Weld and Woad are historically important when it comes to natural dyeing. It’s a peculiar quirk of natural dyes that no one dyestuff produces a good, true green. The only way to achieve green is by overdyeing a yellow dyed yarn with a blue. For centuries weld and woad was the go to combination in…
Copper mordant. Why not? Plus it’s something I haven’t tried until now for dyeing wool. Alum and cream of tartar is my go to mordant, being easily available and non toxic. I have used copper as an afterbath occasionally, but only on previously mordanted yarn where the change to the colour compared to using iron…
Natural dyeing adventures never stop. Yellows aren’t hard to obtain. But really good yellows are still to be prized. Here we have the traditional versus the modern. Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria is a common plant of field margins, hedgerows and waste ground. It is perennial, with long, strong stems of richly scented, frothy creamy white flowers…
Even though Stoke Abbott (the starting point for this walk) is only a few miles away, it seemed wrong to park up in the middle of someone else’s village during total lockdown. Now that restrictions have eased a bit it’s time to venture about and about just a little further from home. And, as Greta…
We are living in strange times. Thank God the weather has been glorious for weeks. Thank God! The garden here is separate from the cottage, past the little row of cottages and up a path bisecting a neighbour’s garden. Sometimes this is a disadvantage, not being able to just pop outside the back door can…
Feed the Birds – it’s not tuppence a bag anymore. But it’s well worth it. There have been some feeders hanging in an apple tree in the garden for years. Mixed seed, fat balls and peanuts have attracted many birds. Lots and lots of sparrows, plus a few blue tits and great tits. There are…