Amarilis

Tale moj amarilis se mi zdi tako lep, da ga kar moram objaviti - čeprav ni volnen :-))

I find my amarilis so beautiful I just can't help posting it - although it is not woolen :-))

Svileni šali - Silk scarves

Ves čas, ko z rastlinami barvam volno, barvam tudi svilene šale (svila pongee, 45 x 180 cm).

All the time I've been natural dyeing wool I've been also dyeing silk scarves (silk pongee, 45 x 180 cm).

Tri leta sem jih samo barvala in spravljala v košaro, jih občasno občudovala and razkazovala še drugim. Letos sem jim končno dala prišiti kratke ježke, na strop so mi montirali tirnico s trakom ježka in zdaj krasijo mojo predsobo - trije metri krasnih barv svile!

S fotografiranjem sem se zelo trudila sama, nato pa še drugi zet Tomaž, ampak v predsobi ni skoraj nič naravne svetlobe in tole je najboljše, kar sva lahko naredila.

For three years I've been only dyeing and putting them in a basket, admiring them and showing them to visitors from time to time. This year I finally had short velcro bands sewn to them, a curtain rail with a velcro band mounted on the ceiling and now they make a lovely decoration in my hall - three meters of splendid silk colours!

I made every effort to take usefull pictures myself, then my second son-in-law Tomaž helped me, but since there is practically no natural light in the hall these pictures are the best we could make.

Slika za ozadje bloga - My picture for Main background

To sliko bi rada dala za ozadje bloga namesto svetlo zelene, pa ne znam. Poslala sem vprašanje na Blogger forum in dobila odgovor, pa ga ali ne razumem ali pa ne deluje. Ima kdo več praktičnih izkušenj?

I'd like to use this picture for my blog main background instead of the light green but I don't know how to do it. I popsted the question on the Blogger forum and got an answer that I either don't understand or it doesn't work. Anybody out there more experienced?

Vso pobarvano volno spravljam v red - Putting in order all my dyed wool

Tole je delček moje rastlinsko barvane volnene "proizvodnje", ki sem se jo lotila urejati. Sklenila sem, da prej ne bom ne barvala ne filcala, dokler tega ne uredim. Zato tudi nisem nič objavila na blogu, pa še viroza me je položila za dva tedna. Ampak blog brez novih objav je dolgočasen, ne, pa objavljam to svoje "delo".

This is a small portion of my natural dyed "production" that I tackled. I decided I would not do any dyeing or felting before all this wool is put in order. That's why I have not posted on my blog for an entire month. An additional reason is that I lay ill with some viral infection for two weeks. But a blog with no new postings is rather dull so I decided to show show the "work" I'm doing now.

Prva slika je barvno bolj slaba, dobro pa se vidi, koliko različnih nians iz ene rastline sem dobila in jih zdaj urejam in oštevilčim na nek smiseln in pregleden način. Na mizi so nianse iz rabarbare (razen močnejše rjave volne zgoraj, ki je - verjetno - od orehovih listov). Od vsake nianse vzamem podolgovat kosem volne, ki ga bom vstavila v DNEVNIK BARVANJA in še en kosem, ki ga bom ufilcala v filcan trak iz naravne bele volne. Ampak tole je šele april 2008 :-( The first picture represents the colours only poorly but it shows very well how many shades of colour are derived from one plant which I'm now sorting and numbering in a logical and indicative way. The materials lying on the table were obtained from rhubarb roots (except the stronger brown yarn which was probably obtained from wallnut leaves). I draw out a lengthy piece of carded wool (I must apologize – the expressions may not be right) from each colour that I will fix into my DYEING LOGBOOK, and an additional piece that I will incorporate into a felted stripe from natural white wool. But I only arrived as far as April 2008 :-(

Kdo ugane, kaj je na tej sliki levo poleg svinčnika? Odgovore napišite v treh dneh, nagrad ni - he-he ...

Who can guess what is in this photo on the left of the pencil? Post your answer within three days, but be aware there are no prizes (smile) ...

Brezova skorja za čimžanje - Birch bark as a mordant

Junija lani sem poskusila pobarvati volno z brezovo skorjo, ki sem jo nekaj tednov namakala v pepeliki: dobila sem umazano breskovo roza, ne prav močno barvo (slike žal nimam). Volno sem barvala v isti barvilni raztopini še dvakrat zapored. Ni se mi zdelo vredno, da bi volno take barve shranila za pletenje in sem obe štrenici (mislim, da sta bili dve) shranila, da bi ju uporabila kot volno, čimžano z brezovo skorjo.

Štiriindvajsetega januarja sem imela barvilno raztopino iz drugič prekuhanih delov šentjanževke: cela rastlina, rastlina s cvetovi in samo cvetovi (ki sem jih poleti enkrat po kuhanju premalo posušila in jih nenamerno pustila plesneti). V tej kopeli sem hkrati barvala dve štreni po 20 gramov: volna, čimžana z galunom, se je obarvala lepo svetlo rumeno, volna, čimžana z brezovo skorjo, pa je dobila drugačno barvo - nekaj med bež, bledo marelično, breskovo oranžno in rumeno.

Štrena, barvana samo z brezovo skorjo, je prva z leve, v sredini je volna, čimžana z brezovo skorjo in barvana s prekuhanimi ostanki šentjanževke, na levi je volna, barvana samo s prekuhanimi ostanki šentjanževke. Pripela sem dve sliki, ker se ne morem odločiti, na kateri so barve bolj realne.

Nisem se še odločila, za kaj bom uporabila to volno. Mogoče bom barve kombinirala z drugimi in spletla rokavice.

Last June I tried to dye wool with birch bark soaked in weak woodash lye for some weeks and got a dirtyish peach pink, not intense colour (sorry, no photo). I also dyed in two exhaust baths, decided the colours were not worth keeping and saved two little skeins (at least I think they were two) to use them as birch bark mordanted wool.

On 24 January I had an exhausted exhaust of St. John’s wort whole stems, stems with flowers, and flowers (the latter had been half dried after cooking and then moulded unintentionally). I dyed two skeins each of 20 grams: the alum mordanted wool gave a good pale yellow and the birch mordanted wool gave a different shade between tan, pale apricot, peach orange and yellow.

The birch dyed skein is on the left, the St. John’s wort exhaust dyed on birch mordant is in the middle and the St. John’s wort exhaust dyed on alum mordant is on the right. I attached two pictures since I can’t decide which one is more realistic.

I have not yet decided what use to make of all these skeins. I guess I will make a colour combination with other colours for mittens.