Changing the calendar is always a significant time of the year for me. Looking at handspun I created, thinking about projects I was interested in, and remembering each craft cul-de-sac I explored helps me see what I’ve accomplished. If 2017 was the year I fell in love with cotton, 2018 was the year I fell in love with indigo, saxon blue, and all things overdyeing.
This year, there seemed to be indigo everywhere I looked. The Summer 2018 issue of Interweave Crochet featured several indigo-dyed projects that inspired the Interweave staff to start their own vat in the parking lot on a sunny day. I even dipped some of my cotton handspun into an indigo vat while teaching in Oregon. Handspun indigo stitches—swoon!
My favorite series of Roving Reporter posts were also indigo related. Saxon blue is an indigo process that can be quite dangerous to do at home; here is a video of the process by Linda Ligon. However, Botanical Colors has a Saxon Blue extract available that I tried early this year.
Photos by Kate Larson
Dyeing Flammegarn Socks with a Twist
“When I first encountered a Norwegian dyeing technique called flammegarn in Nancy Bush’s Folk Socks, I was intrigued. After seeing flammegarn socks at Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum in Iowa, I knew I had to give this shibori-like effect yarn a try myself. So, in the depths of the Indiana winter, it was time to jump into flammegarn with both feet. . .” Read more.
Roving Reporter: Natural Dye for Handspun Speckles
“Speckles, shibori, flammegarn—there are many ways to refer to a resist-dyeing technique that leaves undyed spots on a skein as it emerges from the dyepot. After making samples in Saxon blue, I decided to try it on handspun sock yarn. I grabbed a smallish skein of 3-ply Horned Dorset that languished in my studio awaiting a dyepot. Off we go! . . .” Read more.
I’m excited to see 2019 on the horizon. There are new yarns to spin, fibers to explore, and colors to learn about. Where will the new year take you?
—Kate