Category: Dyeing

Sometimes….

…. you just have to eat humble pie and admit that you were wrong!

iphone 103

I was totally wrong. Instead of unloading in the rain, as I had predicted, the redshirts were there to help me do it in warm, glowing sunshine! Above is the view from the studio once it was all set up, but before the students arrived. It was glorious. I had visions of us sitting outside and having our theory discussions in glorious sunshine. Sadly that didn’t happen, but at least the start and finish was sunny. The two lower windows to the left of the above shot were those of my bedroom, and from there I had these secluded views.

Having said that, I didn’t see much of the view in daylight as I was too busy teaching. We had a very industious few days, and dyed some really beautiful colours.

The next dyeing workshop (and the very last public one for this year) is at Busy Bees in Newport on 14th June. Some of you may not know that Busy Bees had an horrendous fire earlier this year, but, despite losing all stock at that time, they have limped on and I’m looking forward to supporting them when we visit. Why not come along and join us? Amongst other things we’ll be dyeing a tee-shirt – but maybe not in the way you expect! To enrol on the course contact Busy Bees via this page, preferably by email as there may not be anyone there to answer the phone.

 

It’s raining…. it’s pouring…..

The weather forecast for today is showers. Light here, but heavier further north. Watching the broadcast this morning I could see a cloud that hung heavily over the Chilterns.

The area around the Chilterns is beautiful, and that’s where I’m heading later today – to teach at Missenden Abbey. I’ve seen some beautiful weather at Missenden – glorious sunshine, beautiful views too, of course, however, each time I have had to unload my teaching ‘stuff’ from the car I have had to do it in pouring rain! It would appear that this weekend will be no exception. So, while you are basking in sunshine elsewhere, please spare me a thought!

However hard the rain falls, though, the sun will be shining in the class as we colour our fabrics with various shades of yellow – and other colours too. I’m really excited as I love teaching dyeing. We will definitely be having fun, but also learning something too. That’s the thing about dyeing….. it’s a continual learning process for everyone. Here’s a sneak preview of something they will see.

001

This won’t mean a lot – and they aren’t the colours we will be dyeing – but this sequence illustrates a very useful point. It just represents one of the aspects of the course. With permission I will show you some photographs after the weekend.

It’s true to say, however, that every cloud has a silver lining. This weekend will be no different! I have just discovered that Eurovision is being broadcast tomorrow. I won’t have to make an excuse to avoid it! Hooray!