Kettle Dye Pot

As I'm considering which dyes to use today for my dye pots, I can not find my other dyes that I had packed away so I will be using the RIT dyes. I know hold your breath. However, there are plenty of us that live in the boonies and the fiber store isn't around the corner to go get the dye we want much less if there was the chances of them having the color we want if we are doing a special project could be a passing thought.

My past dyeing experience was a few months ago. I found out that I didn't add enough vinegar to the solution. It really didn't clarify to what I was understanding. Today I have supervision and a translator with me as we will go through this process and decide exactly how we would like to get this all done. This should be fun!

Today it went rather well after we had finished the Border Leicester Dye Pot we decided to go ahead and do a Mohair Dye pot with the same dye. That was exciting!

This is the Mohair after thought! I'm glad we tried this as well!










What we learned was that I didn't add enough vinegar to the last kettle dye pots that I did. This time we revved it up a little with a couple of extras that I learned about to see if it would make a difference. From what I can tell in just this process it made a Significant difference in how it was all done!

Now to make things that much easier I need to build a bigger drying table or tables at the rate this is all going!

The lesson, you don't know until you try, ask as many questions as necessary and remember we all started somewhere. I've had a love for fiber for over 20 years and it wasn't until recently that I actually started to try to dye things.

The two of them drying. 


#kettledyeing #BorderLeicester #Mohair #CandyCherryRed #HeritageHillsHomestead #rawfiber #dontknowunlessyoutry #dyeinginthemoment #MontanaMade #MontanaGrown #MontanaProducts #CottageIndustries

Excitement Everywhere?

As I was talking with a girlfriend this morning about things she of course pointed out the obvious to me and she actually used an example I have in the past.. I was talking to her about the looms that I make. I was over excited about it. She was looking for a peg loom and I responded.  She asked me about sizes and what not, for me to reply I don't have one ready right now.. I told her I was so excited about things that I didn't even take pictures of it. She made the comment, "hahaha, it's fun to see an adult act like a kid in a candy shop! I can feel your excitement!" I share her same passion! I Love it when you get to see that excitement come back to a person. It is a Joy that we need to see more of! Of course I'm feeling rather goofy at that point as well as the realization when I told her I make looms and to order that I didn't have any on hand at the moment to sell. Open Mouth insert foot.

I Love all the possibilities of the growth that we are experiencing. IT just confirms that being in fear of the unknown just is a waste of energy and time. I was afraid to dye fiber. Something that I'm sure I've never done before. So far.. Great Success, maybe in not the way that I thought it would be but then again have you ever met a quilter that can't spot their first flaw on their quilt? I haven't. Then to carding and blending what I had. Boy I was surprised yet again. No different then when I built my first rug loom. Boy was that a rough draft but that allowed me to get out and learn so much more about what I would and didn't want to do.  My point, Embrace that of what is new and go forward. Do what you must but go forward in any case. You never know until you try what kind of art you will create. More importantly do it like the kid in the candy shop jumping up and down, who cares who is watching! You live life only once! Embrace what you have been given!