Vesel Božič - Merry Christmas!

Vesel, blagoslovljen Božič

želim vsem bralcem mojega bloga!

Merry Christmas

and a blessed season

to all visitors of my blog!

Večbarvno - Multicolour

Že poleti sem naredila nekaj bečbarvnih štren in štrenic. V sivem, turobnem novembru se mi je zahotelo volne v živahnih, intenzivnih barvah. A kaj, ko ni bilo nobenega sonca... potem pa v paro, da barva preide iz cvetov v volno. 
Last summer I prepared a couple of multicolour skeins, small and large. In the grey, dull November I wished for wool in lively, intensive colours. But, alas, there was no sun - so it was steamed to provide for the transition of color from plant material onto wool.

Suhe cvetke rumene kozmeje in koreopsisa pa še na štiri koščke razrezane zelene orehe sem razporedila na vlažno štreno, čimžano z galunom.
I arranged dried flowers of Yellow cosmos and Coreopsis, together with green walnuts cut into four peaces, directly on the yarn.

 Štreno s cvetovi in orehi sem zavila v najlonsko mrežo (nekdanje zavese) in trdno ovila in prevezala z nitjo. Za približno en dan sem jo dala v lonec nad soparo. Po malem sem dogrevala, tako da je bila štrena kar največ časa v vroči sopari.

I wrapped the skein with the flowers and walnuts into a nylon netting (old curtains) and tightly wound with thread. I placed it into a pot to be steamed for about one day. I applied heat from time to time so that the skein spent most of the time in hot steams.

    

Tole so vmesne faze ...

These are interim statuses ...

... in tole je pobarvana, oprana in posušena volna.

... and this is the dyed, washed and dried wool.

Rokavičke iz kuhane volne - Small mitts - knitted and fulled

 

Najmlajša dva imata pozimi kar precej težav z mrzlimi rokami - rokavičke pa težko nosita. Pa sva rekli z mamico: mogoče ju pa moti tista toga plastika, ki res ne prepušča mokrote, ampak tudi hudo leze dol z rok. In sem spletla tele rokavičke iz volne za filcanje v pralnem stroju. Za zapestje pa sem uporabila prejo s polovico akrila in polovico volne, da je po pranju ostala prožna.

My youngest two grandsons have great problems with freezing hands in winter - they hardly ever wear mittens. So their mummy and I thought: perhaps they can't stand the stiff plastic, which does protect their hands from moisture but makes the mitts slip off their hands very easily. So I knitted these mitts using wool yarn for machine fulling whereas the wrists are knitted from a yarn 50% acrylic and 50% wool. 

 Še pomeriti jih je treba, potem pa spletem še en par za bratca-dvojčka. Te bodo rumene s sivim zapestjem.

After we try them on and see how they fit I'll knit another pair for the other twin. These will be knitted in yellow, with wrists equally grey.

Sicer smo sredi pomladi, ampak ta teden z vsemi snežnimi plohami, sodro in temperaturami pod ničlo je bil ravno pravi za tole pletenje.

We're in the middle of spring, true, but this week seemed perfect for the knitting, with snow storms, sleet and temperatures below zero.

In ne, volna ni barvana z rastlinami.

And no, the yarn isn't natural dyed.

Velika noč - Easter Season

Vesele velikonočne praznike in lepo praznovanje želim vsem obiskovalcem bloga!

 

I wish a happy Easter to all visitors of my blog! May you have a pleasing celebration.

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.

Končno barvilni brošč z vrta -- Finally, madder from my garden

   

 

Lansko poletje sem na vrtu prvič gojila barvilni brošč Rubia tinctorum, rastlino, ki ima v koreninah barvilo alizarin in ki volno, pa tudi svilo in bombaž, obarva s čudovito rdečo.
Za uporabo so korenine od rastlin, starih vsaj tri leta. Ker nimam primernega vrta, kjer bi ga lahko gojila toliko časa, sem ga vsadila v nekaj večjih loncev. Enega bom skušala prezimiti, dva sem izkopala in z drobnimi koreninicami barvala.
Postopek vzame kar precej časa, saj je treba koreninice temeljito očistiti.
Last summer I grew madder "Rubia tinctorum" for the first time. This plant contains alizarin in its roots which imparts  a beautiful red colour to wool, silk and cotton. Roots from plants at least three years old are appropriate for use. Unfortunately, I don't possess a garden suitable for growing madder for three years so I planted seedlings in several larger flower pots. I'll try to overwinter one of them. I took two plants out of the pots and used the tiny roots to dye.
This is a rather time-consuming process since the tiny roots have to be meticulously cleaned.

   

 



Za eno barvanje sem koreninice dala v vrečko iz gaze, od drugega grmička sem jih dala kar v kozarec in oboje zalila z vročo vodo.
I placed the roots from one plant in a gauze bag and those from the other plant directly into a glass jar, and poured hot water in both.

 

 

Oboje sem postavila v vedro in grela s potopnim grelcem za tropski akvarij na okrog 40 stopinj. Nato sem barvala majhne količine čimžane volne.



Brošč je sprva živahno fermentiral:

I then placed both jars in a plastic pail with water and heated with an immersion heater for fish tank, at about 40 degrees Centigrade. I only dyed very small amounts of alum mordanted wool yarn.

In the beginning madder fermented quite a lot:

 

Nato sem barvala še svileno ruto in bombažno gazo, vse seveda v majhnih količinah, saj je tudi koreninic bilo malo. Volna in svila sta se obarvali zelo lepo, gaza pa ne in sumim, da je sintetična.

I also dyed a silk scarf and cotton gauze, only small amounts of course since the amount of roots was also small. Wool and silk took colour real nicely whereas gauze dyed poorly. I suspect it was in fact synthetic.

   

 

 

 

 

Navdušena sem nad barvilnim broščem! Končno lepa in obstojna rdeča!

Samo še dve leti počakam, pa bo več barve ... če ga bom seveda lahko kam vsadila...

 

I'm thrilled about madder! Beautiful and fast reds at last!

Now I only have to wait for two years for more and stronger roots to grow, and get more colour ... if  can get a place to grow it ...