Hand Dyed Goodness

I was showing my mom how to dye fabric (silk to be specific) last weekend. We dabbled in a range of techniques including painting, dipping, dripping and some good old fashioned kettle dyeing. I even tested my hand at dyeing silk ribbon! So much fun!

I purchase my nekked silk (in scarf and ribbon form) and acid dyes from Dharma Trading Company (which has been one of my favorite supply sources since college...uh, a long time). I'm really loving the ribbon. I will definitely be dyeing more of that for weaving, knitting and crocheting projects. Fun!

Raffia Granny Rug

I know what you’re thinking…she reappears and then disappears again! Well, I do have good reasons for my latest absence. Firstly, Steve and I moved from our Westside apartment to a loft in Downtown LA. This was a huge adjustment, but I’m happy to report a positive and much needed change. In addition, virtually simultaneous to the move, I decided to take a new position at another firm after almost 13 years of working for the same company. Talk about turning one’s environment on its head! Okay, so the transition(s) was a bit trying, but I’ve come through all the change no worse for the wear. New job at a place that doesn’t really rank on the drama meter and a spectacular new space in which to live and work my creative fingers to the bone, a winning combo to be sure!

Studio stuff organized and easily accessible, I have begun working (needleworking that is) again. As such, what does one need when moving into a place with lots of wooden floor space? Rugs of course! So, I made one...

Sure, I could buy a rug or two (and I have), but I thought it would be really fun to carpet my naked floors with floor coverings made by my own hands.

As I already have several wool rugs, I wasn’t necessarily interested in making more woolen floor goodies. Nonetheless, I knew that I wanted my floor art to be fun, colorful, relatively lightweight and able to stand up to foot traffic.  Enter, synthetic raffia…

This stuff comes in a wide variety of colors, can be spot cleaned with water and a gentle detergent, takes the heat of an iron with no problem and will withstand a plethora of feet atop its worked surface. Oh, and it’s pretty nice to work with too!

Obviously, I’ll have to do a bit more experimenting, but so far I’m pretty happy with my raffia floor grannies...