Ancient wisdom - Mindfulness - Handwork - Peace with Earth - Joy of colours
There is a place filled with wool and plants, quiet sounds of boiling pots full of yarn and tree bark, beautiful noise of weaving loom, joys of reenactment and colors of nature. Place for people who care as much as I do.
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Dyeing with plants gives the most beautiful colours and I believe it holds energy of a plant and dyer as well. This is why I take really good care of my wool before it can reach your loving home and bring smile to your face.
At first all yarn is winded into skeins and handwashed so it could absorb colors nicely and evenly. Only clean wool can go to my dye pot <3
Preparation of plants takes a bit longer - I gather most of the dye stuff myself in fieds and forests. Sometimes it`s a true relaxation for my mind and sometimes it`s a real hard work.
There are many fantastic plants out there, but not all of them are suitable for dyeing :) In this case I believe in Ancient Wisdom. I love to dig in acheological textile descriptions and read how our ancestors did all these things - what plants did they used, what aditives and how did they managed to achieve such briliant colors which lasted for centuries! Buy the way, I do not use endangered species and don`t harm environment in any other way. Barks are collected from fallen or legally cut trees in a forest where my dad grew up. One more important thing - some of the plants are grown by my parents in their loving garden - japanese indigo, woad, madder, yew, apple trees, plum and many more. Exotic plants or the ones that I can`t find in my local area come from farms which respect the environment and comply with organic textile certifications.
So after lots of reading and researching it`s time to go to my studio and that`s when all the magic begins! Sometimes it happens right in front of my eyes - brightest blue, red or yellow shades appear within minutes, but sometimes it requires more patience. So I calmly wait for days or weeks, gently heat my pots and stir it once in a while until yarn reach my desired color.
Then we`re back in the begining - yarns are dried, air cured and handwashed until it`s all clean and ready to be made into something very special <3
