hammer in hand

top to bottom: forsythia, daffodils, tulips

violets folded and hammered into fabric 

un-dyed yarn, daffodil yarn, holly nostepinne, bookbinding hammer

It's a bright and windy spring day here.

I put some more yarn in the mordant bath this morning

and then made for the local park, hammer in hand.

The book I've been referencing for some of my dyeing experiments,

Harvesting Color, by Rebecca Burgess, has a section on direct dyeing.

I presoaked my muslin in soda ash and then placed fresh violets on

one half of the cloth, folded the other side over, sprayed with a 

solution of soda ash/water then gently hammered the flowers

to release their dye.

A woman and her dog wandered my way to ask what I was doing

while others stayed close by and tried not to stare!

Tonight I will cook up a dye bath of red onion skins.

The top photo shows the blooms I am collecting and drying 

to use in a mixed dye bath.