silk Archives - Josefin Waltin spinner

April 27, 2024April 27, 2024

Silk shawl

Last summer I spun a lot of singles silk yarn on a supported spindle. I used the small skeins as dye samples in my experimental dyeing with fresh Japanese indigo and woad. I started a striped weave in January and this week I finished my silk shawl.

If you are a patron (or want to become one) you can see more from my writing retreat in my January 2024 video postcard.

I must have been in the weaving room every weekend since I warped this weave, and it has just taken forever. I am used to weaving with wool, which is flexible, forgiving and reasonably predictable. Silk however, is not.

Spin, dye and weave. And then weave some more.

It pains me to say it, but this was just not a fun weave. I loved spinning the yarn and dyeing the skeins and I love the resulting shawl. But the weaving, not so much.

A tabby shawl with a loose sett, woven from spindle spun silk singles dyed with my homegrown fresh indigo.

Slow and fiddly

In a previous post about weaving this silk shawl I embraced the slowness of the process, but now I take it all back. Compared to wool, weaving with silk is inelastic, slippery and unforgiving. So many threads broke, and joining them once I had passed the break was fiddly and the slippery and fine ends slithered their way out or broke over and over.

Close-up of silk warp threads in light blue and gold. One blue warp thread has spiraled up in a join. The golden threads are fuzzy. — Insufficiently spun joins lead to broken warp threads. The muga silk fibers are shorter and the warp threads fuzzier. Still, I love the irregularities the woven joins make in the fabric.

Insufficiently spun joins lead to broken warp threads. The muga silk fibers are shorter and the warp threads fuzzier. Still, I love the irregularities the woven joins make in the fabric.

The golden muga silk threads I used to separate the blue stripes had shorter fibers and broke more often than the mulberry silk threads, and got quite fuzzy. I do have a history of making insufficient joins as I spin, and it was very obvious here too. How hard can it be to spin proper joins? I don’t mind the joins in the weave, they do add to the character of the fabric, but I could live without the sweat of watching them get gradually thinner and breaking.

Tight sheds

This weave has a sett of 80 picks per 10 centimeters, but the smallest heddle on my loom is 60/10. So to obtain the smaller sett, I used two 40/10 heddles. I have used a double heddle several times before, for double layered weaving and for twill. I know from these experiences that the sheds are tighter compared to a single heddle, and it was true here too. Due to the inelasticity of the silk warp, the opening of the shed was fiddly and took a lot of time. To make it a little easier, I opened up the shed with a weaving sword before I inserted the shuttle.

Deadline

Usually I don’t have a problem with projects that take time. Only, I have an appointment with a fulling mill in late May and two wool weaves waiting to be woven and fulled at the mill, so I needed to get the silk shawl off the loom and warp one of the wool weaves. I managed to weave around 5 centimeters every visit to the weaving room and after thinking ”this will be the last session” for five sessions, I was close to giving up. And I did, actually – when the umpteenth warp thread broke and I had only 30 centimeters left I abandoned my stubbornness and went for the scissors.

Loose sett

When I planned the weave I had a vision of quite a loose sett – I wanted the shawl to be light and sheer and the irregularities of the yarn to add to the character if the weave.

The sett in the silk shawl is loose to emphasize the sheerness and lightness of it.

Due to the inflexibility of the yarn, the threads didn’t fill out the empty spaces when I cut it off the loom. I actually managed to create the shawl according to my vision, and I really like the result.

The fringe twister

When I had finally finished the weave I asked myself what kind of fringe I wanted. I was learning towards just tyeing the loose warp, but then I realized the warp was single, and that loose threads would probably warp and tangle. So I decided on a twisted fringe. I do own a fringe twister that I don’t use very often, but when I need it I thank the fringe twisting goddesses for its convenience. Twisting 90 long fringes is not my idea of a good time, only strained fingers.

Close-up of a person fringing the end of a silk weave. Four twisted sections of warp threads are stretched attached to metal clips on a wooden base. — The fringe twister is my friend.

Plant, spin, dye, weave

And so I made it. I spent last summer spinning fine singles of mulberry silk and dyeing it in small batches with my home-grown fresh indigo and woad leaves, and I spent the winter weaving a silk shawl for this summer. In December I harvested my own Japanese Indigo seeds and my sweet indigo plants for this season are thriving in the kitchen window.

A neatly folded silk shawl on a table, fringes hanging down over the edge. — A finished silk shawl, 40 x 210 centimeter (including 20 + 20 centimeter fringe).

The circle is full, and so is the year and I can’t wait to wear my breezy silk shawl.

Happy spinning!

You can find me in several social media:

This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. So subscribe!
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.

January 20, 2024January 20, 2024

Slot-slot-hole-slot

I don’t know how to weave. Still, I do it. Join me as I move through warping a shawl in my handspun and hand dyed silk singles, in a slot-slot-hole-slot dance across the heddles.

Slot-slot-hole-slot. My hands move mindfully between the heddles, picking one thread at a time from the back heddle to the front. 40 + 40 threads per 10 centimeters for a width of 40 centimeters is a lot, all slinky, single, silk threads.

A drawstring bag full of marbles

A drawstring bag full of marbles was the key to keeping the yarn taught for warping. I spent a few evenings on the couch winding all of my 16 skeins onto medium sized marbles from the treasure box my now grown children had stored in the attic. The yellow cotton bag crowned with a red drawstring made me suspect that my husband had stored his marbles in it back in the late -70’s and early -80’s. Perhaps some of the marbles had been his too. The marbles can’t have been anything but surprised by being wrapped in shiny silk goodness.

Round balls of shiny yarn in shades of blue and teal, next to a speckled glass marble. — A drawstring full of marbles came to my rescue as I warped my silk singles.

A couple of days ago I had brought the yarn marbles to my local weaving room to warp. Transferring the fine threads to the loom, and inviting them to an adventure neither they nor I knew anything about, had scared me. Marbles had rolled across the floor in a jumble as I walked back and forth, counting the turns.

The stories in my hands

I go to the weaving room again. As my hands concentrate on separating the threads I realize they are the same hands that danced the fibers onto the spindle through the summer, and the same hands that rubbed fresh indigo leaves into the finished skeins, to receive a glittering row of blues and teals. As I look across the heddle I see the sparkle in each and every one of them. Some are fuzzier from heavy rubbing in the dye bath, some smoother from just having been soaked in an ice and leaf blend. It’s also the same hands that planted the indigo seeds back in March, and pruned the sweet stalks as they emerged from the wool topped soil. So many stories are vibrating in my hands through this process, and more will come.

A warp beam filled with shiny stripes of blue, teal and gold. — My hands remember all the processes they have been part of through sowing, pruning, dyeing, spinning and now warping.

Just as the fibers had spread their wings like fairies from the static charge as I spun it, the warp ends rise in the dry indoor air when I thread the heddles. I tie the warp ends from one broad and one narrow stripe together to prevent them from getting tangled. Through the static charge and their singlehood they are desperate to jumble and move.

Memories of a missed weaver

Slot-slot-hole-slot. One broad blue stripe, one narrow golden muga silk stripe. Kerstin comes into the weaving room and turns the radio on. The reporter talks about the dramatic wintery weather, cancelled bus departures and people helping their neighbous ploughing their garage driveways.

A rigid heddle with silky single threads hanging out of holes and slots. — Slot-slot-hole-slot across the heddle.

I ask Kerstin for general silk weaving advice, she is an experienced weaver. She says she’s never woven with silk. “But Joyce would have known, she wove with every possible material.” My mind takes me to the plastic totes Joyce had woven from recycled plastic bags and sold at the spring fair. Kerstin looks at the empty spot where Joyce’s loom used to stand and we both remember her fondly. Kerstin and Joyce, two widows, spent every day of the pandemic together in the weaving room, drinking coffee at 2. The last time I saw Joyce she came in with the basket of her walking frame loaded with vital medicinal equipment, parked it beside her countermarch loom and crawled underneath the warp to tie the treadles.

Slot-slot-hole-slot (and a beat-beat from Kerstin’s loom). The weather report is followed quite suitably by Madonna’s Frost. It’s been a while since I heard it.

I don’t know how to weave

I don’t know how to weave. Still I do it. The knowledge of not knowing helps me discover through my mistakes – since I never learned the rules of weaving I don’t know when I break them. And I am grateful. Every new weave is a thousand new experiences.

A sketch of the colour sequence in a weave. Broader blue stripes separated by thinner golden stripes, a pink and two purple stripes in the center. — I draw my planned colour sequence to understand how I need to warp.

I have planned this warp based on the sixteen skeins in different shades of blue and one purple, calculated width and length. I warp one stripe at a time from the center out. And yet, my calculated 40 centimeter width quickly turn to 60 and I have skeins left. I scratch my head, shrug my shoulders and thank my miscalculations for having the good taste of going in the right direction.

As I add the second heddle I realize the first one was a 30/10 instead of the 40/10 I had based my calculations on. Slot-slot-hole-slot all over again, with the correct heddle. I wonder whether my 60 centimeter width on the warp beam will mean trouble for my now 40 centimeter width on the cloth beam. My answer is that I will learn from whatever the outcome.

Twists and tangles

I notice that the golden muga silk threads tangle more than the mulberry silk, twisting around each other. This will be a challenge, I note to myself, remembering my last weaving project with a singles warp yarn. And I will learn from this one too. In my next breath I spot a missing muga silk stripe.

A row of warp thread bundles tied onto the warp beam bar. — Slinky little knots add to the challenge I face through the weaving process.

Slot-slot-hole and the last slot. All done and my hands are blue. I tie the ends around the cloth beam bar. It feels different than tying wool – the slippery surface makes the knots glide and I have to retie some of them several times.

Warp threads between two heddles. A hand reaches down to separate and lift the threads. — I need to fiddle between the heddles for a clean down shed.

This is it. This is when I find out if I have threaded the heddles correctly. While I have worked with double heddles before, I haven’t done it to double the thread count, only for a double layered weave and for twill. The lower shed is fiddly and I need to lift and separate the threads between the heddles to find the shed. But it works. This will be a slow weave, and I embrace the slowness.

A striped weave on the bias. — Slowly but steadily my silk shawl emerges.

Close/up of a loose weave. — Slowly but steadily my silk shawl emerges.

The first golden thread breaks. This is my cue to call it a day. I will deal with it with a fresh mind and deblued hands tomorrow. I loosen the warp beam handle to relax the threads, pet the weave and thank it for the company and a good day’s work. Kerstin is on the floor tyeing her treadles. As I leave I hear the 2 o’clock news jingle behind me and Kerstin’s footsteps toward the coffee maker.

Happy spinning!

You can find me in several social media:

This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. So subscribe!
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes

November 4, 2023November 4, 2023

Serial blue

This weekend I harvested the very last of my indigo leaves for a final extraction. Throughout the season I have dyed for a serial blue.

To learn more about fresh indigo dyeing, pop in at the Dogwood dyer‘s!

This is my first real season of both woad (European and Chinese) and Japanese indigo (Maruba and Kojoko) and it has been such a beautiful experience. I did try both woad and Japanese indigo a few years ago, but the Japanese indigo never germinated and the woad was eaten by flea beetles, so I don’t even count that.

Woad woes

There was some trouble with the woad in the beginning. Our local city fox decided to investigate the pantry properties of the hugelkultur where I had planted my woad. Nighty pantry digging raids resulted in severely damaged plants. Twice. Of the few plants of Chinese woad I had from the beginning I was left with only three. The European woad plants were more from the beginning and I ended up with around eight.

A hand holding three balls of ground and compressed woad leaves. A mortar and pestle in the background. — I made some lovely woad balls out of a whole harvest, but they molded quite quickly.

At one point I harvested all my European woad – over 500 grams – to make woad balls, but they started to mold after just a couple of days. I did a final extraction of the autumn harvest kast week, but it only resulted in a blue tint in the coffee filter. Still, I have lots of seeds left and I am counting on the existing plants to grow another year in the hugelkultur. And oh, they are accompanied by a sweet plant of madder now too.

Extractions

All through summer I have harvested a small amount of leaves. My first try was a cold water extraction, but the most common method of extraction has been a semi-warm fermentation – 35 °C in the water and a double boiler “thermos” of around 45 °C. The extraction has taken around 18 hours.

A pot with some green leaves under a lid with two rocks holding it down. The water in the pot is clear. — Cold water Indigo extraction from kojoko plants. Day 2 to the left and day 4 to the right.

A pot with some green leaves under a lid with two rocks holding it down. The water in the pot is light green and the surface looks a bit oily. — Cold water Indigo extraction from kojoko plants. Day 2 to the left and day 4 to the right.

When I have decided that the extraction was finished I have removed the leaves and started oxidizing the liquid. This is the most fun part. With just an alkaline addition and some oxygen the liquid turns magically blue and I know I have secured some pigment for future vats.

Baby steps

The reason why my extractions have been so small is practical – my buckets and pots aren’t large enough to ferment the whole harvest in one go. I was a bit annoyed by this in the beginning, but then I realized that multiple extraction for a serial blue has its advantages, at least for me as a beginner. By making small batches I ensure that I can extract some pigment. If one extraction fails I still have the other ones. Had I done it all in one go there would be a risk of it all going down the drain.

A person pouring a blue liquid from a bucket into a pot. In the background are green plants. — Oxidizing my indigo extraction is the most fun part! My small indigo garden to the right.

Another advantage is that I have learned a lot by doing the multiple extractions. I know the signs to look for, I know what the liquid is supposed to smell like and I know how much lime to add in the alkalization stage. I have also created a routine for the extractions that has worked well for my context and my tools.

A small mason jar with a blue liquid in it. The liquid has separated in the top few millimeters. — One of my first Maruba extractions.

After the very last (perhaps tenth all in all?) extraction this week, just before the frost covered the ground in a sparkling blanket, I measured my serial blue dried indigo pigment to around 5 grams. It’s not much, but I have made it all by myself and I am ridiculously proud of every grain of blue.

Fresh leaf dyeing

In the beginning, before I had enough leaves to make extractions, I did some fresh leaf dyeing. I used both the salt rub and the blender method and enjoyed myself tremendously.

Two rubber gloved hands holding mashed leaves and textiles that have turned green. — With both salt rubbed (left) and blended (center) fresh leaves I ahve dyed my handspun silk (right).

A hand stirring a bowl of green liquid with greenish blue textiles in it. Leaves and stalks on the ground beside i — With both salt rubbed (left) and blended (center) fresh leaves I ahve dyed my handspun silk (right).

As I started extracting I took advantage of the fermented leaves too. The ones that still looked fresh still had some dyeing potential, and I used them with the blender method. Every batch got a small skein of handspun silk and a few linen buttons.

Serial blue

I got some lovely greenish blue skeins in the fresh leaf baths and light blue buttons. However, it was when I started to overdye that the real fun began. By dyeing skeins and buttons two or three times I got a darker and deeper dye from both indigo and woad.

Five skeins of singles silk yarn. Four of them in a mellow greenish blue colour, one golden beige. — Woad dyed silk and natural muga silk (left), Kojoko dyed 2-ply embroidery yarn (center) and multiple dyed linen buttons (right).

Three mini skeins of 2-ply silk yarn in vibrant greenish blue colours. — Woad dyed silk and natural muga silk (left), Kojoko dyed 2-ply embroidery yarn (center) and multiple dyed linen buttons (right).

I realized that I could play a lot with this – any skein that ended up too light or unevenly dyed went back into the next bath.

A wooden board with 14 small skeins of handspun silk. They are all in different shades of greenish blue, one is purple. On the ground beneath the board are yellow maple leaves. — Serial blue – multiple dips of my handspun silk yarn in fresh leaf baths.

The colour differs between the two Japanese indigo types and the woad, the Kojoko being a little more vibrant than the Maruba and the woad a little lighter and earthier than the Japanese indigo. On the picture above you can see woad on the fourth from the right. The second and third from the right and the first, second and fifth from the left are Kojoko, the rest is Maruba. The somewhat tousled skeins are dyed with the salt rub method (where the fresh leaves are massaged into the skeins) and the others with the blender method (where the skeins are soaked in leaves that have been blended with ice cold water).

Indirubin

The purple skein is a result of having added some heat and a little alkalinity to already extracted leaves. This can, if you are lucky, bring out the indirubin, which is purple. I did this several times, but this skein was the only one that was worth saving. The second from the left is an overdye from another bath that wasn’t as successful in extracting the indirubin. You can still see some traces of purple in the skein.

Until next year

All the dye pots are stored away now. Of the plants in the garden are just a few stalks left. But on the windowsill in my home office are two pots, one with Kojoko and one with Maruba plants. A few stalks rise high above the others, displaying a multitude of flowers. These are my heroes and seed producers for next year’s dye garden.

A stalk with green leaves and small pink flowers. — Pink flowers on my Maruba plants. The Kojoko flowers are white.

Seeds of Japanese indigo need to be fresh to germinate, so for every season I need to grow new seeds for the next. If I succeed and if the seeds germinate I will have a dye garden of blue in 2024 too, and lots more experience than with this first one.

My play with fresh leaf indio on my handspun silk is over and I do have plans for the skeins. I will also experiment with vat dyeing with the indigo pigment I did manage to extract, which will be a whole new adventure. I’ll keep you posted!

Happy spinning!

You can find me in several social media:

This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.

August 11, 2023August 12, 2023

Blue magic

Mmmm… the blue magic of indigo seems to be my theme for this summer. This week I have tried a fermentation method to extract indigo pigment from fresh Japanese indigo Koyoko leaves.

The cold water fermentation method is described in one of Liz Spencer’s (the Dogwood Dyer) online courses. I liked the slow and unhurried pace of the method and decided to give it a go. After all, I’m totally new at this and have no idea what I am doing really. The chemistry of indigo dyeing seems quite daunting, but I am equally intrigued by the variety of techniques and range of colours I can get from my sweet little plants.

Koyoko

When I started an in-person class in indigo growing and extraction here in Stockholm in April we got seeds for European woad, Chinese woad and Japanese indigo Maruba. We also got a pot with a few plants of Japanese indigo Koyoko. These take some time to grow and flower very late in the season, so to be able to harvest the Koyoko seeds, our instructor Katja provided us with baby plants instead of seeds.

All my Japanese indigo plants have grown very nicely and I giggle with joy and excitement every time I see them. Since I don’t have that many Koyoko plants I wanted to do something special with them. When I saw the cold fermentation method in Liz Spencer’s online class I knew I wanted to try it with my Koyoko plants.

Fermentation

For the extraction I picked most of my Koyoko plants for the extraction. I saved a few plants to flower so I can get the seeds for next season. I do love the brightness in the colour that I have managed to get so far with this variety.

Sunday morning was the day to start. I picked my plants and prepared a pot outside our front door, just next to the container where the rest of the plants grow. I checked the fermentation pot twice daily to keep an eye on the process. Liz lives and dyes in southern California, so the temperatures there are a lot higher than here in Stockholm, where it also has been unusually cold and rainy during the past week.

The fermentation pot after 72 hours (left) and 96 hours (right).

Alkalizing and oxidizing

On the fourth day I didn’t want to wait any longer – there is a risk of over fermenting. Liz lists different signs that the fermentation is at its peak and I decided it was time to stop the fermentation. I removed the indigo leaves and alkalized the mermaidy turquoise fluid. I felt very grown up when I checked the pH with a few pH strips. When I had the right pH I oxidized by pouring it between large buckets for a while.

*Look at that colour! My indigo plants say hello from their contai*ner. Oxidizing to the left, finished oxidizing to the right).

The colour was amazing. So much blue from my little plants. I left the blue magic to rest over night and allow the indigo pigment to sink.

More dye!

Meanwhile I did a salt rub with the leaves from the fermentation that were still fresh looking. There was still indigo left in them and I got some more shades in my collection of indigo dyed handspun silk collection. I tried to squeeze some indirubin out too, but failed – all I got was green that I suspect is chlorophyll only.

Salt rub dye from the fermentation leaves that were still fresh. Soy treated antique cotton, linen and linen buttons to the left, handspun silk to the right. The right silk yarn is overdyed after a previous experiment.

And I wait

This is where I wanted to write about watching the pigment sink to the bottom and then decanting the fluid to get access to the blue magic. But I can’t, not yet anyway. The morning after I had oxidized, the fluid looked exactly the same as the day before. Beautifully blue, but not a sign of any pigment sinking to the bottom of the pot.

I got nervous and described my predicament in a Facebook forum for indigo pigment extraction methods and got some reassuring replies with encouragement to give it a few days, perhaps even a week. So I wait, while at the same giddily planning upcoming blue adventures.

Happy spinning!

You can find me in several social media:

This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.

June 24, 2023August 11, 2023

Blue play

This week it was time to pinch my Japanese indigo plants. This will hopefully result in bushier plants. It also paves the way for new plants and some blue play.

Please don’t ask me anything about the dyeing process as I have no idea what I am doing, I just follow instructions (and deviate from them) in the courses I am taking.

I am childishly smitten by my indigo plants. I have one rectangular container just outside the front door where I can keep an eye on them, plus a couple of pots in the pallet collar greenhouse. The other day I couldn’t help myself, and prepared to pinch the Maruba plants and use the leaves for dyeing.

Maruba salt rub

It’s generally best to pick fresh indigo in the morning, but this first time I did it in the afternoon, just because I couldn’t help myself. I got quite a lot from my little indigo garden. I decided to do this as simply as possible, to be able to focus on the process that was all new to me. This means that I didn’t weigh either leaves or textile, I took no photos during the process and I had no particular expectations.

I decided to to the salt rub method – a method where you use salt to extract the liquid and then massage the leaves with the textile for 5–20 minutes. It was lovely to watch the liquid and the textile – supported spindle spun silk yarn in this case – slowly change in colour and depth. This needs to be done fast! As soon as the leaves are broken and/or dried the blue colour comes out of the plants and is consumed.

In one of my vases of indigo stalks, one stalk doesn’t reach the water. The plant dries out and the blue colour emerges.

I cut the plants, placed the cuttings directly in cold water and removed the leaves from the stalks. When I had removed all the leaves I put them in an empty bowl together with a little salt and the hank and started massaging.

Three mini hanks of supported spindle spun mulberry silk yarn dyed with indigo from the salt rub method and its afterbaths.

I massaged my mini silk hank for about 17 minutes and got a sweet mediterranean blue. The silk looks a bit tauseled from the massaging, but I don’t mind. I just love the colour and the fact that I got it from my very own plants. As I washed and rinsed the skein the water turned a bit yellow and the skein a little more blue.

*Newly cut indigo Maruba plants. In the background vases of deleaved stalks waiting to grow roots.*

I cut the plants to make them bushier – when I cut just above a node of the stalk, two new stalks will grow out. I saved the deleaved stalks and put them in water to grow roots. When the roots are long enough I will put these new plants in soil.

Afterbaths

I put another skein in the leftover liquid and leaf mix and placed it in the greenhouse overnight. the skein turned into a lighter turquoise than the salt rubbed skein. I continued the process with the same bath on the stove at low heat together with a new skein and a little baking soda. After a while the skein turned into sort of an olive part of the spectrum. I added a simple thread that got some beige colour, perhaps learning slight towards pink.

Kojoko salt rub

This morning I pinched my Kojoko plants. There were only four plants to pinch, so I just put a simple thread in it. And some of my hair! I envisioned a blue curl, but all I achieved was a green forehead. And, in a certain light, if you squint, you can see a shape of blue. I was really hoping for my white strands to deliver here, but I guess I’ll have to wait for some more white before I can get that blue curl.

Yarn samples! The top yarn has swum for a short while in an afterbath from the leftover leaves and liquid of a salt rub (Maruba). The bottom yarn has been dyed in a later salt rub (Kojoko).

Even if the hair dye wasn’t successful I really love the colour I got on the silk yarn sample, a very crispy mediterranean blue. It felt different than the colour I got from the Maruba. It might have been the difference in species or difference in harvest time, I have no idea.

Oh, and I might have lost the turquoise sample thread down the drain as I rinsed. I might also have lifted out the drawers from the washstand and unscrew the pipes to get hold of the thread.

Eco print

I also tried some eco prints with a few stray leaves. These turned out way richer in colour than the baby leaf I printed a couple of months ago. I love how the colour is richer close to the nerves and the stalks than in the rims and the tips.

There is so much potential in this plant! I have just started playing with it and there is so much more to explore and discover.

Woad status

Meanwhile, in my fox violated hügelkultur, my woad plants are mostly alive. Some have died in the drought, but I still have around eight European woad plants left and a few less of the Chinese woad.

Chinese woad plants under the compost grids, reasonably safe from the fox. Note the baby oak in the foreground.

I think the fox has tried to dig its way in, there are traces outside the oak branch wall of the Hügelkultur, but so far the woad babies are all right.

Tomorrow I’m leaving for Sätergläntan where I will teach the five day course A spindle a day. I am very excited and hope to learn a lot!

Happy spinning!

You can find me in several social media:

This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.

April 29, 2023August 11, 2023

Blue dreams

After a number of utter failures I have mustered up the courage to plant indigo again – two types of Japanese indigo and two types of woad. This will be the summer of blue dreams.

Green leaf freshly picked
Imprinted on cloth, softly
turned blue overnight

A few years ago I tried growing both woad and Japanese indigo. The Japanese indigo didn’t germinate at all. I told the seller and I got new seeds. They didn’t grow either and I gave it up. The woad did germinate, but bite by bite the flea beetle ate every single plant. I gave that up too. I am quite fascinated, though, by the fact that I managed to kill an invasive plant like woad.

A sprouting yearning for blue

Despite these failures I haven’t given up my blue dreams. In early January I got inspiration again and looked around for courses. I found one quite far away from me and asked the teacher, Sofia, if she would consider teaching in Stockholm sometime soon. She wasn’t planning on it, but she kindly offered to send me indigo and woad seeds and planting instructions. I got the sweet seeds and they are now snugly tucked in pots in my kitchen window.

Indigo course

Just a couple of weeks ago my friend Cecilia found a course in growing, harvesting and extracting indigo from woad and Japanese Indigo, just a couple of kilometers from my home. We registered immediately.

The course has three lessons – one in April to plant, one in July to play and one in August to extract the indigo. I knew from the beginning that I couldn’t make the July lesson, but it was still worth it.

We had the first lesson a week ago at a nearby community garden. The teacher Katja told us about the plants and gave us an overview of growing and creating the best circumstances possible for the indican. Each of us got a tiny pot of Japanese indigo Kojoko seedlings and seeds for Japanese Indigo Maruba and European and Chinese woad. I have planted all my seeds and I can’t wait to tend to my new blue babies.

Blue dreams

While waiting for the seeds to germinate I dive into YouTube videos on how to use fresh indigo leaves with different methods. There is so much to play with! I was particularly fascinated with the salt rub method. So fascinated that I have started spinning a silk yarn to dye with the salt rub method and weave into a shawl. Perhaps Japanese indigo in different shades for the warp, and woad (that will probably be lighter than the Japanese indigo) for the weft.

*Mulberry silk spun from the fold on a supported spindle. Picture these skeins in a range of blues.*

I may be mad to think I can weave a silk shawl in a singles yarn with my very basic weaving skills, but I need to try it to find out.

If you are a patron (or want to become one) you can see how I spin silk yarn for my indigo experiment in the April 2023 video postcard.

Baby leaf eco print

I also stole a leaf from one of my Kojoko plants and made a single leaf eco print. I knew there was a risk that there wouldn’t be enough indican in the young leaf, but it doesn’t hurt to try, does it? Since the Indcan reacts with oxygen I also knew that the print needed time to find its blue colour. So I let it be overnight. Although I have to confess that I checked it every ten minutes or so in the evening.

The next morning the leaf was still chlorophyll green. Perhaps a tiny hint of blue around the edges. I had read that the chlorophyll could be washed away, so I wanted to try that. Just a drop of dish soap and water. I was astounded to find the green disappear and leave room for the indigo colour I had dreamed of. It was really there, on my patch of vintage cotton sheet. My heart tingled and I have come back to the blue leaf time and time again during the day to see if it’s still there.

My sweet blue baby leaf of Japanese indigo Kojoko.

There is so much potential in the tiny plants and pots I have. I will do my very best to tend to them with love and affection. Whenever I feel like an obstacle I will turn to my eco print.

One of the best fertilizers for the garden in general and for the Japanese indigo in particular is diluted urine. In fact, most of the commercial fertilizers copy the nitrogen/phosphorus/kalium ratio of urine. In Sweden we call it guldvatten, gold water. I will happily and lovingly pee on my plants and keep up my blue dream.

Resources

As I am a total beginner of growing indigo plants, please don’t ask me about how to do things related to indigo. There are many people who are experts on the subjekts. Below are some links and accounts I have found and been recommended:

Margaret Byrd has a lot of videos about dyeing with indigo in various shapes and forms. Here is one of her videos, on the salt rub method with fresh indigo leaves.
BillyNou had a lovely video too on the salt rub method. She, in turn, recommended the following two Instagram accounts
I followed Make with Mandi’s video on eco printing with indigo leaves.
The dogwood dyer, who has lovely photos and videos with various techniques with indigo. She also offers online courses.
Seaspell fiber also has photos, videos and online courses on indigo techniques.

If you have suggestions of additional resources, please let me know.

Happy spinning!

You can find me in several social media:

This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.