Vrbovo listje - Willow tree leaves

V tej poletni vročini sem se pozno popoldne odpravila s kolesom po gozdni poti, ob kateri raste precej vrbovih grmov. Nabirala sem listje, dokler me napadalni komarji niso prisilili k "umiku".

Late in the afternoon in the hot summer weather I took my bike and rode along a forest road with many willow bushes growing by its sides. I collected leaves until aggressive mosquitoes forced me to "retreat".

Listje sem kuhala več ur, dokler se ni res  zmehčalo. A voda je bila precej svetla, nekako sivkasta. Bala sem se, da ne bom dobila tiste lepe, močne rumene, ki jo imam v spominu od prejšnjih let.

I simmered the leaves for a couple of hours until they softened. But the dyeing bath remained rather light coloured, somehow greyish. I was afraid I would not get the beautiful intense yellow I remembered from previous dyeing sessions.

Kako sem se zmotila! Moj strah je bil neutemeljen. Volna iz barvilne kopeli je bila močne, živorumene barve, še precej bolj, kot kaže slika.

I could not be mistaken more! My fears were ungrounded. The wool yarn came out of the dyeing bath beautifully intense yellow colour, even much more so than shown in the picture.

Na slikah je volna iz prvih dveh barvanj, tretje barvanje ni skoraj nič manj intenzivno, barvala bom še četrtič v isti barvilni kopeli.

Vrba - tako skromno drevo, pa tako razkošne barve!

The pictures show wool yarn dyed in two successive dyeings in the same dye bath. The third dyeing gave a colour almost equally intense and I'll be able to do a fourth dyeing in the same dye bath.

Willow tree - such a humble tree giving such rich colours!

Filcan okrogel okrasni cvetlični lonček - Wet felted flower bowl

 

Za rojstni dan si je sin zaželel filcan okrasni lonec. Kakšen naj bo, mi je kar pokazal na sliki s spleta. Lep, preprost okrogel lonec.

My son told me he would love a felted flower pot for his birthday. And sent me a photo of a round felted vase from the internet to give me an idea what it should look like. A simple round vessel.

Vsaj pet let že nisem filcala okrogle posode, tako da sem se morala kar pripraviti in obnoviti znanje. Imela sem lepo mikano domačo volno, mešanico bele in temno rjave/črne. Ker je bilo temne več kot po navadi, je barva bolj rjava kot siva.  Rumeno-oranžno sem pobarvala sama, a sam Bog ve, s katero rožico.

 I haven't made a round felted  vessel at least five years so had to renew my knowledge. I had beautiful carded farmer's wool, a mixture of natural white and natural dark brown/black. There was much more dark wool in it than usual so it is more brown than grey. The yellow-orange wool was dyed by me but only God knows with which plant.

 

 P.S. Saj vem, da bi bilo še lepše in bolj zanimivo, če bi slikala še v drugem okolju pa s kakšno rožico zraven...
 P.S. I'm very well aware it would look much better and more interesting if I took a photo of the bowl against a different background, perhaps adding a flower or two ...

Grelčki za roke - Wrist warmers

Zima še kar nekaj opleta z repom, vsakih nekaj dni izpod neba nasuje nekaj belega pa mokrega pa mrzlega še zdaj v marcu. Če nam ni več za rokavice, pridejo prav grelčki. Ker so iz 100% volne, so prijetno topli in lepo grejejo roke, čeprav prsti niso pokriti. In lahko na cesti telefoniramo, se na sprehodu držimo za roke, na terasi kavarne pijemo kavico  - brez neprijetno mrzlih rok.
Winter has a long tail this year, sending something white and wet and chilly from the sky every now and then even in March. If you don't care for wearing gloves or mittens any more wrist warmers come in handy. Since they are made from 100% wool they are pleasantly warm, nicely keeping the hands warm although fingers are not covered. Making phone conversations in a street, holding hands on a chilly day or drinking a cup of coffee on a terrace becomes a pleasant experience, with no cold hands whatsoever.

Grelčki ne segajo visoko čez prste, da nas ne ovirajo. Da pa ne bi bili členki prstov izpostavljeni hladu, sem na hrbtni strani dodala dve vrsti in je ta stran malo višja. 
The wrist warmers do not extent high over the fingers. To avoid exposing knuckles to cold I made two additional rows on the back so this side is slightly higher.

Seveda sem uporabljeno volno pobarvala z rastlinami. A ker je tega že nekaj časa, lahko samo ugibam - lučnik za zeleno, neka izčrpana barvilna tekočina za drap, rumenkasto zelena pa verjetno šentjanževka.
Of course, I'd dyed the wool I used with plants. But this was some time ago so I have to guess: green should be from mullein, beige from some exhausted dye bath and greenish-yellow from St. John's wort.

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:

Skupno barvanje -- Group dyeing

Rabarbara, kozmeja, zelene orehove lupine  --  Rheum, Cosmos sulphureus, Juglans regia  -- Rhubarb, yellow cosmos, green walnut hulls

Včeraj smo skupaj barvali Tatjana, Tadeja, Klavdija, Simona, Dušan in jaz. Barvali smo z dvema rastlinama, ki ne potrebujeta čimžanja z galunom - rabarbarinimi koreninami in zelenimi orehovimi lupinami, in s kozmejo, ki zahteva galun.
Naša pričakovanja: zlatorumena ali gorčična iz rabarbare, živa oranžna iz kozmeje in temno rjava iz orehov. Pa poglejmo, kaj smo dobili.
Pri rabarbari, iz katere sem naštete barve že večkrat dobila, sem potihoma upala na roza barvo v alkalni kopeli po barvanju - če bo Bog dal, sem rekla na začetku. Po navodilih Jenny Dean iz Anglije (http://www.jennydean.co.uk/ smo vzeli malo suhih korenin rabarbare, jih kuhali dobro uro in nato barvali belo volneno prejo brez predhodnega čimžanja. Dobili smo svetlejšo rumeno, ki je žal nisem poslikala, preden so jo odnesli. Predlagala sem, da nekaj štrenic namakamo v raztopini pralne sode - in Bog je dal roza! Doslej sem jo - bolj nevede kot z znanjem - dobila le enkrat, potem je pa nisem v več letih nikoli mogla več ponoviti.

Yesterday Tatjana, Tadeja, Klavdija, Simona, Dušan and I met to dye together. We used two plants that need no premordanting with alum, the so-called substantial dyes - rhubarb roots and green walnut hulls, and yellow cosmos that requires alum mordanting.
What we expected to get was the following: golden yellow or mustard from rhubarb, vivid orange from cosmos and dark brown from walnut. Let's see what we got.
I had obtained the two colours from rhubarb several times in the past. In my heart I hoped that this time we might get pink - God permitting, as I sighed at the beginning of our dyeing session. As Jenny Dean (http://www.jennydean.co.uk/) suggested we used only a small amount of dried rhubarb roots, cooked them for about an hour or so and then proceeded to dyeing white wool yarn without any premordanting. We got a light yellow, but unfortunately I didn't take any photo. I then suggested to soak a skein or two in an alkaline solution of washing soda - and God granted us the pink! Up to now I've only obtained it once. It was more a happy chance than expertize, and I could never repeat it.
More English translation coming soon

Roza iz rabarbarinih korenin na mokri volni.
Pink from rhubarb roots on wet wool.

 

Kozmeja je na čimžani volni dala predvideno oranžno, zares lep odtenek, ki razveseli oko in srce.
Yellow cosmos gave the predictable orange on alum mordanted wool, a beautiful nuance that makes the eye and the heart happy.


Zeleni orehi dajo zelo temno rjavo, če jih uporabimo v zelo veliki količini, tako kot na spodnji sliki, kjer volna še ni oprana. Meni se je zdelo, da ne bo dovolj temna in bi jo v orehih kuhala še kakšno uro ali dve, drugi pa so bili z doseženo barvo čisto zadovoljni. Ko smo jo oprali, smo dobili rjavo, kot je na prvi sliki zgoraj, desno.
Green walnuts give very dark brown when applied in large quantities, a nuance shown in the picture below, with wool not washed yet. To me it didn't seem dark enough and I would have prefered to cook the wool for another hour or two, but the others were quite happy with the colour obtained. After washing we obtained the brown shown in the first picture above, the skein on the right.

Tole barvarsko dopoldne je bilo zanimivo, veselo, pestro, z lepimi barvami, ki nam bodo sive deževne novembrske in ostale zimske dneve polepšali z barvami poletja na volni.
The dyeing morning session was interesting, merry, with a variety of beautiful colours that will make the grey rainy days of November beautiful with the colours of summer on wool.

Tkan podstavek - A Woven Mat

Že dolgo je bila moja tiha želja tkanje. Da bi svojo volno, barvano z rastlinami, stkala v nek izdelek. Ampak ta velike statve me ne privlačijo, nimam ne prostora ne dovolj volne iste barve ne volje za pripravo velikih izdelkov. Kaj takega, manjšega, kar ne vzame preveč časa, preden imaš v roki končni izdelek.
Pa mi je padla v naročje pripravica, ki jo proizvajalec Schacht imenuje Zoom Loom, po slovensko ji pa rečem tkalni okvirček. Ima zelo nazorna navodila, z malo vaje pa že nastane takle kvadratek, 10 x 10 cm. Primeren je kot podstavek za kozarec, vazo, ..., lahko pa se sešije več kvadratkov za večje izdelke - šal, torbica, blazina, ...
Navodila so za enobarvne izdelke, to pa meni ni dovolj. Malo sem poskušala, malo podirala, zdaj sem nekako zadovoljna s takole dvobarvno kombinacijo.
Temnejša volna - v resnici ni rjava ali olivna, ampak lepa zelena - je sončno barvana z lučnikom in bakreno vodo, svetlejša pa s cvetovi sončnice.

I have been longing to learn to weave. To weave my natural dyed wool into a product. I'm not interested in large loom, I don't have either the room for it or enough wool yarn of the same colour or willingness for preparation of large projects. I wanted something smallish where not much time is required to arrive at the finished product.
And lo! I came into possession of the small pin loom the producer Schacht named Zoom Loom (I named it frame loom). Only a little practice, and a small square of 10 times 10 cm is made. It may be used as a mat to put a glass or a vase on it, or several squares can be sewn together into a scarf, a bag, a pillow, ...
The instructions tell you hoe to make squares in a single colour, which wasn't enough for me. So I kept trying and unravelling: now I'm pretty happy with this combination of two colours.
The darker yarn - in real life it isn't brown or olive as represented by the camera, it is a pretty green colour - was sun dyed with mullein and copper water, the lighter yarn was dyed with sunflower heads.

Pa še sličica stkanega kvadratka skupaj s tkalnim okvirčkom:

Here is also a picture of the woven square together with the pin loom.

Silina ali oblajst - Isatis tinctoria - Woad

Na vrtu so mi zelo lepo rastli trije grmički siline, ki sem jih vzgojila iz semena v lončkih na balkonu, pa še en grm od lani. Ta je najprej cvetel in semenil, potem pa je naprej rastel kot bi bil letošnji, kar ni običajno.
Volno - seveda našo domačo - sem dobro oprala in nato barvala po postopku Leene Riihelle (http://riihivilla.blogspot.fi/2009/10/my-dyeings-with-woad-minun.html) . Obstaja več postopkov za barvanje s svežimi listi siline. Dva sem preskusila že lani poleti, ko sem silino prvič vzgojila na vrtu, pa nista delovala. Po kakšnih štirih neuspelih poskusih sem že skoraj obupala, potem sem pa poskusila še Leenin postopek - et voila! dobila lepo modro.
Tole barvanje je bilo z veliko količino listov, kakih 1200 gramov, ker sem porezala vse liste pred napovedano slano. Tako sem dobila lepe modre, nekje med zgornjo in spodnjo sliko.

There were three bushes of woad thriving in the garden that I'd grown from seed in pots on my balcony, and an additional plant from last year. The latter produced flowers and seeds, then it grew on as if it were this year's plant, which is unusual.
I prepared wool yarn - naturally it was Slovenian wool - washing it well and then dyed it with woad following the procedure described by Leena Riihella here (http://riihivilla.blogspot.fi/2009/10/my-dyeings-with-woad-minun.html). Dyeing with fresh woad leaves can be done in different ways. I tried two last summer when I grew woad for the first time: they both failed. After about four failures I almost gave up but then I tried Leena's procedure - et voila! I got beautiful blue.
Dyeing was done with a large amount of leaves, about 1200 gram. In the beginning of October as frost was forecasted I harvested all leaves. I got a couple of nice blue skeins of wool yarn, the colour is somewhere between that shown in the two pictures above.   

 

Po nekaj pobarvanih štrenicah intenzivne modre je bila naslednja takale - nekaj puste drap z nakazanimi, skoraj neopaznimi odsevi svetlo modre in lila-roza. Tudi naslednja štrenica je bila enako neprivlačna.

After a couple of skeins dyed intense blue the next skein was this - a drab beige with barely perceptible hints of light blue and pink. The next skein came out equally unattractive.

Naslednji dan sem - bolj zato, da barvno kopel popolnoma izčrpam - poskusila s striženo volno ovce Bluefaced Leicester in dobila tole:

On the next day I threw in a few curls of Bluefaced Leicester, ore in an attempt to exhaust the dyebath than in any hope to get good colour - and got this:

 

 

Ju-hu! Še en kosem v barvilno kopel - in spet takale krasna barva! In še en kosem, in spet!

 

Waw! Another fluff of Bluefaced Leicester went in - and again this gorgeous colour! Another fluff  - again this colour!

 

 

V resnici je barva rahlo lila, ne čisto roza. Kosem  volne na levi je bolj izrazito lila,  a se na sliki mogoče ne vidi.

 

In real life the colour also contains some blue, it's not pure pink. The fluff on the left is more blue which may not be seen clearly.

 

Naslednji dan sem spet barvala kosme strižene volne Blufaced Leicester, tri zapored. Zdaj so bile barve malo bolj na oranžno. Opogumljena z doseženimi barvami sem en kosem namočila v okisano vodo, enega samo v vodo in enega v vodo s pralno sodo (bazično). Barve so bile: kisova lepo roza, samo v vodi roza z malo bež odtenkom in v bazični vodi precej drap (od desne proti levi).

 

On the next day I dyed fluffs of Bluefaced Leicester again, three dyeings in a row. Now the colours came out a bit more orange-ey. Encouraged with the colours obtained I dipped one fluff in water with vinegar, one in just tap water and a third one in water to which I'd added washing soda (alcali). The colours were: vinegar - nice pink, just water - pink with hints of beige, washing soda - rather beige (from right to left in the picture).

 

 

Ta mi ni bila preveč všeč pa sem jo namočila še v kisovo vodo: postala je precej bolj roza.

 

I didn't like the latter so I soaked it in vinegar in water to obtain a pretty more pink colour.

 

Tako sem od teh blitvi podobnih listov dobila tri povsem različne barve. To pa je ustvarjalni

užitek!

 

So these spinache-like leaves gave me three different colours. What creative pleasure!

 

 



 

 

Pa še posnetek nastajanja modre na volni iz kopeli. Žal je posnetek res amaterski, narejen z mobijem enoročno, z drugo pa obračam štreno, da se dobro prezrači na vse strani. https://picasaweb.google.com/110721982076288214726/STelefona#5931697817468940258 

 

I'm also adding a video showing wool yarn turning into blue as it comes from the dye vat. Sadly, the video is highly unprofessional: Imade it with my mobile phone, holding it in one hand and manipulating the wool skein with the otnher to aerate it well.

https://picasaweb.google.com/110721982076288214726/STelefona#5931697817468940258

 

 

Volnene velikonočne voščilnice - Woolly Easter cards

 Kmalu bo Velika noč in počasi skončujem svoje letošnje volnene velikonočne voščilnice.  Nekaj sem jih naredila s striženo volno in nekaj s česano, vso seveda barvano z rastlinami. Filc sem pritrdila na ročno izdelan papir. Na nekatere sem svoje voščilo napisala na papir, pri tistih, ki so pregrobi za pisanje, pa sem dodala razlikano čajno vrečko, obarvano s čajem.

Easter holidays are near and I've nearly completed my woolly Easter cards. I made some cards using shorn locks and others with carded wool; of course all wool is natural dyed. I fastened felted pieces onto handmade paper. I wrote some wishes on the paper and when it was too rough for writing I added a tea dyed bag I had ironed before.

Takole so bili videti filci v vodi, kjer sem jih spirala.
This is how felted pieces looked floating in rinsing water.

Začetek je bil videti takole: strižena volna, česana volna in različne nitke in koščki. 
This was the beginning: wool flocks, carded wool and various yarns and pieces.

Nekaj voščilnic pa sem izvezla na zeleno sintetično platno in na stramin.
I also stitched some Easter cards on green synthetic cloth and on etamine.

Voščilnice sem delala v nekakšnem mirnem veselju in je to zame tudi priprava na velikonočne praznike. Upam, da bodo razveselile tudi tiste, ki so jim namenjene.

I made the cards in sort of peaceful joy and it was also my preparation for the Easter holiday. I hope they raise the spirits of those who will receive them.

Topla volnena kapa - A warm wool hat

Tole kapo sem spletla za sina, po njegovih željah: kite različnih širin, neraztegnjene - močno reliefne, kapa tako dolga, da se zadaj pobesi, iz debele volnene preje iz treh niti. Barvana je (verjetno) z rabarbarinimi listi v eni štreni v več stopnjah, tako da je v dveh niansah, vmes pa še prevezana, da je ostala skoraj bela oziroma zelo svetla. Dodala sem še enobarvno svetlo in še tretjo volno v malo bolj zelenkastih niansah. Pa vse je moralo biti namešano brez določenega reda, v nepravilnih presledkih, tako da mi je tudi pri kitah "ratalo" kaj nepravilnega, he-he!

The hat was knit for my son, custom made to his desire: the plaits are of various widths, not stretched so that they remain strongly embossed, the hat is so long that it hangs down at the back, and the wool yarn is three-ply. It was dyed (probably) with rhubarb leaves in one long skein in several degrees so that the colour is in two nuances. Besides, I tied it in several places where it remained almost white. I also used a yarn of very light solid colour and a third yarn in greenish colours. All this had to be mixed without any defined pattern, at irregular lengths, so that some irregularities also moved into the plaits, he-he!

Praznično - Sweet holiday season

In prišel je Božič in postavila sem jaslice, spekla potico, okrasilo božično drevesce, šla k polnočni maši ... res lep čas!
Tudi vam ga želim obilo!

So Christmas came and I set up the Nativity and baked the potica and decorated the Christmas tree, went to the Midnight Mass ... what a sweet time!
I wish you a very happy holiday season!