GRATITUDE

Last Friday I traveled up to Vermont with my studio-buddy, K, for a workshop on dyeing rug yarn.  This was a long-scheduled trip.  We headed off to our beloved Oxford Rug Hooking School and spent a weekend dyeing with Heidi Whipple, Manager and Master Dyer of the School, and one other student, the funny and wonderful Julie.

Friday night we simply settled in.  I took a long walk in the fields behind the school, listening to the Redwing Blackbirds and Canada Geese in the high wind and slanting light of early evening.  I felt so grateful to be able to be in such a gorgeous place.  When you stay at the school, they think of everything and take great care of you.

Saturday we began our work.  Here's a small portion of the dyeing room:

We spent all day Saturday on three techniques.  The big challenge for me was the 8 value dyeing.  Although I doubt I will use this much, or need it (but ya never know, eh?), I still wanted to learn it.  Here were my results:

I admit to being chuffed.  But it was a LOT of work.  Very glad I know I can do this, "just in case."

And here is part of the method of creating what you see above.  Double, double, toil and trouble...

Heidi and I both decided to try a recipe that appeared to be full of typos.  Even though we had doubts, we thought we would try it "as written"; it involved applying the same color in the same amount three times.  This doesn't sound like it would produce anything other than one color, right?   That's gotta be an error. 

See the little slideshow below for results.

Safe to say we weren't expecting that.

Sunday we went to work early and continued through lunch.  We could have continued all day but with a 4+ hour drive home facing us, and all we had already learned, we were out of brain cells. 

Results from the weekend:

Left-to-right:  1) The experiment with the odd recipe that turned out surprisingly well.  2) A "flat color" experiment in which I tried to achieve a mid-range value of a particular shade, and succeeded.  It turned out the exact shade...to my surprise.  3 & 4) Two recipes using slightly different amounts of the same colors.  Love both these results.  5) Underneath the four skeins is an antique punch needle from Denmark. 

These goodies and the 8 skeins of green are what I brought home.  

I am so grateful to Heidi for her teaching.  And we were lucky that on Saturday Amy O stopped by briefly, along with Miss Lily, her long-haired dachshund.  Any time I get to spend with Amy is always a gift.

After a very, very, VERY long ride home, I'm taking today to regroup.  I can't say enough about what a magical place Amy and Heidi have created.  It gives new meaning to the word "haven."  If I lived any closer, I would probably be trying to move in.

Gratitude is my operative word as I think back on the weekend.