Waldorf Gnomes still make me smile

Waldorf knitted gnomes still make me smile. When I'm feeling a little blue, I get out my plant dyed yarn and start knitting gnomes. It's like comfort food without the calories. The knit up quick, I can make a few in the evening if I'm watching TV and then into my studio  to sew them together.

The colours of the plant dyed yarn are special and as they come together each gnome has its own individual character. I've tried photographing them inside, but they truly want to be placed in the garden and captured there.

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Yes, sometimes things can be challenging, but after 10 gnomes I'm ready to face the day.  And I didn't gain a pound.

 

Dye Day is never long enough

 Dye day never seems long enough. No matter how much wool I have prepared, I always end up wanting more.
This time I split up a skein of Cascade Eco Wool in natural and tried to make approximately the same amount in each skein. The yarn took the wool beautifully and I was glad to add a chunky yarn to my stash of hand dyes.
Once I get enough colours, it will perfect for a fair isle baby sweater or something. Maybe a log cabin blanket...the possibilities are endless.

Plant Dyed Yarn....

 I've been dyeing wool fleece and yarn for years. I began my ...shall I call it an obsession...when I was studying to become a Waldorf School Handwork teacher. I was fascinated by the variety of colour you could get by just dyeing plant material. I read all the books and for a whole year I dyed only things I could find....leaves, bark, flowers, lichens.. By this time, I had over 60 shades of yellow.and then I branched out into madder and cochineal and added the reds and the pinks.
My first indigo recipe was complicated but once I mastered it I finally had a whole range of colours including the greens blues and the purples.

 It's not that  easy, you have to dye enough of the yellows and pinks to get the greens and the purples.....It just seemed I never had enough.

So now, quite a few years later...I begin again. This time I am using superwash merino from Louet and 10 skeins later all I have are 1 of a kinds. Nothing to add to the madder or the indigo....Oh well...the next time will be different again.