Waste Not, Want Not

I moved all my dyeing supplies down to my new studio last Friday, except for some thickened fiber reactive dyes that I've been meaning to use up. I finally did that, yesterday. Note to folks who wonder how long mixed dyes will last before losing their oomph: these dyes were mixed with sodium alginate to thicken, probably two to three months ago. Turquoise was the only color that lightened with age and looks quite a bit different in the final product than it did in the jar. The fabrics were soaked/steeped in soda ash and dried, prior to dyeing yesterday.

Except for the first piece above, these are all fairly good sized pieces of fabric. And most are a linen blend, with either cotton or rayon. I love dyeing that stuff -- the colors are far more brilliant than on cotton alone.

So it's just about "pedal to the metal" time for me, moving-wise. There'll be several loads this week, then I'll be up in Eugene at Jan Myers-Newbury's shibori dyeing class at the Eugene Textile Center. Can't wait for that. And after returning home on April 1, I hope to have most of everything moved by the following weekend. I'm lining up friends with trucks now. But if the weather threatens rain, I'll rent a truck for a day.

Ciao!