Coffee With My Walnuts Please

      No, I am not having dessert, just a bit of           
                          kitchen dying.

Coffee and Walnuts Shibori silk lining

Kitchen dying has been one of my activities this past year. Wanting to line a knitted scarf with silk, I decided to have my fun in the kitchen rather than downstairs in the dye lab.

The silk was from the bolt, so I gave it a good machine wash and dry to shrink it and get any sizing out. I had a few hard lessons in this department earlier this year. 

Click Here For Continuation Of The Article

Coffee With My Walnuts Please

No, I am not having dessert, just a bit of kitchen dying.

Coffee and Walnuts Shibori lining

Kitchen dying has been one of my activities this past year. Wanting to line a knitted scarf with silk, I decided to have my fun in the kitchen rather than downstairs in the dye lab.

The silk was from the bolt, so I gave it a good machine wash and dry to shrink it and get any sizing out. I had a few hard lessons in this department earlier this year. 

 I then wetted the silk out, brewed a good pot of coffee, mixed it and some vinegar in a pan and simmered the silk on low for about an hour.

We had some very old black walnuts in a shed. I removed the husks ( I used the walnuts whole), simmered them in water for one hour, cooled the mixture, and strained the liquor.  

Meanwhile, I simmered the now beautiful coffee tanned silk in a solution of alum and cream of tartar for a mordant,* then let it then simmer in the walnut solution for an hour and let it cool. Finally, I took the band wrapped marbles out to see the pattern.

During this process, I was pretty careful to make sure the dye baths never boiled. I try to baby the silk. 

I am very happy with the results. This is a perfect subtle pattern for my scarf lining. 

Section of the scarf that I lined.   The lining  covers up the embroidery in the back.  The sheep are some of my handspun from my Shetland flock

I now have a liter of Black Walnut juice in my freezer in case I have to do this again! 

*a substance used before the application of a dye, possessing the ability to fix the dye in textiles. Mordants can also effect the tone that the dye takes on.  There are other types of mordants, alum is just a very safe one.

Of Up-cycled Manis, Great Music And Art

Spruce Springsteen with a layer of gold sandwiched between

My post today proves why I am not a real nail blogger. My nail things are usually connected with something I am wearing or somewhere I am going. 
Up-cycle didn't start out that way, but that's how it ended. 

My beginning nail color started off as a multi purchase from an Indie on ETSY. I bought five minis from Huemorisa, three colors that were part of a set called Enchanted Garden and two others that I threw in.

One of the "throw ins" was a green polish with orange micro glitter named Spruce Springsteen. The name alone made me want it. 

The polish was much more vibrant on the Internet. For me, it kind of died when I put it on. So here comes Up-cycle #1. I pulled out Wet N' Wild's The Gold and the Beautiful for a third layer and then did another layer of Spruce. This I liked. I carried the gold idea out a little more by swiping  gold on the fingertips. 

Then came our art and music night. So I just added to the gold design. And there is my Up-cycle #2. It was a great night and I will always remember those nails because of it. 

The line up: Seche Vite top coat, Wet N Wild's The Bold and the Beautiful, Huemorista's
Spruce Springsteen, and LA Color's Topaz for the tip ends and triangular design's

Part of the musical lineup was Betsy Ellis and Mikel Shapiro, two very talented women.

Some of Rachelle's work was up also

 Rachelle in front of more of her fiber work.
You can't tell, but she is wearing Koi Pond by Rainbow Honey. It is a gorgeous glitter