Fibermania

Setting up the dye studio

After careful thought I decided to start dyeing in the studio, rather than the porch or the garage. For the kind of dyeing I intend to do (Special Editions) I need to have a flat, windless space. I put down dropcloths over the hopelessly awful carpet, so I could at least see the drips and wipe them up before tracking them everywhere else.

For my dye surfaces I found 4x8 foot styrofoam sheets at Lowe's and cut them in half. I will be dyeing 12 full yards, three pieces at a time, per 4 platters.

I am starting out small, since there is no need to treat this as business. These are the sets of mercerized cotton print cloth that will be presoaked before I dye them. For more on dyeing see this site.

In other news...

La Bamba is gone! Dave has hired a local man to help with large projects around the place and has made a deal to trade this truck for his work. This fills my heart with joy. Altho La Bamba did the trick for us many times, bringing in loads of garden soil and IKEA furniture, and taking away scads of garbage to the dump and saving Dave from deer on his way to and from Atlanta, I was never able to feel safe driving it. So to me, it was just in the way, and made us look like we were starting to collect junks.

But we still own Ugly Betty.

Since this photo was taken Dave has spray painted her a brighter red, but you know the rust holes don't quite take the paint like the rest of her.

Both of our newer cars are nicely esconced in the garage. Progress.