I haven't had a "Week Of" for ages

So, Week of Dyes.
The big pile of dyeables was escaping from the underneath of the Big Table, so today I started with Wool. This, of course, needs Acid Dye, and heat...

So, take two old microwave ovens

Lots of old wool blankets, cut up into squares

Which need to be soaked in warm water and vinegar (I use the cheapest brown stuff from Tesco), then wrung out

Mix up the dyes in squeezy bottles (a small funnel is essential) - a little goes a long way

Not forgetting to keep your Rubber Gloves on, of course.. Oooops. Put your fabrics into microwaveable containers (I use old Pyrex mixing bowls) and dribble dye, with extra water if desired
Heat on full, 2 minutes. Wait 2 minutes, heat again, on full, 2 minutes
Rinse well in cold water, hang on the line...
Acid dyes should "exhaust" well - if you use the right amount of dye the run-off water is just about clear. If you have too much, it can be tipped into the next

This was about 1/2 of today's pieces, and there will be lots more tomorrow. Perhaps I'll get the drying racks out, too

I will make these into bundles for sale - nothing stitches quite so well as boiled wool, by hand, no effort required...

Day five, chaos, confusion, and silk books

Hello out there.. Thanks all for reading this, as I know there have been lots of you looking, I'm soooo happy
Anyway, today was a bit messy.. Fabric all over the floor, odd visitors from all over the place, including my favourite doggy friend and her humans.  I made mostly little books, here are a few in silk

And wool

And finished a few odds and ends, including this mega-shopping bag which has been hanging around forever

(Oakshott fabrics and one delicious dark batik) - I started this for me as a possible computer-bag, maybe it will stay mine..
And there was humming-of-microwaves again, and Terri made more nice woolly pieces (I hope to get some images of these tomorrow)
A tweedy pincushion bag

And here's a brooch in mustard wool and cotton threads

and an accidental selfie - the camera is playing again..

More tomorrow....

Week of Silk and Wool - Day Three

Much humming-of-the-microwave today, as Terri was dyeing lumps of blanket for her Big Curtain
My slightly-random patchwork blocks came out just cosy, and the squares too..
And I made some little books with silk or tweedy covers - I have a lot of these, they will be for sale later this week on this page