Today is a waning moonday moving into the sign of Capricorn. These last days of the current moon cycle beckon us toward self-discovery, reflecting, dreaming, resting. And in the mundane world, according to MoonTime, a moon guide, the waning moon in Capricorn is when to have your teeth cleaned. So now's the time to schedule an appointment around this same time, next month, February 24-25.
Something wonderful that I've discovered this month is flow, a magazine from the Netherlands. It's got soul -- not only is it filled with creative inspiration but also human inspiration. That quote by Willa Cather on the cover is from her book The Song of the Lark which I haven't read yet, I just realized. An interesting coincidence is that I read The Professor's House only a few weeks ago.
The January flower bouquet was rolled in wool and silk and steamed. That didn't do much so I plopped the bundles right into the water and boiled them both. I won't unroll either of these for a while but the golds and oranges are already showing. Then I decided to add a splash of iron water to the dye-bath from the boiling session and that was pretty amazing -- I dipped pieces of wool and silk in and they turned to a beautiful greenish gray almost immediately. Protein fibers are just the best. My iron water was made with 2 cups of water, 1 cup of vinegar, and rusty nails and other bits of iron. It doesn't look like much but it works.
I'm still slow-knitting the purple february lady sweater. I have to get cracking on this if I want it to really be a february sweater, so I'm resolved to knit at least two rows every day.
Wishing for a really nice week for all of us.
oh yes, iron does do amazing things to the bundles. i haven't dyed anything in a long while...too busy with other things. never thought of leaving the lifelines in. i take mine out when i put in a new one. looks like your making headway on that beautiful sweater.
ReplyDeleteI love using iron water. It works magic here for you. Those two bundles look promising. Don't you just love using flowers bouquet? I don't buy much flowers because we are not home much during the day to enjoy them. Have a nice week and keep warm - Hugs Nat
ReplyDeleteThe flowers are gorgeous and should provide well for your dyemagic! I love the 'enough' rock...this is so true, isn't it? My word for the year is 'flow'!!
ReplyDeleteDeanna, well I had to cut them all to try it on so there's probably no reason to leave them at this point? I sure hope not!
ReplyDeleteNat, it's going to be a new thing around here, too -- to have a fresh bouquet at least once a month, even in the cold months. Yay!
Nancy, I love the word flow. It's so taoist and non-resistant, isn't it? :)