The Indigo is frozen, and other stories.

Hi All,
I've been really trying to make myself go dye. It's not working well at all. You see, it's been below freezing for the better part of three weeks now, and my "dye studio" is my unheated, uninsulated garage. So, there hasn't been a lot of dyeing going on. I have mordanted a ton of yarn though, which I need to dye for the Loopy Ewe.
Then the yarn froze.
You see, because I use natural dyes, I mordant it first before dyeing it. The mordant enables the fibres to take the dye, so it has to be done--with everything but indigo--if I want the colours to be predictable and light- and wash-fast. So, mordant I did, for three days, and little did I know that each previious day's batch of mordanted yarn was freezing solid in the bottom of my bin while I mordanted a new batch. Little did I know, that is, until I went to dye some. Now it's thawing out inside but it took me and Husband-Boy working together to bring the giant bin of wet yarn into the house. It's still frozen in the middle after two days.
Which brings me to problem #2. The dyes are frozen as well. If I don't get a big heater out there soon, there will be no dyeing until the weather breaks. Frozen indigo doesn't really work for dyeing! I do use propane heaters for dyeing, which helps with the heat, but I have to leave a window or a door open so I don't asphysiate myself by breathing carbon monoxide--a by-product of burning anything but propane in this case.

My frozen home.

So, rather than dye I have been planning. I've got big plans for the frozen yarn--and I'll get right to work on it as soon as it's thawed (tomorrow perhaps). There will be wintery colours as well as springtime inspired colours--because I could use a taste of spring right now!

Also, I've applied to have a booth at three different fibre shows:

Upper Valley Fiber Festival
Miami County Fairgrounds
April 25–26, 2009

The Great Lakes Fiber Show
Wayne County Fairgrounds
May 23–24, 2009

The Midwest Festival of Fibers
"A Wool Gathering"
Young's Jersey Dairy
September 19–20, 2009

Today I talked to Penny Sitler, TKGA's Executive Director, who is going to include mention of Earthly Hues in a story she's working on for the Summer issue of Cast On. I couldn't be more excited. This could be really huge for my little company. Penny was very nice to talk to, and she knows tons about the needle arts industries. It's an honour to be recognized by such an influential person! Insert Dance of Joy.



So, that's news for now. I will be dyeing a wholesale order and a special order first, then getting to work on new things for the shop. Thanks for looking!