Tape Looms and Sun Dyed Wool

Check out Alice’s new tape loom – isn’t it gorgeous?   I LOVE the woodwork on it…especially the gooseneck “catches”.  It’s definitely a work of art!   (A tape loom is definitely on my list of “must haves” – I fell in love with them at the Lancaster Spinners and Weavers winter retreat.)

I finally decided that my sun-dyed wool was done and ready to be rinsed.   (Actually, it was done a couple of days ago, but I didn’t have the time to rinse it and lay it out for drying until today!)  I looks like all the dye has been exhausted.   The trick will be to drain it while leaving the wool in tact…to minimize the chance that I’ll felt it!   

I decided to do it the easy way.  Since these are mason jars, the lid is in two parts…the seal and the ring.   I removed the lids, topped the jar with a bit of cheesecloth and then put just the ring on.   I then inverted the jars to drain out the vinegar water.

 

Next, I filled wash tubs with soapy water, removed the wool from the jars, and gave them a good bath.   I then put the wool through several rinses to remove the soap and any excess dye.  

I put the wool into lingerie bags and gave it a quick spin in the washing machine to spin out most of the water.  Finally, I laid the roving out on a screen to dry.   It’s gorgeous!   I love how some of the dye fractured a bit to produce some red-purple and blues in addition to the purple color that I’d selected.    (I had used both bright purple and purple dye – no real measuring…just “guesstimating” the amounts based on the amount of wool in each jar.)

I love Spring – there are so many animals and so many gorgeous flowers…..and it’s not so horribly hot!  I found this little guy wandering about the neighborhood when I took Sandy on her walk this evening.   This young deer definitely didn’t feel threatened by humans….or dogs.

   

AND….I finally got a good shot of the rose by my front door.   I think the coral colored rose is my favorite – the depth of the color is just gorgeous!