Bungees and dyeing

Bungee cords and dyeing are not related to each other. At least not in my life, not right now. In the future – who knows? Stranger things have probably happened. To me.

Let’s start with the bungees. We had A LOT of wind earlier this week. A LOT. Like consistent 30-40 mph with 70 mph gusts. On Monday morning my little dog Jack woke me up at 4AM. Howling wind is not his favorite thing. So I decided to go lay down on the couch so he could be closer to me. Well. The wind was making the awning over my front door bang repeatedly, threatening to rip off the house and surely cause damage in the process. So there I was at 4AM, in my pajamas and bathrobe, on a step stool on my tiny front porch, attaching bungee cords between the awning and the wrought iron railings. Two on each side. Adds some real class to my house, don’t you think? Anyway, this worked for the duration of the storm. I’ll have someone come and determine a permanent solution soon.

Weather related, in early February the temperatures were perfect for creating ice on the sidewalks. 🙁 One morning I fell twice before I ever left the corner my house sits on. The very next morning I was walking on a nearby slanted piece of grass to avoid the icy sidewalk. Down I went, in the mud this time. Nothing beyond my pride was particularly hurt in any of those falls. A few days later I fell on the ice again. Again I wasn’t even bruised.

But a few days after that my right leg – the side I’d landed on each time – started hurting. I couldn’t figure out what it was, and didn’t connect it to the falls since it didn’t start immediately. So I continued to do my regular activities: daily walking and assorted gym classes at least 3 days/week.

When things were getting worse, not better, I decided I’d pulled a ligament behind my knee. All those activities were only aggravating the injury. And since I was walking and moving funny, I subsequently involved my sciatic nerve and piriformis muscle, and probably more. So weaving hasn’t been great on my leg. I have a chiropractor appointment on Tuesday, but meanwhile haven’t been able to weave much – only for short spurts and not a lot of those in one day. Instead I’ve been dyeing.

I started by dyeing some weft yarn to coordinate with warps I’d dyed and put on the loom.

The warp was handpainted, the weft was immersion dyed: some 8/2 tencel and some 10/2 cotton. I found it interesting that the tencel was noticeably darker in the dye bath. After drying the colors are almost identical.

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Then, since we had a major snowfall, I figured I’d take advantage of the snow and did a bunch of snow dyeing. Socks and scarves, assuming I’ll get accepted into that show this summer where they will be appropriate. Here are process photos; I haven’t taken any of the finished pieces yet.