March Trio

First I'll start off with some night shots I took while playing with my dog. I'd like to experiment more with photos at night time!

^^ I think she looks like Zero in this one ^^

I dyed some yarn with old pokeberries from last summer. We froze the berries, not knowing if they'd be usable for dyeing, but it worked. Fresh is better, stronger color, but I got some results I can use. It was mostly an experiment and a time to over dye yarns I didn't like. Some of them are acceptable, others I still am not satisfied with the color.

^^We also got an awesome dye pot from a friend moving away! Never used an electric one before! Kinda nice to be able to turn it on and walk away, not like an open flame.^^

As for the chickens they recently had a treat of all the snails we could find in the front yard:

P.S. Happy 3rd birthday Susie and Bea!!

Ku'u Ipo and 'Apelila celebrate their 3rd birthday April 1st!

^^Anybody ever seen a snail like this?^^ I've never seen one like that in California.

Indigo Dye Project

Back in April I posted about my indigo... well, it's not exactly time-laps photography, but poof! They're big! Not as big as can be, but still I'm proud of my first time growing the plant. The chicken wire keeps the chickens out.

They're even starting to blossom! I'll save the seed for next year!

So, We decided to try dyeing with it!

On the left I'm harvesting the leaves, and on the right I'm making the dye bath. The leaves are treated like a double boiler for a while, kind of makes a dye tea inside the jar.

The next photos didn't turn out well, since it got dark, but it's quite a process! I'll try to get some better ones next time.

Here's pictures of the finished products:

My knit hat, using the indigo dyed yarn.

Mom dyed a silk scarf in the same dye bath. I didn't think I had enough dyestuff to dye this much product, but I had more than I thought!

It's that time of year again, preparing for Art Farm, an art show featuring local artists and farms. The show isn't until November, but the artwork was due today. Can't wait for the show!