Cranberry dreaming part 3

2 bundles of cotton + a cranberry sauce concoction + a hot plate left on high for too long = ???

One could propose that the correct answer is a bloody mess. And, I suppose, one would be correct. Me...well...I rather like the results...burn holes and all.

Can anyone recommend a good way to remove burnt cranberries from the bottom of a dye pot...exact metal unknown, but I think it's aluminum?

Cranberry dreaming part 2

Inspiration + an idea + cranberries and blueberries + dye pot + hot plate + cotton + organza + linen + time = cranberry hued laundry

I awoke way too early yesterday...like 4:15 am too early...stumbled downstairs and unwrapped the cranberry bundles before my first cup of coffee. Maybe my curiosity over the transpirings in the dye pot were what had me up before the crack of dawn...

The dye pot, hot plate and I are no strangers. We spent many an hour mixing up various Jacquard dyes to color the reeds and sisals used in weaving my baskets in the beginning and my vibrant, abstract studies in color at the end (of my basketry career, that is). Yet this brewing and bubbling of cranberries and blueberries was an entirely new experience for us. It's a delicate dance that we need to learn because now we're hooked.

The bundle was wrapped with the linen in the middle covered by organza which was covered by cotton. As light as the cotton appeared, I assumed that the linen was going to be unchanged. Boy! Was I wrong. It took the cranberry coloring the best of the three. These pictures were taken while the fabric was still wet.

The lovely red dried to a pale mauvey-brown-grey...still with bits of cranberries attached. The girls and I were out all day yesterday and didn't arrive home until the sun was setting so a photo will be taken today. And I'm going to wait until I return from a jaunt to Pam's before washing the pieces. Let the color settle in a bit, you know.

Stay tuned for part 3. 

Cranberry dreaming

Ever since Elizabeth over at be...dream...play... wrote about cranberry gratitude and mashing cranberry sauce into her journal - which resulted in the most scrumptious shade of...well...cranberry - I've been dreaming about experimenting with my own leftover cranberries.

So today, with all the Thanksgiving company back in their own homes, I dug out the dye pot and hot plate, plugged them in on the deck and set about concocting a home brew of cranberries, blueberries and even a bit of the sauce...cranberry, that is.

The plan is to let the pot simmer until bedtime, then turn it off and let everything cool overnight. I'll unwrap the bundles tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!

Sidetracked by a bleach pen

Dye update - no dyeing has taken place yet. I got sidetracked by a bleach pen, black cotton and mark making.

Ready to dye

Never in a million years would I have thought that one day I'd be readying to use the Jacquard Acid and Procion MX dyes for their intended use - on fabric. Once upon a time not so long ago, yet for 20+ years, these were my basketry dyes. When all of my weaving supplies were packed away and hauled to the basement, the dyes went as well.

The last time I dyed anything was over 4 years ago before we moved to Connecticut. I spent a week dyeing reeds in the basement because we were moving during the winter and was uncertain when there would be another chance to do so. Wet, colorful reeds were strung on twine tied to the metal poles in the basement to dry.

The basement was crisscrossed with thick lines of purple, 

yellow, 

red 

and pink.