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

My Bags are Packed and Ready to Go

Anyone my age would remember John Denver's song which was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary ~ "...my bags are packed and I'm ready to go....".  But I won't be Leaving on a Jet Plane.  I'll be going to Ligonier, PA for a class with the wonderful Barb Carroll at Woolley Fox.

I was lucky enough to purchase Magdalena's Farm from Barb when it was half price so that is what I'll be hooking in her class.  Here are two photos which I pulled from Barb's web site so you can see how two different people hooked the same design.  The top one was hooked by Elaine Cathcart and the one below was hooked by Kathy Wadlington.  I just love that frolicking rabbit-eared looking Deer.

 I'm undecided on whether I will do a dark background or a lighter background but I'm going prepared for both ways.

The plastic containers hold the wool I'm taking to Barbs for my rug; one has colors in it, another lights, and the other darks.  Yup, a lota wool.

This is what is stashed inside the yellow collapsible tote.... small samples of wool for Barb to select from which also happen to have larger pieces in the tote.  So really, I could keep the totes in my car and only pull the wool from there that Barb selects for my rug.  That beautifully hooked Woolley Fox rug you see on the left was gifted to me by my departed friend Lesley Coveney. 

Sitting on top of that tote is a plastic bag filled with the over dyed wool for the background on Cats Meow rug (below).  I doubt much more will be hooked on it today as my frame will need to be packed.  I'm heading out in the morning to stay overnight with my pal Deb and Sunday morning we will both head to Ligonier, PA.

I'll have my iPad handy but will only have access to Barb's wifi when close to her house as there's no signal to the Woolley Cottage which is where we will stay.  So until I return, please be kind to one another and 'hook on'.

Saundra