Wednesday, July 30, 2014

For the dyers...

two interesting links today:

Riihivilla from Finland wrote a great blog post about her experiments with fermentation dyeing.
Don't miss it!

You can read it here:





and here’s a (French) film about “Couleur Garance”


Couleur Garance is a Conservatory Garden of dye plants situated in the South of France.

It is remarkable for many reasons. It is planted on the terraces of the 18th century Château de Lauris.
The gardens overlook the Durance river valley.
The gardens are very unique in Europe and are entirely dedicated to vegetable dyes, 
with over 300 different plants from all over the world!

I’ve been there three times already, I just love it, it’s a wonderful garden and I consider it an absolute must-see for all dyers who visit the South of France.

Garance is the french word for madder (Rubia tinctorum)

La Calade
84360 LAURIS
Tél. : 04 90 08 40 48
http://www.couleur-garance.com


Opening times, from 08 may to 31 octobre 2014

In season: every day but Monday from 9am to 12 / 3pm to 7pm. Guided tours on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 5pm.


Sunday, July 27, 2014

crocheting with a view...




This is the view I have, right now, while crocheting my new pattern.
I'm sitting on the little beach bordering the river next to my house
I like to spend at least one hour a day here
It's the perfect place for meditation, for singing and drumming...
and to observe and listen to all life around water
to read a book or to do some knitting and crocheting...



I feel like I'm really blessed and lucky to have this wonderful spot nearby
It's not a quiet place, as the river makes quite some noise
but it has this wonderful rhythm, this strange humming.
This place has a magical atmosphere
I love it here...

Though I have to admit I needed some time after the flood to learn to live with River again.
to accept everything about her anew.

We'll see what the future will bring, the world today is in such a mess
Earth is trying to survive just like all of her creatures,
I believe we need to learn the old ways again and work together with Nature
to rediscover Oneness,

otherwise we're lost....



The colours I'm working with are grey and green like the stones and the plants surrounding me.


.....




Thursday, July 17, 2014

mellow yellow


This morning I decided it was a good day to harverst yellow dyes
en so I did...


the one on the left is feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) which I'm going to test now to see if it's a good dyeplant using the fermentation method

the other two are: dyer's chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria) and dyer's broom (Genista tinctoria)




My dye garden with bright yellow flowers: dyer's broom and dyer's chamomile




starting a fermentation vat with the Dyer's broom flowers and stems 

OOO


It's really important for me as a natural dyer to only use plants which grow abundantly in my own garden.
It's the case with these three plants but there are a lot of other plants you can use, as yellow is the most common natural dye

Some other yellow dyes can be made with:
weld (one of the best), goldenrod,  marigold, evening primrose, mullein, dandelion, yarrow, birch leaves... and many more

...

to read:
http://www.alchemy-works.com/genista_tinctoria.html

“Dyer's broom has been used for dyeing since Roman times and makes a good yellow similar to that of weld, bright and fast.
Harvest the flowering tops and either use them right away or dry them and save them until you want to dye something; they'll retain their strength for about a year. Kendal green, a greyish green named for the town of Kendal in Westmoreland where it was first created, was made from woad and dyer's broom;
The flowers are also a traditional Easter egg dye in the Carpathian Mountains, so give the flowers a try for egg dyeing for Ostara”








Monday, July 14, 2014

enjoying the sunset...




Enjoying the sunset with a glass of homemade Dandelion wine 
while testing some crochet motifs for a new design.

I'm working on several new designs actually, 
can't tell much about it for now
but I will, as soon as I can  ...

I also have a new Tumblr blog, you can find it here:


--- (((:o:))) ---