This week has been such a perfect, spring week (minus the fact that our van broke and I had to abandon it half an hour away from home!) I took my younger children down to the creek and we planted Virginia bluebells. They all went barefoot, and so did I. I’m not sure that I’ll plant a vegetable garden this year, which is kind of crazy because I have for the past sixteen years or so. But, I do have some more native wildflowers on order (ebay) to plant along the little creek in our woods here. So if not a vegetable garden, at least some flowers? We’ll see.
I have been playing with all sorts of natural dyes, mainly dyeing up playsilks with spring and Easter in mind. I have so many beautifully colored silks ready for you! Most of them are the standard 35″ by 35″ squares, but I also dyed a handful of silk “rivers.” These are 11″ by 60″ and are a muted aqua, perfect for a make-believe river (pictured above). I also have (for the first time) some bulky weight American wool yarn ready, in some lovely pinks, yellows, and one wasabi green skein which is probably my favorite because I am such a fan of green. There’s also a bit of single ply fingering and some sport weight as well. I’ll list some undyed gray sport weight too. I made lots of cold process goat milk soap early this year, and it is ready now! I added kaolin clay to a batch of lavender tea tree, so it’s a prefect facial bar or shaving soap. I use it for both. There’s also lemongrass, mint, bergamot, and rosemary. My little studio kitchen smells amazing!
The shop will be updated on Friday, March 31st at 11:30 a.m. EST (I previously said 11, but realized I have a conflict. Sorry about that!) Thank you so much for supporting my little home business!
p.s. Jonny will be making up a storm in a few months, but right now he’s swamped with house and moving related projects! Oh, and Mabel’s vest above was a gift knitted in some of my walnut dyed yarn. The pattern is called “plain vest” and it is on Ravelry.
p.p.s. I almost forgot! Seth recently added some new items to his shop, including fossil sets with a photo key. Those would be a perfect addition to an Easter basket! If you order from both of our shops we will combine shipping and refund the extra shipping charge (give us a few days as I will be shipping orders through next week). Just make sure to leave Seth a note with your order letting him know you ordered from me too! His listings are already live, so if you order from him before my shop is update tomorrow, just leave me a note. (sorry, I’m getting confusing now.) Thanks!
What is the cardigan that Mabel is wearing in these photos? Love it!
That was a gift, and I believe it is this pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/plain-vest—enkel-vest 🙂
Do you have a certain ebay seller from whom you order your native wildflower seeds? I would love to hear more about what you envision. I have woods and a creek, and I like the idea of having native flowers growing!
Seeing your spring pictures is so encouraging! (In the 30s and raining here:( )
You have such a beautiful family and I love the pictures you share with us. I just ordered some soaps and I can’t wait to use them!
Please tell Seth that including a photo guide is a terrific idea. Now I will know what is what in our packages. Thank you.
Great idea for lining the Easter baskets with the play silks.
Out of her many playsilks, my daughter’s favorite is the indigo dyed one that you made! I will definitely be looking to add another one to her collection for Easter, hopefully purple. : )
I’m so glad that she likes it! I dyed some really lovely soft purples this time!
Would Jonny consider making a table top for a set of iron coffee table legs? I’ve been hoping to find some that could make a new top for us. The original top was warped. We could arrange to pick it up.
Maybe? But not in the next six weeks or so. If you are still interested, email me in May. Thank you!
It’s not a rush. We’ve had the iron legs for more than 10 years.
Ginny these are just gorgeous!
Sometimes something has to give. In the seasons where that something was a garden, it’s made me realize how much time growing veggies can take up! 🙂
fun! I love seeing all of this! you ALL make such lovely things! I hope you get to do a bit of flowers. You can only do so much at a time and getting your old house ready etc is a priority but this is just a season, so don’t be too sad! I am sure you will have a lovely garden again God willing in the future!!! :))))