It seems so long since I went to Beautiful Silks in Allansford for Summer Dye Camp and yet–no post. The tutor once again was Jenai Hooke, full of expertise and inspiration, and dye camp was wonderful!
We dyed with fresh woad from the garden and ice.
My fellow dyers did all kinds of amazing things with indigo and leaves. The crowd at Beautiful Silks never fails to be full of inspiring and interesting humans.
Critters dropped in!
This is a strategy for dyeing yarn that would never have occurred to me. Stunning in the skein (and all multi coloured skeins have their challenges).
I dyed with indigo and with eucalypts.
I learned a new-to-me and very effective way of mordanting with soy, and was re-educated about the importance of scouring.
I made indigo circles for later use, inspired by Jude Hill’s indigo moons on Spirit Cloth.
There was so much more! Madder, cochineal, walnut, tannins, mud, indigo painting… what a fabulous way to spend a holiday, plus the glorious time spent in Warrnambool and surrounds. Highly recommended.
Local & Bespoke 
Pleased you picked up some new processes from the summer school at Botanical Studios, always such a wonderful group of super keen textile junkies. I followed Jude Hills spirit cloth link. OMG what a beautiful, authentic woman! Her website is so refreshing, a forum for everything and everyone that she loves and is inspired by with no rules of what a website should look like or be. Just in the planning stage of my own website and feeling truly inspired.
LikeLike
Isn’t Spirit Cloth amazing? Enjoy! I am delighted you are inspired. AND–over Easter I brought my indigo vat back to life and dyed some wool and some linen and cotton. That’s a first, really! So I clearly learned something about Indigo from you, hooray! And there has actually been scouring too. I may have learned a little discipline, you never know. Thanks so much for all your wisdom. I just loved dye camp.
LikeLike
i must make my way to the summer school !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well if you do, I hope you like it as much as I do. Even just having access to a big indigo vat on a scale I wouldn’t try at home is fabulous, and Beautiful Silks is a lovely space–and of course, you have a great tutor and lovely people working alongside you (and delicious food)!
LikeLike