dyeing with the moon

It was another magical day with indigo. I made a double batch of the recipe in A Dyer's Garden by Rita Buchanan using one pound of Japanese indigo leaves, Polygonum tinctorium. I dipped eight ounces of fiber -- a white silk top, a skein of Plymouth DK wool, a skein of perle cotton thread, two silk scarves, a stained white cotton napkin and a few smaller pieces. I wanted light blue and light blue is what I got. Just when I started dipping, it started to rain but that only added to the dreaminess. Everything is still damp in the top three photos, the silk top dried considerably lighter -- it's the one piece I liked better darker.

The napkin came out great so I've decided to carry on and make a complete set using all of our old white napkins, probably a dozen or so. This is #1 -- embroidering a number on each one will be a good way to keep track of which indigo vat does what and when. I've begun Shibori Girl's indigo class and between the Japanese indigo growing in the garden and the recommended indigo vats for the class, there will be different paths to the color blue.

The August red shiso moondala is coming along, blues and greens are very much in favor with me lately. Well, except for that new Lorna's Laces yarn up there for a Hitchhiker -- when I untwisted the skein, it went from nice to gorgeous.

The moon is waning now, getting smaller, letting go. In the garden, it's time to weed and prune -- I notice when I weed during a waxing (growing) moon phase that the roots do not come up easily, but during a waning (shrinking) moon, they do. This waning phase of the moon's cycle is a reminder for us to let go -- not that we can't let go during a waxing moon, it's just easier to go with the flow. I'm thinking the plants may let go of their color more easily now too and want to continue exploring this idea of dyeing with the moon.

Going with the flow.