WOYWW 73:Dyeing in my basement studio

Are you getting tired of me saying I made it around to everyone's desks last week? I've said it 11 weeks in a row, but I suspect I won't be visiting everyone this week. In fact, I'll be lucky to make it to Julia's Stamping Ground, where she keeps the links to this insanely time consuming, but totally enjoyable, weekly get together.

On Saturday, I did something really crazy and threw my back out of place. Not to belabor the point, I am having muscle spasms and my left leg goes numb when I stand or sit. As long as I am walking, I am fine, but even lying in bed has taken its toll. It is now time to take some Ibuprofen and hopefully knock myself out for a few hours. In fact, I am barely getting this in on time, since it took me so long to get this post together. If you are new to my blog, click the photos to get the full picture.

But I know you came to see my desk, not hear whining that I've done two days in a row. So tonight (but for many of you it's Wednesday morning already) found me in my basement studio, dyeing, but thankfully not dying!

Bleubeard knew I didn't feel well, so came to keep me company. You can barely see him in the photo.


On the left is what started as a plain white sheet and a piece of cheesecloth I dyed in teal colored Rit powdered dye. On the right is more cheesecloth I dyed using instant coffee. For this, I used two coffee packs. In the middle is a protective glove I forgot to put on. I used the low immersion method, which means I used very little water to about 1/2 package of dye, then


heated the covered, but not sealed, concoction for two minutes in the microwave.

I made two batches of each. For the second batch, I over-dyed a turquoise striped sheet with teal (on left), and coffee (on right). I show a piece of the original for color comparison. And the rocking horse this week used to live in my kitchen, but now it lives on a shelf in my basement studio. Have a great WOYWW and a lovely rest of the week, dear friends.

Today's blog is Brenda, another WOYWWer. Her blog, Butlers Abroad is always fun to visit. Born in England, Brenda and her husband now live in Michigan in the US. They love their British cars and lots of outdoor activities, too. When not working in the automotive industry, Brenda makes cards, photographs her surroundings, gardens, and is now knitting a scarf for her husband. It's always fun to see how much progress she makes each week on that scarf! So, visit the "rust belt" today and enjoy Brenda's fun, and often quirky blog.