (retina destroying) light, here it is a small kitchen and formica (?) benchtops, still as long as there is a sink and a microwave we're in business.

"Liquidamber"

I have never seen a superwash wool take the colour like this merino from Tai Tapu, I'll be phoning for more in the morning. It is a light worsted/dk weight and still has that beautiful sheen through the colours.

"Iris"

This yarn is destined for my stall at The Luxury Markets at Auckland's Stamford Plaza hotel on May 27th, I will be selling the yarn and giving away some basic patterns - a baby beanie, a vest, maybe baby socks, so that the customers don't just walk off with 50grams of wool they will look at but never use (or they can just look at it - I don't mind!)

"Gloria"

Having a stall at the luxury markets was all my Mama's idea, and after we had had a wander around, spent some money and had a coffee, she dragged me off to meet the organiser - good thing too, I am terrible at doing things like that.

"I saw a red tractor in a field of lavender"

there were many beautiful items for sale, jewellery, art, candles...the tables are all set up ready and waiting, and everyone dresses up in their nice frocks.

"camo"

Flash and Mum are eager to man the stall, they are both enamoured of marketing and talking to the public, I'll stay in the background and stick to my knitting.

"smoked paprika"

these colours were a lot of fun, the colours aren't quite right on screen, but almost.

I'd like to dye more solid colours, but people rave about the "Rosamundi" colourway especially - I am tempted to call it "Favourite child" instead

"if I squashed blueberries onto white yarn..."

- If you haven't alreayd done so - go see Lara, and rejoice in her and Mark's fecundity!

- then go and congratulate Donni on the event of her 21st'st birthday

- Frasier has managed to break more precious items this week than my children have in their entire lives, I am toddler proofing the house.

- Flash is off to China on monday (our aniversary - as is traditional in our relationship, he is always overseas on our anniversary, and had a lovely time alone in Paris for our honeymoon)

the view from here

There are cats, and then there are Bengals...I had been told this, I believed it, I had met some adult Bengals and some teeny weeny baby Bengals, and they were everything our family wanted in a cat - talkative, intelligent, different, just like our kids.

As a child I showed my cat "Mitzi" she was a stunning Silver Tabby British shorthair, her cage was always covered with ribbons, and I made good pocket money out of the sweepstakes, the judges loved her pliant good nature, she was the smartest cat we ever had. My family has always had cats, except for our stay in Oz (where I had to cuddle the cats on my walks) so I have had plenty of feline experience.

Frasier has rocked my world, he is demanding, and unrelenting - he is the cat version of a toddler, he cries when someone leaves the house, has very clear ideas (which clash with mine) about what he is going to eat, loves his toys...and Layla's toys, and Jussi's toys...(read my green chibi holder - not the pink or the white, only the green, and my photolink cable)

Frasier walking off with my chibi again

and my cable...

and climbing my leg when I take them away...my view looking down

This happens a few times a day,we are getting better at anticipating his next move, just like a toddler he gives you clues, he vocalises to himself and paces when he is about to do something "naughty", so we have warning. He learns new "words" everyday, and chats with us constantly - "where are you?, where are you going?, what's that?, can I eat it?, no I want meat - I said meat not biscuits!" oh and he definitely has a word for "no"

Having teenagers has made it a lot easier to train Frasier though, everyone in the family helps - if he jumps onto the table everyone responds the same way, by saying "down" and placing him on the floor, so even though he is full on, he isn't being spoilt too much.

I am so glad that we decided to keep Layla, if I had known that Bengals really need another cat around I would have bought two. He is busy all day long and Layla helps to relieve him of some of his boundless energy by chasing him relentlessly, she has taken on some of his behaviour too, they both follow me throughout the day, and she has learnt his words as well. Unfortuantely I have had to seperate them at mealtimes, Frasier vomited 2 mornings in a row, I called the vet and had a chat, and we worked out what was happening, Frasier vacums his meat and then vacums Layla's, then of course the inevitable happens and it all comes back up. Yuk.

In other news, I have a FO that I can show you for a change, a simple garter st scarf for Blaise, long and skinny (30 sts on 3.5 mm needles until the skein of Koigu ran out)

and finally a word about Lichen.

A couple of eco-nazis, sorry, concerned citizens have emailed me anonomously (chickens) to advise me of my evil ways, apparently Lichen is endangered in some places and my suggestion that people use it dye wool is abhorrent, and I should be pilloried for the suggestion.

I would like to make a couple of comments in my defence.

1. I live in New Zealand - little country in the South Pacific, not part of Australia, lot's of sheep.

2. In NZ we are quite good at conserving flora and fauna, ok we aren't great, but we're up there, our government has just spent 10 million dollars to save some snails.

3. The upshot of this is that we don't have the huge populations, acid rain and deforestation issues that North America and Europe have, so our local lichen population is very healthy, thank you. I agree that dyers should act responsibly when gathering plantstuffs, and should be aware of their local environment. In my local environment I was able to gather a small pot of lichen from pruned branches and windfall, this is more than enough to dye 2 kilos of wool, and will last a year or two if stored correctly.

I would suggest that if anyone wants to use plant dyes ensures that the plant is not endangered locally, gathers a small amount, or grows plants for their own use.

All around the houses

I have had a couple of emails from people who for whatever reason cannot read .pdfs, so here is the Natural dyeing tutorial, but before I start with that, this weekend whilst making Yoga (Pilates) socks for my Mama, (2 on 2 circs, took me a bit to figure out, but now I'm rip roaring along) I had a realisation, the Yoga Socks pattern can be simplified to almost nothing, thus:

Knit sock from top down using any pattern you like (but one that includes a couple of inches of rib would be best), when you get to the heel shaping cast off the number of sts the pattern wants you to use for the heel, work the round until you get to the place you cast off, cast on the same number of sts and work across them, continue until the foot portion is the length you want (some rib is good here too) then cast off. Simple.(slaps head)

I have started a Webring for knit blogging parents of teenagers, if you have teenagers and a sense of humour please sign up, we need to band together! Click on the "join" button on the ring in my sidebar.


Dyeing wool with organic material
(And no harmful chemicals!)

Dyeing is just magic! You take ordinary household ingredients, some bits of plants, boil them together and “hey presto!” you have colour. Get your kids to join in, just make the tasks age appropriate, and they will have a story to tell their friends, a doozy of a “show and tell” and warm fuzzies about wool and nature.

This tutorial is basically teaching you how to test dye with plant materials, it will give you the skills to go on and experiment with plants from your local area.

I am a knitwear designer and manufacturer, currently I make 2 clothing ranges for babies, basically one is organic the other is not, the organic range is made from certified organic, undyed cream merino wool, beautiful in itself, but I felt the need for an injection of colour. I spoke to the yarn manufacturers, who explained to me that it is very difficult to find commercial organic dyes, and the metals used to mordant the wool are poisonous, so at the moment they choose not to dye, which is understandable. I didn’t want to use food type dyes (drink mixes, food colouring etc) because I figured that the parents who are buying organic don’t want food colouring inside their kids and wouldn’t want artificial colouring on their kids clothes.

I remembered back 15 years when I played at dyeing yarn with plant material, I grew madder (the plant, not a state of mind!) coreopsis and woad, I gathered lichen and boiled it up to release lovely apricots and tans, I didn’t keep any details of these exploits, but I remembered enough to get started.

A few of the trees on our new property are dripping with a lichen called “Old Man’s Beard”, it is green and hairy, and comes of the tree easily, chopped finely and boiled it releases a tan dye with no need for mordants, the bright oranges it gives up help us to understand that our ancestors did not live a black and white existence, that they had a need for colour, and found I in the most unusual places.
There is another common lichen here, which grows in frilly circles; it often has a black covering on the back which helps to make the dye a darker shade.

I also picked up some plant materials from a craft shop, Rose Madder (ground), Cutch (a type of resin), Cochineal (the famed bug) and Brazil wood sawdust.
Next came the testing, skeins of 10metres worth of wool were wound, and each was tied differently, so that I could remember which mordant I used for each skein e.g. 3 ties, 4 ties, ties with 1, 2 or more knots. I suppose we should go into tutorial mode now, so here are the instructions step by step.

1) Gather together your equipment, I use a couple of old saucepans from the op shop, both have lids and both are clearly labeled “Mum’s dyeing” which never fails to illicit gales of laughter from the kids. You will also need a sieve, at least 4 small bowls, 2 larger bowls for rinsing and soaking, a wooden spoon or two, plenty of rags for wiping up spills, an apron and something to protect your kitchen from splashes ( plastic tablecloth). If you have the space, consider using a gas burner and doing your dyeing in a garage or in the back garden, cooking up that plant material can pong a bit! You will also need pen and paper to keep a record of your experiments.

2) Make sure you have your plant material in a usable state, chop leaves or lichen finely, have dry spoons to measure out your dry materials (make sure that everything you use for dyeing remains for dyeing – these dyes aren’t poisonous, but it is just good practice when dyeing) Assemble your mordants (these are chemicals which help the colour “bite” into the yarn – I am only using non-poisonous mordants in this tutorial) you could use Table salt, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda, citric acid or vinegar – all of these should be available from the supermarket – try the baking section.

3) Skein your yarn (use non-superwash wool only, as superwash is hard to dye evenly, these dyes only work with wool) you will need a skein for each plant you wish to use, and for each mordant you are planning to use with each plant. E.g. say you want to dye with Cochineal, you want to try citric acid, vinegar and cream of tartar as mordants, you also want to try one skein without any mordant, so you make up 4 trial skeins, and tie each one differently – as I mentioned before I use 4 plain ties for skeins with no mordant, 3 ties for skeins using cream of tartar, 4 ties with 2 knots for bicarb of soda – come up with your own method, then WRITE it down! In the heat of the moment you will not remember – ask me how I know!

4) Place the number of skeins you will be using in a bowl of warm water and leave at least an hour, now you can make the dye.

5) Place the dye material in a saucepan with the water, I started with 1 teaspoon of dry material to 1 litre water, with lichen I use 20grams to 1 litre, and with leaves I would use at least a cup of fresh chopped leaves to a litre. Bring to a boil (watch carefully to ensure no boil overs) then simmer for at least ½ an hour, strain through a muslin (or teatowel) lined sieve, and pour the resultant liquid dye into separate bowls for each mordant (or not) that you are using.

6) Pour 1 bowl of dye back into the (now rinsed) dyepot, add the skein and the mordant (try a ¼ teaspoon to start, add a little more if you wish) and add a little water if it is too low, simmer for at least 10 minutes. If you were dyeing a larger quantity of yarn I would recommend simmering until the water is almost clear, but that is unlikely to happen with these test skeins.

7) Remove the yarn and place in a bowl of clean, warm water, rinse until the water is clear, squeeze out excess water and place on a towel to dry a bit. Repeat the process until you have used all of your skeins, if you find a particularly nice colour you may wish to dip dye one of your earlier skeins, just place part of the skein in the dye pot and let the rest sit on the handle or side of the dye pot (careful not to let it near the element) leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
Finally hang your skeins in the shade to dry, make notes of any that bleed colour or fade upon drying. I hang my test skeins half in- half out of a shoe box in the sun for a couple of weeks, using some commercial yarn as a control, then I can ascertain whether a dye is going to fade too quickly to make it useful.


8) You will notice that your skeins may be very different shades or even different colours, this is the action of the mordants, and using your notes you can now go on and dye larger amounts of yarn, varying the amounts of mordant and dyestuff to suit. Keep detailed notes of all aspects of your experiments, especially when using fresh materials – was it spring or winter when you collected them? Which part of the plant did you use? This way you may be able to get repeatable shades.

Here are my results:
Madder, mordants from bottom to top: vinegar, citric acid, baking soda, baking soda plus cream of tartar.


Cochineal beetles, mordants from left to right:
Salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, citric acid, no mordant.



Cutch, mordants from bottom to top: baking soda, vinegar, citric acid, cream of tartar.

Lichen (Old mans beard)
From bottom to top:
No mordant, no mordant, citric acid (brighter orange)

Brazil wood, dyed skeins first with no mordant (apricot colour), then removed skeins and added 1 tsp baking soda to the pot, purple colour emerged!, dip dyed skeins.



The internet and library have loads of resources, books of dye plants, and more involved dyeing instructions, this is just a simple tutorial to introduce you to natural dyes without the drama of using harsher mordants, if you don’t have little kids around you may want to pursue the metal mordants and chase the really exciting colours that they provide.

Websites you might like:
White Dragon – article about historical dyes
Pioneer Thinking – good list of plants to consider
Florilegium – wonderful plant list and resource

Natural dyes tutorial

Go see it, do it, do it now!

my dyeing wool with natural dyes tutorial is available free in .pdf form from the Just Jussi site, click here

see, my time has not been completely wasted.

all tied up

well this has taken a while - no? when did we leave Oz?...January 3, we applied for Broadband around January 14...advised them we were moving in January 30...and joy of joys today, this minute I am finally sitting at my own desk, on my own laptop connected to the interknit.

I don't know where to start, it has been so long since I could surf with abandon, I need to check in, see where people have been, what they have been up to, what's hot right now, what's not.

In the meantime, the business is ticking over despite the lack of internet, a photographer came today for a photo for the Herald business section - a lovely (knitter) journalist came and interviewed me for her story on the Made from NZ campaign even though I warned her I'm really a teeny-tiny business (with big plans) but she said that was fine, and trekked out to Titirangi, and met Frasier, who promptly fell asleep in her lap endearing himself forever.

The Knit-Rangers are ready for a meetup, just have to decide...everything! time/day/venue, but we have a couple of members via Meetup, and a couple of locals who have expressed an interest, so now I am "back" I can organise that.

I have also been playing with Organic dyes, a tutorial is literally only hours away.

trail mix?

today I returned to Hands Ashford - and this time I could purchase whatever I wanted, no quarantine this time! The little bags in the picture above are neither spices nor trail mix ingredients (I was teasing Holly) but madder, brazil wood, cutch and cochineal (beetles-shhhh) I have had enough of not being able to source coloured organic merino, so have decided to have a go myself. Years ago when I lived on Waiheke I dyed yarn with eucalyptus leaves and lichen, using baking soda, and copper and iron cooking pots as mordants instead of metal salts, I ended up with ranges of pinks, apricots and purples, some of which I still have in baby garments knitted back then - and they are still colourfast. In later years I grew rose madder for pinks, yarrow and coreopsis, and used alum - in tiny quantities, to fix yellows from the coreopsis and yarrow. I am going to experiment with my purchases, as well as walnut shells and onion skins - hopefully I'll end up with a range of subtle elegant, colourfast shades, which I know to be safe. The organic spinners I have spoken to are wary of commercial "organic" dyes, and fair enough, I only need to dye a moderate amount of yarn, they are responsible for a lot more than that.

I purchased some Touchyarns 4ply merino in the "Blackwatch" colourway , it is beautifully soft, and very reasonable at $15 for 100g.I have started on a wee basket stitch cardigan of my own design, I think this stitch pattern should bring out the colours well.

Tomorrow I plan to drive out to Akaroa - a French settlement on the coast an hour from Christchurch, I have a copy of the "Crafty girls road trip"book, new batteries in the camera, and a whole day to myself, I plan to explore the galleries and shops, especially the Paua pearl gallery (blue pearls) but somehow I don't think I'll be buying anything there! The book has a few a few glaring holes: Geoff's Emporium of Dominion rd, and behind the new library in Henderson are legendary, but missing. I would thoroughly recommend the book to anyone planning any travel in NZ, especially those from overseas, it is wonderful to have all of those resources in one place, the author has done a lot of work.

All sounds well at home, Flash has not continued with the demolitions (the fridge didn't fit in the kitchen, so a couple of cupboards had to go...the dishwasher pipe was behind the back of the glassware cupboard...so that had to go) the girls are mucking in well, even cooking dinner and making his lunch for him, however they did lose Frasier for a few moments...I wonder if they checked his favourite hiding place? better not tell him about the local Indian restaurant nearby my motel...it's called "A taste of Bengal" hmmmm.