Between the Threads

I’ve had quite a summer of natural dyeing.  In June, Nancy Zeller of Long Ridge Farm in New Hampshire conducted a 2-day workshop for my guild on Indigo Dyeing.  It was wonderful!

First she brought samples of indigo dyed textiles.

Then we got to work creating our vats. Nancy inspected Karen and Betsy’s vat to make sure it had the proper pH, temperature, and low oxidation.

My partner Amanda, a biology professor (lucky me) and I had a great time working together at the workshop. She was very adept at using pH paper and understanding the reading.

Before the workshop, I took some cotton gauze fabric and shibori stitched it all over.  I got some great results after I dyed it in indigo and then after removing the stitching, dipped it in a woad vat (another blue dye we got to play with).  I was pleased.

Indigo was magic.  I came home with enough of a vat to reinvigorate it and dye some more.  In the meantime, I spent this last weekend experimenting with the lovely yellow dyes of Queen Anne’s lace.  More about that in the next post.

I lost my job a couple of weeks ago thanks to some highly paid consultants who decided to “re-org” the marketing department, get rid of a bunch of us and bring in their own cronies. It goes with the territory in higher education.

I’m trying to put my time to good use.  So between job hunting and cleaning up my weaving studio, I’ve put together some nice meals for my family.  One afternoon, my husband and I were on our own. One of the dishes I thought about for dinner suddenly became a perfect summer lunch.

Mozzarella, Strawberry and Tomato salad is one of the recipes from the French Fridays with Dorie website I’ve been following as I cook out of Dorie Greenspan’s “Around My French Table” cookbook. I threw caution to the wind and even included wine. It transported me away from my unemployment blues and off to dreams of France.  C’est bon!