Weaving Beets

Remember all that yarn that my cousin gave me?  Well, I’ve started to use it.

The photo below is the first batch of yarn that I dyed with natural ingredients, woven on a 4” square  hand loom that my husband made for me. 

So what did I dye it with? Red beet juice left over from cooking the beets. “Red?”, you say? Yes. Red. I used cream of tartar and alum as mordents, and it came out a creamy yellow. I was a little bit in a hurry to see the results, so I didn’t leave it in the pot too long.

I plan to do a series of these weavings. I will use the yarn that my cousin spun from sheep that she raised. I understand that Lincoln is very good for weaving, so I will probably use that. It comes from sheep that look like they have dreadlocks and is rather coarse. Keeping with the natural, hand made look, I will dye the yarn with various fruits, vegetables and spices from my garden or the farmer’s market or my cupboard. I plan to do these in very small batches, hopefully one a weekend. It should keep me busy all summer!

I already have carrot tops in the a pot and plan to do beet greens, red onion skins and red cabbage soon.

And The Artist? His joiner motor died. He’s using some wood that was given to him to make a Nakashimi-style table, a style he’s never done before. I’m very excited about it. He’s also finishing up his pieces for the MAH show.

By the way, the Big Creek Pottery retrospective currently at the Museum of Art and History is fantastic.