Natural Dye - Marigolds

I absolutely adore Marigolds!  Lovely flowers that bloom all Summer long + they are excellent at natural dye.

I'm a knitter but not really a sock knitter - preferring other wearable accessories and sweater knitting over socks, but I've always wanted a pair.  I purchased this sock yarn way back in 2008 when I was pregnant with my first child with the hopes of it becoming socks, but never got around to it.  The poor skein has been shoved around in my yarn stash box for years now, since I'm not that impressed with the color it lay neglected.  It is way to blue and I've often wondered why I even bought it in the first place.  It is Lana Grossa Meilenweit - colorway 8007 (blue, tan with a bit of yellow - maybe some grey)

Before!!

I found a bag of Marigolds taking up freezer space and decided to finally use them.  

Frozen since 2013! 

 over 12 oz of flowers for my 4 oz skein is a bit much 

so I raided my closet for something to add to the dye pot.  

I found a 100% cotton summer tank 

that is just a boring white.  

Tossed both in for an alum mordant

Here is the after yarn dyed with Marigolds and a quick half skein dunk in an Iron post mordant

I divided the skein into two equal mini skeins for easy sock knitting.  

Love the green, yellow earthy tones! 

 I cannot wait to cast on

I plan on knitting the Smooth Operator Socks by Susan B. Anderson 

since the pattern is full of tips and tricks for the not so

sock knitter - kind of knitter, like myself!

So many new stuff & things.....

DTS

Raggz Fiber Affair and Wool Market - April 23rd

Indie Knit & Spin - THIS SATURDAY!!

Dusty Tree Soap

Name: Rebecca Shepler

Business: Dusty Tree Soap

Website: www.dustytree.com and on Facebook as Dusty Tree Soap

What got you interested in your art of choice? 
I’m a ‘retired’ archaeologist who used to spend her days happily sitting in pits of dirt, squinting at tiny pieces of fragments in rather dirty hands all day. I used to get paid to play in the dirt – it was a dream job really, but if I think back it was also research. Research on how cleaning products would scrub away a days worth of digging while most also scrubbed away the natural oils in my skin. I used to have really sensitive hands, dry cracked knuckles and cuticles. Who knows what type of store bought products I was using and thought nothing of it. Fast forward years and I had kids, I knew right away I wanted to use pure natural soaps to cleanse their brand new skin. Nothing but the best for my babies. So I made my own soap, a rather utilitarian object, but I always experiment with different herbs & oils to create winning combinations.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
I have two – my Pumpkin Charcoal Soap that I use daily as a facial soap. It contains bamboo activated charcoal, tea tree essential oil and pumpkin puree. My other favorite is Shea + Clay. Which contains raw unrefined organic shea butter, Moroccan red clay and lavender essential oil – a winner for my dry skin.

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
I strive to provide them with a better way to cleanse their skin. Dusty Tree Soap is vegan handcrafted soap made using edible vegetable oils, pure essential oils and nothing synthetic. I leave out palm and soy oils too. I made a pledge to myself that I would never put anything into my soaps that I didn’t feel good about.

What is your fiber arts superpower?
I don’t think I really have a superpower any different than most knitters other than after working in a yarn shop for a bit I have an unusually keen knack for fixing mistakes.

newest - StUfF + tHiNgS