The wool tree

You’ve probably seen my pix of yarn drying in the sumac tree in the front garden, it’s so easy to use, good branches. Today it’s really been put to work! It’s my montly headache day, but I felt perky enough to do some “dumb work” as we call it here.

On Sunday I put out the rest of my Gotland fleeces to soak in a tub before scouring, today they are promising a quiet sunny day so I filled my carrot bags and hung them up to drip dry the dirty water before getting the soapy baths ready.

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I’ve also started mordanting my tapestry yarn, I’m going to keep a “regular” batch as well as some of the other forms of mordanting I’ve been contemplating.

Some cotton yarn that has been scoured, waiting for the next step.

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And some small test skeins for a test tapestry. I had a bunch of purples and blues already from a colour blending test session, I wanted some black as well and as an afterthought did some greens and yellows on some strands that had already been cut for more testing which never happened. Only plan is to use a lot of white (remember my dream?) and then wing it row by row. Will probably end up needing more black. 😉

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Next batch of fleece soaking: Wensleydale
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A tiny bit of colour is finally happening outside

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Månedens hovedpinedag i dag, men ikke værre end at jeg får lavet lidt “dum i arbejde”. Vinde garn op, binde snore på, bejse uldgarn og vaske bomuld i soda, så det hele er klart til plantefarvning. Puh, det er kedeligt, men det skal jo gøres hvis man vil have lov til at lege.

Uldtørretræet blev også lige læsset med gulerodssække med gotlandsham, som har ligget i blød siden i søndags, det kan lige få lov at dryppe det snavsede vand af inden det skal i et varmt sæbebad.

Og så smed jeg for sjov et par garnstumper i syrefarve, til evt. brug i mit nye eksperiment gobelinvævning. Har nogen andre stumper fra testfarvning jeg også kan bruge bare til at øve mig med.

15 thoughts on “The wool tree

    1. Well, I usually go for practical first. As it happens, this tree is very practical just outside the door more or less and holds on to the yarn well in the wind.

  1. I love the photo of your drying yarns!. Colour is happening on the mainland here too, at last. The hawthorn is in full blossom, and looking beautiful, though on Orfordness it’s still winter – the sun shines but the wind comes from Siberia… we joke that this side of the sea wall its perpetual winter, like Narnia…

    1. It’s cold here as well. When it’s windy I even still wear a hat. But, eventually I guess it must change, even for you. Would be good if you could spend some of your quiet time outside!

      1. You’re still in hats too? Photos can be so deceptive. We can sit outside here come June time, usually around the time the site opens fully for visitors. Over on the mainland people are in t-shirts!

        1. Oh, it was only about 9 C yesterday and I have sensitive ears, so chilly strong wind is definitely hat weather. But yeah, it LOOK balmy, doesn’t it? We often talk about having a greenhouse for sitting in to make the garden season longer.

          1. A greenhouse sounds like a good idea, or some sort of summerhouse maybe? I sympathise with the sensitive ears. Mine hurt when the wind is cold, so I have lots of hats.

  2. I’ve always loved sumac trees. They dot the southern Georgia countryside. It looks like an environmental art piece with all your colorful yarn blowing in the wind.

    1. Just wait until there are leaves on the tree and actual colour on the yarn! Guess Ii’ll have to make another photoshoot some time.

  3. I love your use of the tree. Being in an apartment, there isn’t much of an opportunity for fiber arts in the outdoors. All of your fiber looks amazing and I love the splash of color at the end. We had a few days of warm weather and now there are predictions of snow again. I’m happy to see spring has made it to other parts of the world.

    1. I was beginning to think there was never going to be green again! We still have night frost though.

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