Tuesday 16 September 2014

Filcani copati pa zelene orehove lupine - Felted slippers together with green walnut hulls

Prejšnji teden sem imela dva dodatna dneva prosto pa me je potegnilo v filcanje. Pa ne, da bi naredila en par ... Ne, ko sem izgotovila prvega, sem bila tako navdušena, imela sem še dovolj česane volne in barvilne tekočine, da sem šla delat še en par. 
Tokrat sem filcala z belo, nebarvano volno, in nato narejene copate barvala z zelenimi orehovimi lupinami. To delam zelo redko, saj moram imeti res dovolj lupin. Pa ta največji lonec moram izvleči izpod vse druge šare, zasede mi tri četrtine štedilnika, težek je in ga komaj prestavljam. Ampak je vredno.
Last week I was granted two additional days off and I immediately set to felting. But it was not only one pair ... Oh no, when the first pair was finished I was so delighted about it, I had enough carded wool and dyeing solution left, so I immediately started another pair.
This time I used white, non-dyed wool for felting and dyed finished slippers with green walnut hulls. I do this only very rarely, I have to have really large amounts of hulls at hand. Besides, I have to get out my huge pot from under all sorts of junk, it takes about three quarters of my stove, it is rather heavy so I can move it only with great effort. But it does pay off. 

  Copate je najbolje nositi na boso nogo, saj volna zelo blagodejno deluje na noge. Zelo primerni so tudi za boleče noge, ki otekajo, saj ni treba nositi nogavic, ki po navadi stiskajo nogo in ovirajo krvni pretok.
The slippers are best worn on bare feet since wool has a very beneficial effect on feet. They are well suited also for swolen and aching legs because no socks are needed that usually compress the leg tightly, making blood circulation even poorer.
Pa še to: copati so zelo elegantni, čeprav slika tega mogoče ne prikaže dovolj.
In še nekaj posnetkov ustvarjanja teh copatov:
What's more, these slippers are nice and elegant although the pictures may not show it very well.
Below are some pictures of the felting process.
 
   

 
 


Pa še ena bolj poskočna :-)
And here is a more lively picture of the slippers:

Monday 1 September 2014

Rumena kozmeja - Yellow cosmos - Cosmos sulphureus

 
 
Tele lepe rožice niso samo lepe, ampak dajo tudi lepo barvo na volno. Letos se jih je na vrtu zasejalo zelo veliko in sem jih precej pustila rasti. Zdaj obilno cvetijo, pridno jih obiram, skoraj vsak drugi dan, in jih sušim za kasnejše barvanje.
Kakšnih 150 cvetov sem pa svežih skuhala in uporabila za barvanje. 
 
 
These pretty flowers are not only pretty themselves, they also give a pretty colour on wool. This year many flowers self-seeded in the garden. I let grow many plants which are now in full bloom. I pick flowers almost every other day and dry them for later dyeing.
I cooked about 150 fresh flowers and used the bath for dyeing.
 
 
Oranžna je bila precej močna, pa sem se lotila še malo obdelave barve. Levo štrenico sem namočila v barvilno kopel, ki sem ji dodala nekaj bakrovega acetata. Srednjo štrenico sem namakala z dodatkom žličke sode bikarbone. Desno štrenico sem pustila brez dodatne obdelave.
Barve na sliki so kar precej realne, mogoče so v resnici še malo bolj oranžne, zlasti desna. 
Slika je mogoče malo "nevolnena", a vse to se zdaj suši na balkonu. Pa še lepo paše skupaj  :-)
 
The orange was very intense so I decided to do some postmordanting. I soaked the skein on left in the dyebath to which I added some copper acetate. The skein in the middle was soaked with the addition of a teaspoonful of baking soda. I left the skein on the right side without any postmordanting.
The colours in the picture are pretty real; perhaps there is a bit more orange in real life, especially in the skein on the right.
The picture may be a bit "non-woolly" but this is what is now drying on my balcony. And what's more, they go so well together J