Dyed in Space

Sample skeins of merino.

I spent my whole Sunday learning how to space dye with acid dyes and my fingers still look like the hands of the Corpse Bride, the blue has coloured my nails and the skin around them. I took lots of little sample skeins, some of them white wool, some of them grey wool and some silk - and 4 massive skeins of fluffy white merino that I spun at least 6 years ago when I hadn't yet learned how to ply.

While kneeling on the lawn to take the photos of the skeins I noticed masses of black beetles on the geraniums - lots of mini-dramas going on there ...

Hope you had a great weekend too.

Much love,
Qaroline

Very deep and rich colours on the grey wool.

The colours came out so brighly on the silk that I overdyed the one in the middle and the one on the right.

Big skeins of fluffy merino - I am particularly impressed with the result on the far right skein, on which I dumped all left-over colours and painted them over with grey.

My lovely new geranium - two beetles trying to shove each other from the petals, one bystander.

Field trip

Field of poppies near Northleach.

This weekend I went on the pilgrimage to Hidcote. As my own garden is in its change-over phase at the moment and mostly green, I was looking forward to seeing this famous garden - but of course their roses were still going strong!

The most amazing thing for me is how different a garden can be on every single visit. This Saturday morning was actually pretty cold, but the air was filled with the fragrance of the varieties of mock-orange and the first lilies in bloom.

On my way back I stopped to take photos of two fields - one flax, one with so many poppies in it that it felt like a punch of colour on this grey day. I actually parked the car twice to photograph it from different angles ...

Much love,
Qaroline

Yeah I know. But I love this tree.

Mock-orange and sweet pea blossoms.

Hot colour scheme.

The Pillar Garden filled with mock-oranges, campanulas and lilies.

Orchard behind the Long Borders.

Field filled with flax in Gloucestershire.

A closer look at the poppies.