Another gradation

More dyeing on Tuesday. 7 yards, including a 5 step warm brown gradation (above). I also dyed 2 yards with the "leftover" dye stock, just dumping it willy-nilly into another bucket. The "surprise!" fabric turned out a lovely khaki brown. Dumping unmeasured dye stock made me feel vaguely guilty, but in an odd way it was very freeing. For most of my dyeing I measure very carefully to a tenth of a gram or a milliliter.

I think I have this gradation thing down, although I still need to adjust the steps. The 2 steps on the left, .05 and .25 owg*, are too close together. The other steps, from left, are 3, 6 and 12 owg. I think I will eliminate .05 and add 1.5 owg for the next batch. Perhaps I will get a better gradation.

*owg means "of the weight of goods" and is a measure of the depth of shade.

This week's output (so far)

Busy week so far. Monday, I dyed a seven step gradation. It took all day, but I think I worked the kinks out so it should go faster when I dye another gradation today:

Over the weekend, I pieced together my shibori project from the Jan Myers-Newbury class:

I need to dye another pole or two to finish the left and right border. I'll post another picture when it's completely finished.

More pictures from the Crow Barn

A few more pictures from my Shibori class at the Crow Barn. The last morning, Wendy and I headed out to the barn before sunrise. The overcast sky provided us with brilliant color:

After several days of dyeing, I tried to decide which shibori patterns and color palette I wanted to work with:

Wendy did a clamp shibori project. Pretty cool. Here Jan is offering her expert touch:

Lisa was my table mate. She did some innovative pole wraps, and her project is stunning:

Gunilla, from Sweden, created a really wonderful triptych:

Carol did a combination of pole wrapping and clamping:

It was a fabulous week and I can't wait to explore shibori here at home!

Brian's day off

Brian took Thursday and Friday off, so we took advantage of the wonderful weather and visited the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. It was a perfect day, and the autumn colors were brilliant against the bright blue sky:

The Japanese Garden at FWBG is one of my favorite places. The garden is a beautiful and contemplative place. It has so much to offer -- water features:

The brilliant colors of Japanese maples:


Beautiful architecture and paving:

I loved the rather random pattern of the cobblestones. Not sure why...

Ravenous (and astoundingly large) koi:

Arching bridges (Brian only adds to the natural beauty):

And plentiful turtles:

After our walk around the garden, we had a delicious Thai lunch. What a lovely day!

studioQ meeting

studioQ held the October meeting on Monday, November 2. What can I say, we're a wacky bunch...

Nancy showed her latest quilt. She dyed all the fabric herself:

Jay is showing an updated snail's trail:

It's always an inspiration to meet with this bunch!

Day 1 at the Crow Barn

I'm at the Crow Barn in Baltimore, Ohio, for a class with Jan Myers-Newbury. We are learning the art of Shibori, and having a really wonderful time!

I think autumn is the best time to visit Ohio. The fall foliage is so beautiful -- we just don't get the same depth and variety of colors in Texas. The Crow Barn is southeast of Columbus in a very rural area.

Monday was warm and sunny. I took a walk, and snapped a few photos:

There are many styles of Shibori. Jan is showing us how she underpaints with dye before wrapping fabric on a pole:

My first few efforts. I'll post pictures later of these pieces -- I have since overdyed them and they have turned from mildly cool to pretty darned fabulous:

More later....

Rain!

I love Brian's wireless rain gauge. I gave it to him for Christmas last year, and, honestly, he had asked for it and was delighted to get it. But I think, deep down, I really bought it for me. When it rains, I run to the kitchen and check it frequently. Oooo, another 2 tenths of an inch! Yay, we're over 1 inch for the day! Wow! That's a lot of rain!

Today I've spent a lot of time looking at the rain gauge. As of 7:46 pm Central Daylight Time we are officially over 3 inches for the day. 3.07 to be exact. And it is still raining steadily.

So, Brian, thank you for asking for a rain gauge! I love it!