Today I wove the wood thrush’s “egg” part of my nest-like rya. The egg is dyed with woad and Queen Anne’s Lace. The nest is dyed with black walnut. The darkest shade of brown right around the egg is hand-spun naturally brown Romney singles combined with my darkest shade of black walnut. Romney is a breed of sheep. I bought a huge bittersweet chocolate colored fleece many years ago at the Webs Fleece Market, but alas I can’t remember who I bought it from.
Row one:
Once again, thanks to a snow day on Tuesday, I have made more progress on my new rya this week than I might have otherwise. Nevertheless, it is posing many challenges. The design is supposed to resemble an egg in a nest (Matthew’s idea–Thanks, Matthew!). Specifically, I’m thinking of a wood thrush egg, which is a very beloved bird to me. My colors are shades of tan and brown, dyed with black walnut, and blue-green for the egg, dyed with Queen Anne’s Lace and woad. Wood thrushes like to incorporate white material into their nests, so there is a very light colored layer around the outside of my design. Continue reading “Nest Rya”
I finished my rya! Here it is enjoying the warm sunshine outdoors this morning.
The yarns were all hand-dyed by me last July (2012) using woad from my garden and Queen Anne’s Lace from garden “weeds” and from scrubby places around town (e.g., under the powerlines and along the sides of Route 9 and Main St. here in Amherst). The blues are dyed with woad, the yellows are Queen Anne’s Lace, and the greens are Queen Anne’s Lace overdyed with woad. The mordant is aluminum sulfate. The yarns are single ply rug wool. Each knot is made with three strands of yarn. The warp is 8/4 unbleached linen.
This is my 100th post, and I feel very pleased to have made something so pretty to share on this occasion.
I have sewn up a few more books with the Hop Vine pattern on the cover. One was actually sewn in Maryland on February 20th, where I was visiting my sister who is about to have her second baby. From there it was promptly mailed off to Arizona, from whence it will travel to Ohio. Not a carbon-neutral book, alas. However, it was blessed by the paw of the Pippi, so I’m sure its sins are forgiven.
Often when I am working on something involving glue or paper or yarn, the cat jumps up to “help.” At least, that’s what we always say. “Pippi likes to help.” Then we say, “Don’t help, Pippi!” In this case, though, I was happy she was helping. Because…. Continue reading “New Hop Vine Books”
