You might think that I was keeping myself busy enough with the floor loom. And the traveling. And the sewing machines. And the sweater-dismembering. And the knitting, inkle weaving, rigid heddle weaving… oh, and my day job! But no. Someone needs to dye. Meaning change the color of fibers, you dark, dark person!

I’ve been dyeing wool for several years, and more recently have tried my hand at dyeing silk. They’re both protein fibers, so you can use the same acid dyes on both (insert here all the stuff I didn’t learn in chemistry class in high school but know understand). I really love using the Greener Shades dyes, which are both safe (heavy-metal free) and intensely beautiful. I’m quite comfortable working with them know so I can improvise pretty well on-the-fly. (I know, things that stain mixed with flame don’t sound like a good match with my randomness, but trust me – it works!)

Just this last week I did an extended dye remix (you know, like a dance party) and completely transformed 40 boring white silk shawls. It involved some unlovely-looking “cooking” on my stovetop:

…followed by a massive hanging session in the basement (which looks much spookier in photos than in real life):

And my dear husband gave me some of his precious time to photograph them so I could post them all in my shop:

Let me know what you think, or if there are other colors you’d like to see! I’m dyeing to hear from you 😉