More dying going on here today...

Went out this morning and picked another bucket of cosmos for dying some Merino ( probably not spelled right)  today.

Just look at all the color on my fingers! Can't wait to get the wool in the pot now! I'm simmering in mordant right now, then into the dye pot. More beautiful bright orangey-yellow coming up!

Almond Joy

Ok, so I had this idea to make a soap like an Almond Joy candy bar, one of my favorites. But I can't eat them anymore.  I had a few bars of some coconut soap and some Almond Biscotti soap that I cut up. I also ground some almonds and grated a few squares of organic baking cocoa. And this is what I got. Isn't it yummy looking? I will for sure have to watch the guys now! Men usually think my soap is fudge.

It smells amazing! I used some already last night, just to see how it lathers. I can still smell it on me this morning. I used a white washcloth too. It had some light brown on the cloth, but it washed out. Lots of bubbles too! So I am pleased with how this turned out. And I have enough to make another batch later if this sells well.

I asked my husband to smell it before I told him what it was. He smelled coconut first, then chocolate. I had to tell him it had almonds too. But he liked it.

So here ya go, a soap that smells like Almond Joy! I wish you could smell it through the internet!

dying wool

Yesterday, I decided to try to dye some of my hand spun yarn. I went out and gathered all the cosmos flowers I had, plus some marigolds. Simmered them for a little while.

While the flowers were simmering, I got the yarn ready in the mordant bath. It had to simmer an hour.

Strained the flowers and got a beautiful orange color. Added the yarn and simmered another hour.

                                                            And this is what I got. I just love it!

Then today, I put 2 more skeins in that same dye pot. They are so much lighter, but still really pretty. I think I might really like doing this. I can see how it can be quite addictive.

I found some gentian violet the other day at Walmart. I saw someone's post on FB where they dyed some wool using this stuff. It's what people use for thrush. It is a beautiful purple-violet color. I want to dye some alpaca next. I'm washing more white alpaca so should have enough to dye soon.