Silken . . . part 4 ~ The Blues in progression

Posted on by

Well, I wish I had more to show you, all teasing aside . . . When I dumped out the water this morning, there was still a lot of colour in it. So I have now washed and rinsed another three times, not counting quite a while of rinsing under a running tap. (not so ecologic, I know. But if it were possible, I’d be using natural dyes and working outdoors. Then the dye disposal wouldn’t be a problem, at least not with my batch sizes.)

IMG_5245[1]

Still too much colour in the rinse water . . .

IMG_5246[1]

More rinsing under the tap . . .

IMG_5249[1]

Looking better . . .

IMG_5250[1]

Nine scarves folded in fours and piled at the edge of the sink. This is really just a ‘teaser’ shot to show some of the detail . . . I thought they were done and ready to hang for drying, then squeezed them out and discovered quite a lot of colour still coming out . . . back to the rinsing . . . good thing I’m patient with process. (actually, sometimes the journey is better than the arrival, in my opinion)

IMG_5251[1]

It looks even better in real life . . .

IMG_5252[1]

The ribbons, hung to dry. (I just checked them and they are done drying now; it’s been a few  hours since I finished the rinsing). I had meant for the top part of each bunch to remain white and then be dyed a different colour (purple? green? rose? hmmmmm……), but the overnight ‘sulking’ caused some of the dye to migrate into the white bits. Oh, well, they’re still pretty. And I can still dye the tops. Not sure if that blue will morph the new colour, but it will be ok; I’m planning to use something harmonious.

IMG_5253[1]

IMG_5254[1]

IMG_5255[1]

So . . . what I have above is three photos, each of one of the stacks hanging up to dry atop the frame that once held shower doors. I folded each scarf in half and then again, then stacked them three to a pile. I just turned them over, but they are drying nicely in spite of the depth of the fabric. Of course, the silk is quite thin. I couldn’t do this with cotton, so will have to figure out a drying system soon. I couldn’t resist giving you at least a peek. Next up . . . an ironing session (love ironing!) and then final photo shoot.

If you want to see some great historic tie dye work, check out Courtenay Pollock’s site and blog. He created the backdrops for the Grateful Dead as well as T-shirts for them and their fans. He’s still working as a tie dye artist, now based in Powell River, BC.

GratefulDead tie dye backdrops by CP

Amazing, aren’t they? 200 hours more or less just folding and tying. 16 panels in all.

 IMG_5256[1]

IMG_5257[1]

IMG_5258[1]

As the scarves dry, some of the intensity is lost, but they are still pretty vibrant.

 IMG_5259[1]   IMG_5260[1]

The ribbon is lovely and on the right you can see my ‘test strip’ of a bit of watercolour paper that I dipped in the dye before adding the scarves. I’m finding that’s a good way to preview a colour. The dyebath is darker and more intense, likewise the wet silks.

And while we’re talking about the Dead (if any of you are DeadHeads),
here’s a link to my favourite song of theirs:

Ripple

“If I knew the way, I would take you home . . . ” Ah, nostalgia . . .

I’ve set myself a date for opening the store, but will wait to announce it, as life is always uncertain. I have a few things to do before I’m ready, like figure out how I will package these for shipping. I have some embellishing to do on a few, too, and that should be loads of fun. Maybe instead of all this posting, I should just install a webcam and you could log on and watch me . . . then again, maybe not. 😉

Well, back to ‘work’ . . . I’ll leave you with two songs.

The first is Runrig’s ‘Oran‘ (Song), which I love and am listening to just now.

It’s in Gaelic, of course, but here are some of the lyrics translated:

Looking out the window of morning
From the evening to the door of night
I asked the question
and the answer was in the water
It was the earth.

Sing, sing, sing
A new song, a song of the dust

 

IMG_5226[1]

Sunday’s breakfast: Norske Egg Pancakes, Strawberries, Blueberries, Ice Cream, and honey sent to me by my sweet sister in New Mexico. The honey is from Colorado.

And what would a post on the Blues be without a blues song or three?

3 fine examples of blues music from the ’50s:

Got my mojo workin’ – Muddy Waters
Frankie – Mississippi John Hurt
Crawling up a hill – John Mayall

 

 

37 thoughts on “Silken . . . part 4 ~ The Blues in progression”

    • Thanks so much, Barbara! I really appreciate that. And I’m glad you liked it, too. I haven’t done tie dyeing before, but am sure enjoying it now. Soon, the cottons . . . And Hugs back to you, too. 🙂

      Reply ↓

  3. Ooh it’s a party in here!!! Lol. Runrig, thank you for the introduction to them Linne, I will be listening to them all day….beautiful. There is something about Celtic music that the soul adores, it puts one in a very different space and I love it there 🙂 Haven’t listened to The Gtaefull Dead for yonks so nice to have a reminder and listen there and Blue Buyou is a song I love too 🙂

    Scrumptious colour, gorgeous!!!!

    Reply ↓

    • 🙂 Wendy! Love that: ‘a party in here’. Just as it should be, innit? I love that you like Runrig, too. I only found out about them when I saw a mention of their upcoming 30 year anniversary on Alan Doyle’s blog, On the Road (he’s the lead singer with Great Big Sea, who may be disbanding now that Sean McCann is leaving 😦 ). Anyway, I was stunned that there would be a group around for 30 years and I hadn’t heard a word about them. So I googled them and saw their ‘Loch Lomond’ done live outdoors at Loch Lomond itself and that was it; hooked!! That was over a decade ago now; they just had their 40th anniversary tour last year. I hope they are around longer than I am, is all . . . The brothers who began it all, Rory and Calum MacDonald, put out an album on their own last year; they call themselves “The Band From Rockall” and it’s more the sound they had in the beginning; very good. Look for ‘Mairi Bhan’ on YouTube for an example. I love that Celtic space, too, and if BC falls in the ocean I will be seriously considering moving to Scotland or somewhere near there . . .

      Ripple is one of my all-time favourites, so it was good to hear it again, too. And Roy Orbison’s voice! Even when I’m not hooked by the lyrics, just listening to him is delightful!

      Glad you like that blue! I do, too. One thing that’s great about these is that they still feel silky after dyeing. I have them hanging in a doorway down the hall and like to touch as I go past.

      Reply ↓

      • I love Celtic music and Gaelic/Irish – few can sing with the beauty of an Irish voice. The indigenous people of NZ, our Maori, also have beautiful tone in their voices. I will look up that Mairi Bhan 🙂

        I like some of Roy Orbison’s music. I always thought John Denver had a beautiful voice.

        I love the blue, sounds lovely 🙂

      • Nice to share that with you! 🙂 Here’s the link: Mairi Bhan I love the Irish, too; the Welsh also have amazing voices. I’ve read about the Maori people, but not heard their singing. Something to look up soon . . .

        Some of Orbison’s songs are too mainstream country for me, but I do love his voice. A great range. And I guess I’ve never mentioned John Denver, have I? My radio DJ brother-in-law and my sister knew how much I liked him and his work, so bought us tickets to see him in Vancouver twice! The first time, when he left the centre stage he walked out not five feet from me . . . it was pretty cool! When he died, my brother in law called me to tell me so I wouldn’t hear it on the news. He’s very thoughtful like that.

        A couple more links to info about TBFR

        and

        (lovely bit of footage from Skye in ’63; also cute shots of the boys playing ‘music’ together earlier than that)

        those blues are lovely; hope to get them starched and ironed, then new photos taken over the next two days. I am ready to tie the next set and do some greens; think I’ll do a half dozen, then mix up the colours on the last six. Just for fun . . .

        The cotton dyes came in, so I’m planning to wash the cottons tomorrow (Saturday) morning and dye them in the afternoon. We’ll see. Best laid plans, an’ a’ that . . . 😉

  4. Scrumptious colour indeed! LOL Pauline! Yeah…hadn’t escaped my notice underneath all of those links offered up as some sort of reward for those of us who are sticking around to see out this long drawn out process that we are STILL WAITING! I love listening to music and although our tastes might be a little different (yours seems to echo my daughters), music bypasses thought and hits you right in the solar plexis where primal instinct arises from. Maybe less dancing around to the Celts and more dipping? 😉 Can’t wait to see your store up and running and the sooner it is open, the quicker you can start filling your coffers! Looks like Pauline is going to be your very first customer and you haven’t even opened up your doors yet! 🙂

    Reply ↓

    • I hope to post in a bit, but not sure of having time. I have good reason for drawing it out now! Grumpy making, though. But in any case, I’m happy to keep everyone amused . . . Interesting that your daughters like some of the same music as I do; feel free to pass on any of the linkies I post; there’s a long list on the Music! page now. And, FYI, I’m NOT dancing to the Celts; I listen to them while reading L . . O . . N . . G . . . . blog posts 🙂 I agree with you on how it bypasses the thinking brain, though. I find especially music without lyrics or in other languages really does the trick.

      As to the store, watch this space, as they say . . . full coffers would be nice, too 😉

      It’s so cool that Pauline is my first customer, isn’t it? She’s been behind me much of the way, gently prodding me onward (sometimes she’s out in front, calling for me to hurry up and catch up, for heaven’s sake!) LOL

      Reply ↓

      • Pauline is our own personal enigma and I adore her :). I am just sad that she didn’t get her kefir grains that I sent to her…customs destroyed them :(. Tanya in Spain got hers though…at least some of my little babies will live on vicariously elsewhere “OLE!” 😉 Take all the time you need to get your store going well…like they say, good things come to those that wait… you have had to wait a LONG time so you deserve all those “good things” 🙂

      • You, me and everyone else, I suspect! I can’t believe her grains didn’t get through. I wonder if I sent her some (after drying, of course). I will have to think on that . . . Nice it worked for Tanya, though. I like her, too, but we don’t correspond. I just follow her blog. 😉 I just keep plugging along and going with the flow; if my Aunty comes up needing a visit, everything is dropped. She needs the social contact more than I need anything else.

        At least the store is open now. I printed out all the pages and gave them to my Crafty friend; they don’t have a computer and no interest in getting one. Leaves her more time for actual ‘doing’ . . . but I won’t be giving mine up willingly . . . I love the contact with like-minded bolshie hippies all around the world . . . and even the not so bolshie people 😉

        Thanks for the kind words; am looking forward to ‘good things’ . . . 🙂

      • Well you are waiting enough so you are a prime target for that delve into metaphysical physics! 😉 “Wherever you create a vacuum (lack of good things) nature is going to race to stuff it to achieve equilibrium (plethora of good things). I don’t know why they don’t hand me the Nobel prize for my scientific efforts you know…I guess it is in the mail? 😉

      • Just what I need . . . a plethora of good things . . . I’m laughing here, Narfie! But you can’t have too much of a good thing, can you? 😉

        I think you deserve several Nobel prizes . . . and I’m sure you will hear from them soon . . . 😉

  5. LOVE the color! I have always liked tye dye as well as batik. I have been spending so much time with growing seedlings for spring gardens,that I have no time for creative time, so I enjoy reading about yours:-)

    Reply ↓

    • Nice trade, isn’t it, Robbie? I get garden shots for free (and no bugs); you get crafty shots . . . same with all our fellow travellers; it’s one of the best things about this place. Hope you find some creative time in between the planting rush and the harvest rush . . .

      I’ve always loved tie dye and batik, too, but never got to do it myself. Now, though . . . I saw on one supplier’s site that they are buying shipments of used batik tools (hand-made stamps) and re-selling them. Too pricey for me, but looking at them I could see how it’s done and one of these days I may try my hand at making my own batik stamps. The ideas are the easy part, though; then there’s finding time and space and, of course, just doing it!

      Reply ↓

      • You are so right about space I am starting to feel all the projects I want to do just sitting in the corner. The bulk of the growing season will end here around the end of June, so I will have time to be creative. Those creative projects are calling me!!!! I love to visit and find out what new creative adventure you are exploring. I just don’t get all these posts in my reader. Do you know why?If it takes me a bit of time to stop by please forgive me, but I am still having fun seeing what you are making:-)

      • Robbie, I don’t think I replied to you and now it’s been over a week . . . sorry about that. I do want to say that if your UFOs all fit in a corner, you are one lucky lady! I have UFOs in storage in BC and here, never mind what’s in the actual apartment . . . but the lure of the Great Beginning leads ever on . . . and I am easily seduced (in some ways hahaha). My projects call me, too . . . I’ve resumed doing a bit of knitting, so maybe that barn cardi will be wearable by next autumn. 🙂 Hope you don’t feel nagged; my intention is to be gently encouraging. You did mention some time back something about wanting to do creative group stuff in your garden so I’ve been looking forward to watching that develop.

        Not sure why posts wouldn’t show up in a reader . . . I know I miss some sometimes, too. I just use the WP FeedReader; I know Narfie7 over on The Road to Serendipity uses another one . . . she might have an answer for that. If I don’t hear from someone I follow regularly, I make time for a visit pretty much weekly or more; some blogs I have a passing interest in and those I visit when time permits or when I am awake in the middle of the night.

        So, no worries about how often you stop by; I’m a very low-maintenance friend, luckily. 🙂

        If I ever get onto a regular creative routine, you will have more fun! (and so will I) Still, I try to respond to the needs of the day and those are often unpredictable. And if I feel too stressed, the tendency is more towards reading than making; that should be changed, I know . . . am working on it. The other thing is finding ways to be creative at odd moments; when we were watching the news the other night, I tied some of the scarves that will be green soon. When my Aunty visits, if I am on an easy bit of knitting, I haul that out and work on it. I can’t do justice to visiting AND complex patterns, though . . . one or the other suffers.

  6. Gorgeous scarves, Linne! Good on you – great news about the shop. Sunday’s breakfast looks pretty amazing, too. Thanks also for the music – I’ve listened to it just before retiring for the evening – what a very pleasant way to end the day. Can’t wait to see scarves post ironing, but still think they look gorgeous as is! xoxoxoxoxox

    Reply ↓

    • Thanks, Dani. Opening a store on Etsy is not so bad as a real life store, but still has stuff that needs doing. Fun, so far . . .

      Glad you liked the music. It’s been fun, re-discovering my old loves. Was very into R&B at 19, then life took its twists and turns . . . still love it, though. It’s about real life, I guess . . .

      Ironing not done yet (see reply to rabid little hippy); tomorrow, I think.

      That is an enchanting blue, if I do say it myself . . . 🙂

      Reply ↓

    • Roy Orbison! Awesome!!! I love his voice and his work with The Travelling Wilburys and ‘Anything You Want’ (I use it as a mantra when all seems bleak). Anything he does is great, his range is impressive. I still miss him. So thank you!!!

      Couldn’t listen to Eiffel 65 on the iPhone; next time I’m on the pc.

      Icehouse I hadn’t heard of, but that’s a good song. Will check out more of their work, too. Men with long hair . . . what can I say . . . 😉

      Reveal, eh? We’ll see . . . hahaha

      Reply ↓

      • Thanks, Jess! It’s now added to my very long favourites list. I love that video, too!! I hadn’t realized that was a perm; in my day, men didn’t perm 🙂
        I just assumed naturally curly . . . go ahead, laugh; I’m quite naïve about some things, evidently . . . I have to say, he’s cute without the long hair, too . . .

        BTW, thanks for the video for another reason; when I played it, the list beside was showing Warumpi Band and I absolutely love their stuff, too! So, more favourites! Makes me happy!!! My Island Home was the first, but I listened to some of their later stuff and like the lyrics to Blackfella, Whitefella a lot.

      • I think they were big here too, but I was out in the bush, so didn’t see much of what passed for ‘fashion’ in the 80s (smirk). I know, I’m hopeless . . . I do love curly hair; my Mum’s was the colour of a dark Irish Setter, very thick and with natural waves; I inherited my Dad’s hair type, pretty much straight (slight wave), but his was black and lovely; mine was a sort of nondescript mid-brown. Oh, well . . . 😉

      • I always wanted curls too but with my OCD nature I think the curls would have caused me untold angst. The fact of the matter was we couldn’t afford for me to get mine done and when I was earning my own there were far more interesting things to do (like playing with hair dye instead 😉 ) than perming. Nowadays it gets pincurls with natural hairspray if I want anything flash or it’s plaited or braided to the side and that’s it. No time nor inclination nor even a reason for posh hair. 🙂
        And how lucky and blessed are you to have avoided all the horror of the 80’s and its fashions. 😉 The music was legendary though. 😀

      • You’d have been cute with curls, but your Mum might not have enjoyed them so much . . . my Mum cut my hair often when I was little; I wouldn’t brush it myself and she didn’t have time to fuss (with all the other sibs coming along); I vowed that when I grew up I’d never cut my hair short and I’ve pretty much kept to that; twice I’ve had it to shoulder length, but don’t like it; mid-length hair is hard to deal with, I find. Mine I can leave down for long or put up for short. I wear it up and pinned here because of the wall-to-wall carpets. It’s very hard on the vacuum brushes. I love to braid it, too, but after a few odd looks and remarks, I quit doing that in public; when I’m on the Islands (Gulf Islands, in between Vancouver Island and the mainland), I fit in and wear it however I like and no one notices.

        I coloured my hair for a bit, but it’s a hassle with long hair and the grey looks ok, I think, so I gave it up. Last time I had a spiral perm it cost me about $150 and that was nearly 20 years ago. I loved the look, but not the expense. It took her about four hours to wind up my hair on those tiny rollers. We never had the fun colours, of course, but my younger son, the skateboarder, used to show up with odd colours; fire engine red, chrome yellow, etc. I never minded that; hair grows back and all. When he got a huge Gothic lettering tattoo on his forearm (spelling out the name of his workplace), I was more concerned; what if you don’t want that later on? My youngest sister has tattoos, but I doubt I’ll ever go there.

        I can see you with pincurls; cute, no doubt! I really like that side braid a la Katniss . . . I still think a few tendrils would be nice . . . sigh

        I like the idea of posh hair, clothes, home, etc., but no inclination to do all the necessary. Given a choice, I’ll make something, read, learn, etc. etc.

        Have to admit, some nice people were born in the 80s, but it was a huge shock after the gentler, more natural bush hippie culture that I love (I was never a fashionable city hippie, although many of my friends were). No money, for one thing, and just not how I grew up, for another. I’m closer to a homesteader or croft wife than to a Twiggy or Jane Asher, cute as they were. The vinyl minis and thigh-high white boots didn’t do a thing for me, although I wore minis for a brief stretch when they first came out. Maxis are more comfy and easier to do stuff in, not to mention warmer!

        I have to confess; I didn’t get into any 80s music to speak of until this century . . . can we still be friends? 😉

      • When do you think I got into 80’s music. 😛 Too young to enjoy it whist it came out. 😉
        Oh I would have been cute with curls for sure. I know this as my daughter who is the spitting image of me (except with my husbands gorgeous green eyes and mother-in-law’s much gentler chin shape) with curls. After her hair has been washed if you encourage the curls with a bit of judicious scrunching she is just angelic. Until you get to know her that is. 😉 More like pixie then. 😛
        I love long hair but I love the convenience of short so I pretty much always wear it up. Then I still have long hair to do pretty things with and the convenience of short hair. In saying that it was short for our wedding. It was shortish when Martin proposed and I decided not to stress myself out trying to grow it long. It was a wise choice as my hair takes FOREVER to grow. The lower edge of shoulder blades length it is now is the result of 18 months or more of growing from shoulder length. I haven’t had a chance to get it cut since and it’s in desperate need of a trim at least. Ah well.

      • One thing about having friends in this village is that age matters less and I tend to forget we’re not all at the same stage / age. Your daughter is very cute and I happen to like pixies a lot! Being the mother of one is a bit different, though 🙂 My hair is very slow to grow, too. Years ago I added kelp powder and nutritional yeast to my food and my hair finally made it past my shoulder blades where it had been breaking off all on its own. Now if I let it be its scraggly self, some strands come below my waist. It’s still not long enough to sit on, though (my big dream; not likely to be realized in this lifetime, I know). Occasionally I feel the need to look like a bit less of an itinerant bag lady and give it a wee trim; mostly I put it up with a clip and don’t think about it. If I go out, it’s down, though. I’ve had one good cut in a shop, ever, so am quite leary about them. Once the girl cut it crookedly, tried to even it up (several times) and it ended up more than 10 inches shorter than it had been. I’d specifically asked for a half inch off! Just enough to get rid of the longest straggly bits. And I hate their ‘need’ to remove all the split ends. I rather like the halo effect (my only chance of being seen as angelic, I can tell you!) and since I doubt the splits will run all the way up the shaft of the hair and into my brain (and what would that do to me, I wonder? 😉 ), I just leave it alone.

      • Oh and my hair was dead straight and white blonde. I hated it at the time but smirk when I see straightening irons and bleach. *smirk* My hair is STILL very light blonde and pretty straight (dead straight with a hair dryer and hair brush) and long these days too. 😀

      • You’d have done well in the 60s and 70s, then; half the girls I knew were ironing their hair to get rid of curls . . . no bleach in my generation; my older cousins did the bleached blonde beehive thing. I did back-comb to some extent in high school, but gave it up fairly quickly. Too much like work . . . I think shorter hair suits a lot of people; not sure if it would suit me better, but honestly, I love long hair, suitable or no, so that’s me forever . . .

  8. Ooo-ooo-ooh the colour, the colour is yum! The colour is wonderful – in my next post you will see why I am so happy you have made scarves in this colour. Now you must make some green ones too. I would like to buy one of each colour when you are finished 🙂

    It is so lovely to listen to music while being creative isn’t it! Sometimes I listen to speakers I enjoy such as Wayne Dyer or Christiana Northrup or Gregg Braden and so on ……. it’s a way of ‘reading’ while I create which I quite enjoy.

    So looking forward to seeing your first project finished, what a great process it has been. And by ‘great’ I mean ‘long’ 🙂

    Reply ↓

    • Yum, for sure!! Greens coming up once I have more silks; may be a couple of weeks. Now I am curious about YOUR project! You’re gonna make me wait, aren’t you, lady? Well, like the cat at the mousehole, I shall wait with ‘baited’ breath . . . 😉

      I shall be happy for you to be my first customer. 🙂 We shall talk . . .

      Now, what’s up with you?? Inquiring minds want to know . . . 🙂

      Mostly I listen to music while on the computer, writing or playing. But I could listen while working. My sister gave me an iPod a week or so ago and I have a nice playlist set up already. I have to watch the sound level, though; I used to use headphones on an MP3 player while riding the bus to work. Was too loud and I ended up with tinnitis.

      I prefer not to listen to words when working, as I can be easily led astray. Will have to check out those speakers, though.

      hahaha . . . ‘great’!! 😉

      Was going to iron today; cleared up some stuff in Mum’s lounge, read a few blog posts, couldn’t find iron (love to iron, don’t do T-shirts or jeans, two years nearly since the office job . . .); however, I think I’ve located it now; will dig it out tomorrow (am I channelling Miss Scarlett, or what?) and work in the reflected sunshine. It’s nearly 11:00 pm now, so it’s supper and a movie for me! Have a great evening, Pauline!!

      Reply ↓

  9. What an interesting post Linne. I just visited Courtenay Pollack’s blog. Wow!
    How exciting re the shop. 🙂

    Reply ↓

Leave a reply to Linne Cancel reply