What Went Wrong?

The results of this Olde Patina dye project didn't turn out as well as the previous projects and not sure what went wrong.  Did I use the wrong end of the dye spoon and use less of a color?  Did some of the wool absorb certain colors faster than others?  Did I mis-judge the amount of wool?

Olde Patina is my favorite recipe to give an aged look to wool; I've used it over flat wool and textures.  It is from the Beautiful Wool dye book by Laurice Heath.  The book provides recipes using both Pro Chem and Cushing dyes ~ Olde Patina uses Cushing Dyes.

Below is about 1 yard of pieces which went into one pot.

And here are the lackluster results.  

In another pot decided to dye the worms you see below.

Those worms were stuffed into a re-purposed onion mesh bag which has come in handy a few times.  It now has holes and had to weave a piece of wool to close the hole.  Guess it is time to purchase a bag of onions which has this type bag.

Here are the results, which I'm more pleased with than the pieces of wool.

So comparing the wool from the previous dyeing to the most recent, take a look.

The first darker piece of wool was from a previous dye job using Olde Patina.  The piece of wool to the right of that is from the same yardage but not nearly as dark as I'd hoped.  And the rest of the most recent dying is to the far right. 

For now I'll leave the wool as is and see if it can be used in my 1909 Horse rug.  But eventually it may go into a pot of dye again.

Happy rainy day from Delaware.

Saundra

OLDE PATINA DYEING

I have dyed with walnuts, onion skins but this is my favorite recipe to dirty up some bright, white or other colors for that antique look.  I did three pots with different amounts of dye in each pot and didn't stir much as I wanted a mottled look.  Some dye colors absorb faster than others that is why you will see the variance in colors in the wool results.

On the far left 1/2 yard was dyed in a pot using 2 tablespoons of dye, the before at the top, which is obvious.  Will provide the recipe further down in the post.  Seemed a little too dark but will be used in a future rug.

Next pot I only used 1 Tbls. for the 1/2 yard in the middle ~ the top wool is the before, the one just under that is the result from that pot.  The 3rd piece of wool just under was in the third pot along with that wool to the right.  Not sure of amount of wool as I didn't measure it but was less than 1/2 yard so I used a tad less than 1 Tbls. dye.

If you search "Olde Patina dye Recipe" in the box at the top left of  my blog you will see previous dye jobs using this recipe which is in the Beautiful Wool dye book by Laurice Heath.  Here is the recipe:

OLDE PATINA

1/2 t. Khaki Drab (Cushing)

1/8 t. Cushing Old Gold

1/8 + 1/16 Golden Brown Cushing

1/16 t. Dark Gray Cushing

1/64 t. Wood Rose Cushing

pour in 1 cup boiling water and stir.  From that cup I used tablespoons for the dyeing.  FYI, I have dye spoons which includes a 1/64 t. measure.

If you want to see another topic covered in a blog post like antique rugs, Cape May rug camp, etc.  just type the specific word in the box and you will see some old posts regarding the subject.

GOD BLESS AMERICA.

Designed and hooked by Polly Minick

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

White Pot with Olde Patina

With the recent chatter of people dyeing wool thought I'd pull out my white pot and do more Olde Patina recipe dying.  Since I do a lot of antique adaptations that color really speaks to me and gives more credence to an antique looking rug instead of an off white wool.

Below is the wool I stared with.  There is a little over a yard total of the 4 pieces and I used 6 Tablespoons of the Olde Patina recipe in the pot.  You can get the recipe by clicking the link near the bottom of this post.

The results from today are below and placed in the exact position.  All the wool was placed in the same big pot and in all honesty I was surprised to see the white wool turned out darker than the wool above.  Guess it depends on the fiber content of the wool.

Tho I do love off the bolt textures they sometimes present more of a  white in my rugs when hooked than I want.  Yup, I like the dirty worn look of the rugs from yesteryear.

Since there was only a small amount left from my previous Olde Patina dye day thought it was time to refresh my stash.  On the right side is all that is left from the last time I used the Olde Patina recipe.

What wonderful weather we are having yet the days are getting shorter and the we all know what will come after fall ~ uh, winter.  Have a great evening everyone and please....let's be kind to one another.

Saundra

On Your Mark..... Get Ready.....

With one rug bound have started binding the sheep. But I'm really wanting to hook as I've not pulled a loop in days.  Think this is the longest I've gone without hooking.  

Have decided to hook both of these horse mats and put them both on the same linen to conserve linen.  But there is enough between them to have fold back foundation for binding.  As you can see I've sewn some fabric to the top and bottom to be sure there is ample room for the grippers.  The sides are fine.

Will hook the bottom horse first and wanted a dirty background like the original.  So back to my worms and pulled out the mixed whites and since the original antique rug has some red, green and dark colors in the background mixed a few of those in too.  

 Next they are put in an onion bag with the end closed, then went into a dye pot after soaking.  This is a cool way to overdye worms without them getting tangled.  And for drying I have a dryer that has a shelf which can be inserted so the shelf stays stationery yet the tumbler rotates to circulate heat.

I'm using the Old Patina dye recipe which is:

Olde Patina

1/2 t. Khaki Drab (Cushings)

1/8 + 1/16 Golden Brown (Cushings)

1/8 Old Gold  (Cushings)

1/16 t. Dark Gray (Cushings)

1/64 t. Wood Rose (Cushings)

I mixed up the batch in 1 CBW but only used 2 tablespoons of the dye solution in the pot.  The rest I put in a small jar and labeled it to be used when I want something old and dirty for an antique adaptation.

Here is the result of that dye job.  If you recall this recipe was used to dye over worms once before and I had a few left.

The previous dye leftovers are on top and the new batch is below.  They are all mixed in together now.  Funny how the color changed; the top photo looks really yellow but not so in person.

There won't be much progress to show tomorrow as I'm just now getting ready to start on the horse.  So if you have any questions or something you'd like for me to write about tomorrow, leave me a comment.

Hope you have a great evening.

Saundra

Dyeing Wool Worms Without Knots

Most of us have them, some of us have more than others.  I find it very rewarding to use them up but some bright or white don't work in a worn look, particularly a Magdalena style rug.  Well, unless it is red ~ Magdalena used red in (I think) the majority if not all, of her rugs.  Guess those red union suits got used to the very end (pun intended).

While working on Magdalena's Olde Ducks noticed that my light and off white wool strips soon became either pinkish, yellow, bright white... in other words, not to my liking.  Soooo, it was time to pull out the dye pot and select a bunch of mixed wool strips to overdye.

I had a little of the dye recipe "Olde Patina" left from a dye job in readiness of hooking an antique adaptation I call "Cats Meow.  Since it worked so well with wool for that rug figured I'd overdye some worms with the last of the dye.  There was about 2 tablespoons of the recipe left, just enough to maybe dye close to half a yard.  But, it is a little hard to judge how much wool it is when it is reduced to worms.

I saved this mesh bag from my grandson's summer freezer pop treats knowing it would come in handy for a project such as this where it was important to contain the unruly worms.

 

Below you can see just how white some of my whites were ~ not a pretty sight in a rug if you are doing an aged look. 

The open end was secured.  I used the white clip first but then decided to add the twist as well.

 Here is the wool simmering with just one tablespoon of the recipe.  Since I wasn't sure how much would do the job figured more could be added vs. having it turn out too dark.  And it did need that second tablespoon of dye.

This is an old dryer but love the table that fits inside which allows for the heat flow but the drum doesn't move so the strips don't get tangled.

Next I put a piece of netting on top so no worms would fall thru the holes.  This is the comparison on results from my previous dye job for Cats Meow and the worms dyed today, pretty close I'd say.

The wool looks dark in the photo above, not only what I dyed today but the sample of what I dyed previously.  With dyeing the worms the raw edges of the strips absorb a bit more dye than had it been a half yard solid piece.  If you want to see how it hooked up in "Cats Meow", click on that link and it will take you to my blog post, you'll see it hooks up a mild aged background and I used all of those pieces of wool in the rug that you see stapled to the paper. 

 

Have a great Sunday evening.

 

Saundra

Weekend Stuff

Pulled out the dye pots again to do a little Olde Patina dying which was successful.  This is about a yard give or take and done in two dye pots.  Each had some cream wool and off white wool.  One pot had 2 tablespoons of dye and the other with 1 1/2 teaspoons.  In antique rugs not all are soiled evenly so wanted various degrees of dirty white.  

Am planning ahead for when one of these vintage rugs becomes the next one on my frame.  And I have darker dirty/muddy available.  The first old rug is known as Wyeth Rose previously shown in my antique rug show.

Or perhaps the wool will be used when I want to hook these gorgeous deer.

Also cut and serged linen on which a design was drawn for the 'next pattern on my frame'.  Nope, it isn't on the frame yet because I'm determined to finish Mother and Fishbowl.

If you want to see the Olde Patina Recipe you can see it and a previous post when worms were overdyed with it HERE.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

I'M DY'N HERE

Even tho it is hot and humid outside thought I'd dye up a little wool for my next project.  No you didn't miss seeing what that next project is because I haven't shown you yet.  There are a few more loops to pull on Cottage and Apple Tree and before starting the next one will force myself to pull Mary out of hiding and pull a few loops on that.  Which might be very few loops me thinks.  But have no fear you'll find out soon enough what will be on the frame next.

As luck would have it there was still a little mixture of "Midnight Run" from Tonya Robey's dye book and also some mixture left of "Olde Patina" from the Beautiful Wool dye book.  Used less tablespoons of Olde Patina as I didn't want this as dark as I've done before.

The rug in the foreground is an antique adaptation and one I hooked of an Early Farm Scene back in 2019.

Diane recently sent me a photo of a rug I drew for her named "Rainbow Petals".  So want to share it with you as it looks wonderful.  It is also an antique adaptation.  

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Misc. Rug Hooking Chit Chat & Tornado

The last couple days hooking Early Farm Scene realized I was critically close to the end of Old Patina dyed wool.  Luckily there was more solution left so grabbed approximately one yard of cream, white and wheat wool to over-dye.  It is in the dryer now and only hope there will be something to use for the rest of the background.  Since weave and wool content varies it is always a surprise when dyeing.

This is what Early Farm Scene looks like now.  Looking closely you will see a color and slight value difference in background on the left between the tree and black sheep.  That was in the original antique so was able to use some of my olde patina wool from previous dye lots to get that look.

This is the original antique.

The linen I'm hooking on was purchased on ebay for a good price and is not drawn to scale.  Seemed like a great deal on linen (and it was) but now realize if I'm crazy about hooking an adaptation then I should draw it out myself.

Some things I want to change, which was not the fault of the purchased pattern, is pulling out the purple in the top motif (is that a sun or crop area?).  That purple needs to be red.  Also my Cross is unevenly hooked so that must be fixed.  The reset I can deal with.

Now to the tornado. Here in Delaware we get snow storms, hail, flooding, hurricanes, had a couple mild earthquakes and sometimes tornado warnings.  Of all those things it is tornadoes which scare me to death.  

When living in California was terrified of the earthquakes because they had more magnitude than encountered in Maryland and Delaware.  

During the wee hours this morning there was an EF2 tornado touched down between my town of Seaford and neighboring town of Laurel.  On the news it was reported to be about 50 yards wide and the wake of damage traveled 6.2 miles, you can see some pictures by clicking HERE. 

After enduring the two trees blown down with just straight winds last March 2, 2018 this would have been very scary if I'd had my iPad in the bedroom when the warning was announced.

My new Olde Patina dyed wool is in the dryer and hope there is something which will work for the remainder of the background.  But, if not, I'll do what was done before....use what I have.

Saundra

Taming an Ugly

A few years ago I purchased a couple yards of a pinkish red wool which looked appealing at the time.  But since then have come to think of it as putrid pink.  Tried using some in Lititz Hens and had to pull it out.

Didn't feel like getting out all my equipment and mixing dye recipes so went to my stash of pre-mixed jars of dye from previous projects.  The wool looks different on the reverse side so have displayed it so you can see both sides.

The narrow center piece of wool is what I started with.  Wool on the left  was put in a pot of Olde Patina dye (Beautiful Wool by Laurice Heath).  The wool on the right was put in a pot with Evening Shade A Rug to Dye For by Tonya Benson Robey).

Still cold here and weather forecast is calling for about  an inch of snow but at least it won't be the frigid temps of the last couple days.  Still in the teens right now tho.

Hard to believe it is February already.

Saundra

Successes and Failures

Does this look familiar?  It should because the right side was a piece of wool purchased years ago (what was I thinking)?  It was on a recent blog post the results of this unsuccessful 'marrying' of wool happened.  

Since this rug hooker never surrenders to ugly wool today decided come hell or HOT water I'd remedy the situation to make it hookable.

The piece in the pot today was the one on the left and only semi acceptable so chose it as the victim.  Eventually the other piece of wool will be a target, but not today.

When I dye wool if there is some formula left I'll save the remainder of the dye in a small jar.  I keep it in the garage so it could go thru two seasons and the recipe could crystalize.  Of course it will make changes to the chemistry of the dye and results even after water is added but I went for it anyway.

In one jar which crystalized was a recipe called "Old Christmas Red". Sorry, but cannot remember which dye book it came from.  So added hot water and put it in the pot with the wool.  Some of the color did absorb but it was murkey (as one would expect after crystalizing). 

Did I submit?  Hell no....a more recent collection of left over dye was my favorite Olde Patina recipe from the Beautiful Wool dye book by Fredericksburg Rugs.

Above are the results and it really doesn't show the delicious old dirty color which I like putting in my antique adaptations.

Some of this wool WILL be hooked into the Magdalena Goat that I'm presently hooking and can't wait to get back to hooking on it.  

An addition to the post:.....  Jennie asked me how many times a piece of wool could be over dyed before it would felt.

My reply to her was that I do NOT boil my wool (I get it very hot and close to boil) nor do I take hot wool and rince in cold water shocking the wool.  Also, don't aggitate the wool in the washer.  Those three factors would be how you could end up with felted wool.

Ever see those pretty 'boiled wool' jackets?  How do you think they got that way?

Saundra

Dyeing in Anticipation

That's right, I'm dyeing in anticipation...of the next project to go on my frame.  Some of you (Lauren) figured out which one is the next one.  I've been collecting odd pieces of wool which weren't large enough for a whole motif and light colored wool with too much white to suit me. 

The intention was to have some toned down dirty muddy alternatives in stock to use in antique adaptations.  It is great to have several different wools from the same dye bath as it looks great all hooked together.  Or it can be used here and there mixed with other wool for a background or motif.  I'm sure some will be used in my Woolley Fox camp rug too.

This morning I gathered about 3 yards of wool to dye in 3 different pots but with the same recipe.  BUT, from the ONE CUP I used only tablespoons per pot, NOT the whole cup per pot.  So, two pots had 5 tablespoons of the solution and the darker wool had only 4 tablespoons.  So there is a smidgen of dye left which I've saved for another time.  Here is the recipe:

Olde Patina
1/2 t. Khaki Drab (Cushings)
1/8 + 1/16 Golden Brown (Cushings)
1/8 Prochem 124 Gold (since I didn't have Cushings Old Gold)
1/16 t. Dark Gray (Cushings)
1/64 t. Wood Rose (Cushings)

This was pot 1 Before.  Most of the wool is from Heavens to Betsy.  I'm not sure where I got the wool with the orange, the 4th one from the left. As I LOVE buying Betsy's Remnant Bags, I save pieces like this for the dye pot.  AND, what is lovely is that I get to see pieces larger than the samples to get a better look at the wool.  The 3rd and 5th pieces of wool are wonderful as they are but since I've more of the 3rd, thought I'd toss it all into a pot anyway.

Here is Pot 1 After.  And I swear the wool to the far right doesn't look that orange in person.  Nor does the pink in the second one show up as much as in the photo.  Oh well, cameras, flashes and monitors...what can I say.  But you can see they will work well in antiques.

Pot 2 Before, again mostly Betsy wool except for the third piece where I'm not sure of it's origin.

Pot 2 After.  Need to explain something here.  There were a couple pieces of white/natural wool and they must have been from different mill jobs as they dyed differently.  When I placed them out  for the before photo they were all tucked in together, but when they came out of the pot and look differently, I split the first two white wools for the after photo.   Again these lovelies (except for the orange plaid) came from Betsy.

 

Pot 3 Before.  That green/gold wool, third over, is from Scotland and the one below is from a skirt I purchased at the thrift shop.  The very light in the wool I wanted toned down.

Pot 3 After.  Perhaps I could have added another tablespoon or two to the pot but this is still toned down.  The rug going on my frame next has some blue in it so am hoping that the blue here plus an already old looking blue wool I have will work.

If you haven't already done so, I'd suggest you try one of the Remnant Bag sales that Heavens to Betsy offers.  She doesn't have them often but if you sign up for her newsletter or check her link often enough you will find out when she is having one.  Most times the pieces are larger than you saw here.  But sometimes to make the weight right she needs to put in a narrow piece of wool.  Hey, that works for me particularly for jobs like this.

Goodness, I'm running way late so will check tomorrow for incorrect sentences.  Have a great evening.

Saundra

Rug Hooking Chit Chat and Jonas revisited

This is my progress so far on one of the antique horse mats.  This one I drew to the size of 15 x 16.  Looking at the photo the red/orange threads in some wool is showing where it was hooked at the neck.  Not sure yet if I'll pull it out and use the more brown wool or not.  But you know me, it will probably but the heck out of me until I do.

Also, if you read my blog you know I wanted a lighter tail but not as light as the original antique.   Plus the background is using a mix of light wool worms dirtied up using the Olde Patina dye recipe.

And in case you've forgotten what the original looks like here it is.  This is an antique rug so if any of you wish to join me in hooking one to the size of your liking, feel free.

The sheep rug still hasn't been completely bound but I should get busy finishing that up before there are two more mats to bind.  

Happily I've gained 2 followers; not sure if they were ones previously lost who opened a gmail address and came back or new ones.  But whatever the case am happy to see the follower numbers increase instead of decrease.

Last weekend the east coast experienced the wrath of the nor'easter Jonas.  Depending on where along the coast you lived depended on whether you received snow or rain.  When this nor'easter occurred it also happened to be high tide, high winds, full moon and loads of rain and snow mix.

As I live inland, it was snow for me. The news photo attached below shows a photo of what Mercer Avenue in Oak Orchard, DE looked like.  

The white lamp post to the right belongs to my mother's house.  Yes, she lived in a flood zone as her house is across the street from the Indian River.  If you enlarge the photo you will see the picture was taken after the water had already receded 12" - 15".

The other photo was removed as it didn't pertain to Oak Orchard. 

 

Now the great news is that my brother and I who used to worry about flooding in the house each time there was a hurricane or nor'easter, had just sold the house in December so it isn't our problem any longer.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Saundra

Star Geometric

Thank goodness the rug is all hooked.  It isn't steamed yet and won't be until later as I'm anxious to start my next rug project.   This rug measures 29 x 32 and hooked mostly in #8.5 but used various other cuts from my worm bags.   A lot of the wool has been over dyed with either my Olde Patina dye recipe or with black walnuts to give it an aged look.  The flash is giving the rug a rather washed out look.

 Here is a photo without a flash.....

..and now the original antique rug.

Before I can start hooking my next rug there needs to be a major clean-up in the wool room.  Again I'll use a lot of my wool worms but the two main motifs will require some cutting of wool so the table needs to be cleaned off.

As much as I hate cleaning there is no better motivation for me than starting a new project.

Saundra

Be Prepared

The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared".  The next time I host or do a textile challenge my motto is "be more prepared".  In 2021, during the pandemic, I hosted a textile challenge on my blog and you can read a little about it HERE.  The objective was using more of an alternate textile than wool in a rug to get back to our roots, so to speak.  

Not such a wise decision was that I chose to use woven cotton and homespun as my alternate textile.  Not next time baby, it is a bear to pull through the linen.  Finished works by the participants of the challenge were featured in the August/September 2021 issue of ATHA magazine.  Thanks to all the rug hookers who joined in, it was fun.

So in order for  me to be more prepared for the next challenge I've started looking for and collecting silks, cotton knits and nylons.  If you peruse the rug hooking sale sites on FB you've seen Sari silk offered I'm sure.  What makes Sari silk (a silk garment worn in India) any more special than a silk item worn in America?  Go to your local thrift shop and look for silk items.  Yeah, you'll have to dismantle and rip it yourself but much more thrifty and you can use the savings toward gas.

Yesterday I did rip a couple items which you see bundled to the left of the photo below.  I'll bet that colorful blouse will be beautiful and will eventually work on that.  The white nylons will be thrown in a dye pot once I know what the project will be.  You can also see a green and yellow piece of nylon stocking.

And here is my collection of cotton knit, and more yellow and green nylon stockings.  These will have to be cut vs. ripped, but at least I've got my bounty ready.

For those who have followed me regularly, you know my passion for hooking antique adaptations.  Here is a photo of antique star and diamond rug which measures 33 x 70.  Love those blotchy off color patches on antique rugs.  Shows me they used what they had.

Now look at the close up detail of the textiles used AND notice the spacing between the loops.

And yet another closeup of another section of the rug with burlap showing thru.  That may also indicate weakening of the foundation.  Point is, that's not wool.

Here is the back of another antique rug and look at the spacing between loops.

On another rug, the photo below shows this person even used a sweater.

And probably my all time favorite antique rug designer/hooker is Magdalena Briner Eby.  Here are two closeup photos of the front and what is now known as Great Granddaughter's Rug.

Notice that even tho these rugs were well used, walked on (pressed), during Magdalena's time you can still see foundation showing.  And of course they got dirty which adds beauty to the antique and tones down the bright white.  Sometimes I have used walnut juice from walnuts collected in the fall or I've a favorite dye recipe called Olde Patina which I use.  So if you want to make a rug look old, follow in the footsteps of our foremothers, just say'n.

Here's Magdalena's fine rug held by relatives.  That is the great granddaughter in the middle.

In 2019 I hooked that design and tried to follow the color scheme Magdalena used but hooked in my normal rhythm and using what I had on hand.

Guess I've rambled long enough on this post and need to save up something for future posts.  Happy Hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com