Vesel Božič - Merry Christmas

in srečno novo leto  - and a Happy New Year
vsem obiskovalcem!  -  to all visitors of my blog!

Filcani copati - Felted slippers

 

 Copati so iz nebarvane volne črne ovce jezersko-solčavske pasme. Kot se lepo vidi, naša "črna" ovca dejansko ni črna, ampak temnorjava. Notranjost je v rumeni barvi, a se žal vidi le malo na zavihku. Naredila sem jih v nedeljo, jih posušila v ponedeljek, danes, v torek, pa sem jih odnesla naročniku - in jih pozabila prej slikati. Tako sem gospoda enostavno prosila, da je "posodil" svojo nogo za slikanje. Copat na sliki niti ni videti hudo eleganten, lastniku pa se copati tako prilegajo, da so noge od veselja kar zaplesale.
 Pa še slika od zgoraj, da se vidi malo več rumene notranjosti.


 The slippers are made of undyed wool from black sheep of Slovenian breed "jezersko-solčavska ovca". As may be well seen, our "black" sheep is actually not black but dark brown. The inside  is made in yellow; unfortunately only a small piece is seen on the  cuff. I made the slippers on Sunday, dried them on Monday, and  today, on Tuesday, I delivered them to the customer - without taking photos before. What could I do? I asked the man who bought them to lend his foot  for taking pictures. The slippers may not look very elegant but they fit the owners feet so well that they danced joyously.
 Below is a picture from above to show a bit more of the yellow inside.

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

 

 

Dobro jutro na TV Slo 1 - Good morning on TV Slovenia 1

O mojem barvanju z rastlinami je bila danes četrturna kontaktna oddaja v sklopu programa Dobro jutro (čas: 8.08). Lahko si jo ogledate na povezavi
http://ava.rtvslo.si/predvajaj/dobro-jutro-2-del/ava2.174239315/

My natural dyeing was presented on TV Slovenija 1 in a 15-minute phone-in programme within the programme Good morning  (timing: 8:08).. You may watch it at
http://ava.rtvslo.si/predvajaj/dobro-jutro-2-del/ava2.174239315/


Pa še nekaj posnetkov. Opravičujem se za slabo kvaliteto slik -   naložila sem jih lahko samo tako, da sem z mobilnim telefonom posnela ustavljeno sliko na ekranu.

See some snapshots below. I apologize for poor quality - taking pictures of the screen with my mobile phone was the only way I could transfer anything onto the blog.

 

Sončnica in kozmeja (2) - Sunflower and yellow cosmos (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kozmeja se je zelo dobro izkazala na volni. Pobarvala sem tri majhne štrenice, žal pa jih nisem slikala, preden sem najbolj intenzivno oranžno prodala (neki deklici, ki jo je hotela, da bo spletla šal svojemu plišastemu medvedku).

 

Že barvam naslednjo serijo: ena štrenica v prvi kopeli (se suši) in tri štrenice v drugi kopeli - od tega ena v pranju, dve pa se čez noč namakata v barvilni kopeli, ki sem ji dodala sodo bikarbono. 

 

Na sliki je še volna, barvana z zelenimi orehi - rjava, s čebulo - zelenkasto rumena, (verjetno) rabarbaro - bež in silino - indigo modra.

 

Res je čudovito takole shranjevati poletne barve za sive, temačne zimske dni!

 

 

 

Yellow cosmos proved to be very effective on wool. I dyed three small skeins. To my shame I must admit I took no pictures before selling the most intensive orange skein (to a small girl who wanted it to knit a scarf for her teddy bear).

 

A second batch is already underway: one skein in the first dyeing (it is drying) and three skeins in the second dyeing, of which one is being washed and two are soaking in the dyebath to which I added a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate.

 

Shown in the picture are also skeins dyed with green walnuts - brown, with onion skins - greenish yellow, (probably) rhubarb - beige and with woad - indigo blue. 

 

 

It is so wonderful to preserve summer colours for the grey, dull winter days!

Sončnica in kozmeja - Sunflower and yellow cosmos

 

Sončnicam je letošnje vroče vreme zelo prijalo, če že drugim rastlinam na vrtu ni preveč. Tako cvetove sproti režem, da mi krasijo dnevno sobo, ko začnejo veneti, pa uporabim še za barvanje.

 

Sunflowers liked this summer's hot weather, if most other plants in my garden didn't. So I cut flower heads regularly and use them to decorate my living room. When they start to wilt I use them for natural dyeing.

 

Ker se mi je zdelo premalo materiala od ene sončnice, sem potrgala še nekaj cvetov kozmeje, ki raste tudi na balkonu, dodala nekaj posušenih cvetov kozmeje ...

 

Since the material from only one sunflower head appeared to be insufficient for a good dye bath I also picked some flower heads on the cosmos growing in a pot on my balkony, and added a few dried ones...

  

... in skuhala barvilno kopel.
Volna se še pere oziroma počasi barva v hladni kopeli - slike prihodnjič.


... and boiled everything to obtain a dyebath.
Wool is being washed or undergoing slow dyeing in a cool bath - pictures coming soon.

 

Barvano+nebarvano - Dyed +undyed

Pred časom sem dobila zelo lepo domačo volno od črne ovce, se pravi dejansko temno rjave. Ostrigli so jagnjice, volno skrbno odbrali in jo dali sčesat. Je izredno mehka, čista, skoraj brez smeti in tudi zelo malo resasta.
Taki volni sem morala dati priložnost, da pride do izraza v vsej svoji lepoti in žlahtnosti, zato sem jo uporabila za filcane copate, ki so zunaj samo iz te volne, v notranjosti pa je volna, barvana z zelenimi orehi, da jo bolj poudari. 

Copati so bili tako lepi, da sem jih prav s težkim srcem nesla naročnici. Ampak sem bila poplačana: ostala je brez besed in copate kar božala. Njena mama jih bo gotovo tudi zelo vesela in jih bo rada nosila.

Some time ago I got very beautiful wool of our native sheep - black, which is in fact dark brown. The owners sheared young ewes, carfully discarded the bad parts of the fleece and had the selected fleece carded. it is extremely soft, clean of almost any dirt and vegetable matter and with very little kemp.

Such wool had to be given the opportunity to show all its beauty and nobleness so I used it to felt slippers with outside layers uniquely from this wool and an inner layer of wool dyed with green walnuts for greater accent.

The slippers came out so beautiful I gave them to the custommer with a heavy heart. However, I was well paid off: she remained speechless, stroking them. Her mother will doubtlessly be glad to receive them and will love to wear them.


Pa še dve dodatni sliki:

Two more pictures:

Vesele velikonočne praznike! - Happy Easter holidays!!

.... vsem obiskovalcem bloga.
Letos sem naredila voščilnice v obliki pirhov. V prvi seriji sem v jajčast izrez kartona vstavila barvne kose filca, voščilnice izpisala, vstavila v kuverte, zalepila, napisala naslove in prilepila znamke. Šele ko sem vse nesla na pošto, me je prešinilo - nisem jih poslikala :-( 
Za drugo serijo sem jajčaste kartončke oblekla v napol sfilcano  volno, barvano s košeniljko, in jih prilepila na kartončke. Te pa sem poslikala, preden je bilo prepozno.

... to all visitors of my blog.
This year I made greeting cards in the shape of coloured Easter eggs. In the first series I used cards with egg-shaped cut-outs where I placed natural dyed pieces of loosely felted wool, wrote my greetings, inserted the cards in envelopes, closed (with glue), wrote the addresses, and placed the stamps. It was only when I was carrying all of them to the postbox that I realized I hadn't taken any photos :-(
To make the other series I dressed egg-shaped carton cut-outs into half felted wool dyed with cochineal and glued them onto sartons. And I did take photos before it would be too late. 
.

Šentjanževka - spet enkrat --- St. John's wort - again

Spet sem si izbrala šentjanževko za barvanje, tokrat zmrznjene cvetove. Želela sem primerjati obarvanje različnih voln, ki sem jih pripravila (čimžala in barvala) popolnoma enako.
Na zgornji sliki so vse štiri štrenice 100% volna naše avtohtone jezersko-solčavske ovce.
Na drugi sliki je leva štrenica ista volna, desna pa je ročno predena mešanica volne angleške ovce Cotswold 60%, moherja je 20” in angore 20%. V resnici sta obe štrenici bolj intenzivno zeleni.
Na spodnji sliki so štrenice, barvane s šentjanževko, od spodaj navzgor (kakor sem jih po vrsti barvala v isti barvilni kopeli):

naša jezersko-solčavska ovca - 4 štrenice

bombažni trak - 1 štrenica

Cotswold 60%, moher 20% in angora 20%, ročno predena, v dve nitki - 1 štrenica

ameriška ovca Montadale 100%, ročno predena, enojna - 1 štrenica

Na vrhu je večja štrena ročno predene volne Cotswold 60%, moher 20% in angora 20%, ki sem jo hkrati barvala v treh loncih: šentjanževka, zelene in počrnele orehove lupine in rabarbarine korenine, vse barvilne kopeli že precej izrabljene.

Naša domača volna in Montadale sta prijeli zelo dobro, mešanica z moherjem in angoro pa precej manj, a je preja tako prijetna, da si bom verjetno spletla brezrokavnika
I decided on dyeing with frozen St. John’s wort flowers and wanted to compare different wool yarns prepared (mordanted and dyed) identically.
The four skeins in the pic on top are 100% wool from Slovenian native sheep breed jezersko-solčavska ovca.
In the second picture the skein on the left is the same wool whereas the skein on the right is Cotswold 60%, mohair 20” and angora 20%, handspun. By the way, in reality the yarns are greener.
In the bottom picture the skeins dyed with St. John’s wort follow from bottom up:

• Slovenian native sheep - 4 skeins
• cotton ribbon - 1 skein
• Cotswold 60%, mohair 20” and angora 20% - 1 skein
• Montadale 100%, handspun, single - 1 skein
• The rather large skein on top is Cotswold 60%, mohair 20” and angora 20% that I dyed in three pots simultaneously: St. John’s wort , rhubarb roots and green and blackened walnut hulls, all three baths rather used up.

The Slovenian wool and Montadale took colour very well while the mixture with mohair and angora took less well, but this yarn is so pleasing I'll probably knit myself a tank top.
 

Navadna krhlika (Rhamnus frangula) - Alder buckthorn

Končno rdečkaste (in oranžne) barve iz skorje krhlike. Krhlika je neugleden grm, ki ga nisem poznala in sem ga zaman skušala najti po slikah iz knjig in interneta. Končno mi je lani  poleti Marko Slapnik, direktor Rinke v Solčavi (Rinka Solčava), prijazno prinesel vejico, da sem "in vivo" spoznala ta grm. Potem sem seveda videla, da sem v Robanovem kotu (Robanov kot) vsa leta hodila mimo nje :-(
In po navodilih iz knjižice Helen Melvin (Helen Melvin) naredila barvilno kopel s fermentiranjem (beri: vse bolj smrdljivo, dlje ko sem barvala) začela dobivati prelepe barve.
Na slikah zgoraj je nekaj odtenkov na nekaj različnih volnah.
Fotografirala je pa Kati (ali Katka) v Centru domače in umetnostne obrti v Škofji Loki (DUO Škofja Loka).