Indigo

Just in from caring for the critters.  Things are mildly out of hand--I released my two opossums, but got two more and six squirrels.  The squirrels were at the "finishing stage"--almost off milk, and about ready to prepare for release.  And they're a royal pain.  I love raising squirrels, but didn't do any tiny babies this year.  So this is getting the adolescents without the fun part.  They'll be going out in the release cage today. 

But that's not today's blog.  Today I'm talking about my indigo workshop that I gave last week at the museum.  Indigo is just a fun dye to work with--because the dyebath is green (or greenish-yellow) and when you pull the items out they react to the air to turn blue.  And no matter how many times I see it, it's still magic, and I like hearing the "oooooooo" as others see it for the first time.  I also like the expressions on their faces when I explain that historically in Europe stale urine was used to develop the color (we bypassed this step in favor of modern chemical assists)  And just to keep things interesting we did tie-dye on various samples, and finally they all got a silk scarf to dye and take home.

And here is today's eye candy.  While the historic collection that I'm trying to deal with is a right royal mess, I am enjoying the treasures that I find.  My big love is the late 1800s--they just got so carried away with piling on the decorations.  Here's a little capelet to just finish off an outfit.