Irish Knitting Tour, textiles

The Making of Day 9, Dyeing to Knit Ireland Tour October 2024; Natural Dyeing w/ Rachel Bingham Kessler & our farewell dinner

Little did I know that in October 2021 while visiting the Burren and conducting dye experiments that I would planning such a trip! I must have been subconsciously manifesting this. I will be heading out to the Burren from Maine next month and I am so excited to be scouting out wild dye sources for us. I’ve already locked down two Irish grown wool breeds for us to use *HAPPY DANCE!* On this last full day of our time together, we’ll be enjoying the deep dive into natural dyes and how to coax the colors from various local plants onto wool yarns and wool and silk fabrics for printing. Blue bells and fuchsias make beautiful prints on both wool and silk- just a wee hint what we may be using. And it’s mushroom season too. Are you excited yet?!?!?

Natural dyed samples from foraging in The Burren, October 2021

This morning, we’ll take part in today’s workshop with me, Rachel Bingham Kessler, your host. The focus of this full day workshop is on natural dyeing using local plants. We’ll conduct various test dyes and I’ll walk you through my various eco printing techniques which print the color and shape of a plant and/or flower onto cloth. We’ll enjoy our lunch (included) onsite.

Later in the afternoon, we’ll return to our hotel before enjoying a farewell dinner together.

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