spicing up things a bit ...

... with a couple of handfuls of onion skins.

Sowing cress on natural dyed wool, a handful of wool fleece simmered with onion skins for a few minutes. No need to rinse the wool, perhaps it will make the cress taste a little more spicy ...

 I received a sack full of hand-me-downs for one of the kids. In the bag there was also a wool sweater, which apparently took a turn too many in the washing machine and ended up felted and unwanted. I cut off the sleeves and made a deeper neckline.Then cut a ribbon from a sleeve and dyed it with onion skins. Handstitched it to the neckline, stitched a raven silhouette on the front from a scrap of natural dyed linen (an offcut from an old curtain, originally) and made a couple of pleats. A new, warm vest for free. I'm planning on using it all up, the remains of the sweater could be transformed into a much needed camera wrap. There's a peculiar satisfaction to repurposing, restyling and using every little bit and bob of discarded stuff.

Special gifts & Japanese Indigo seeds

I've received a couple of gifts lately that made me really happy.  Maybe they were a bit unusual - there might be a woman or two out there who wouldn't feel the same glee as yours truly.  But honestly, I feel so fortunate to have a husband who really have a knack for gifting. How about this beauty?

I don't know the english word for it - or if there even is an english word for it - it's called a gruekedel in danish. An old fashioned laundry thingy, that boils large amounts of water. You get the point, hmm? I've really needed one for such a long time - and the other day my husband comes home carrying this dear monster. I picture myself dyeing in the garden this summer - huge amounts of fabric and yarn - while comfortably lolling in a hammock.

And this was a special gift too - a Hapalopilus Nidulans, found by my aunt who's a natural dyer herself. It was growing on a dead Sorbus Aucuparia, one of its favourite hosts. I'm going to shread it, before dyeing a lovely purple with it. When I got the courage ...

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By the way; I have got more seeds from my japanese indigo than I'll be able to use. And they have to be sown this uear because they don't keep long. They are organically grown, a species with red stems, pointed leaves and pink flowers. If you'd like to try and grow some, please drop me a line and we'll work something out. I'm not going to charge anything for them. But if you have something to trade with, that could be fun.