~ may you recognize life’s blessings for what they are, and whenever they come to you.

I have been working with Jessica, pictured here with her two children, Junie and Jonah, who is developing a line of “onesies” for infants and toddlers. Jessica creates different designs on the fabric and then dyes them over, under and all around. She has been using chemical dyes but wanted to move toward natural dyes as the fabric is a “green” cotton and the dyes would be along the same line, offering a truly natural product to the marketplace.

Jessica purchased a few different Earthues dye extracts and did some experimenting which I have shown above. She has some bugs to work through but I think she is on to a great product for children! Next up is weld, cochineal and indigo.

If you would like to contact her directly about her “onesies” feel free to email Jessica at mrsjessw@hotmail.com and if you are in the Keene area she will be showing her products at the Best Western Annual Craft Show, Keene, NH, November 17th.

I had one of those really productive weekends. I got my office desk cleaned up on Saturday and then focused on two projects that had been pending for some time. One was to get all the sheep coats repaired from all summer. I had cleaned them but the stack grew to 15 repair jobs which took a good 3 hours. The second project was to dye a pound of yarn with indigo for a customer. So I combined the two and voila, all complete in less than 4 hours! I had already mordanted the yarn a few weeks ago. Although mordanting is not necessary with indigo, I believe it makes the color much more lightfast and I want my customer to be happy with the color for a long time to come!

The NY Sheep and Wool Festival was a great event last weekend. It was my first year vending at this event and I was delighted to be able to attend. My friend, Maryann, came along to help with every aspect of the weekend and she was a Godsend. It is a big job to set up and tear down the booth, not to mention being on your feet for 12 hours +/-. We didn’t leave the fairgrounds until 7PM Sunday night and I was grateful for her conversation on that very long ride back to NH (long only because it was dark and we were a wee bit tired!).

Friday night we got together for dinner with Tom and Diane Golding www.dropspindle.info/ at a great restaurant right across from the fairground, The Double O Grill. It was nice to unwind with friends after the day of driving and setting up our booths plus the food was excellent!

After a very busy day Saturday, Maryann and I enjoyed evening reservations at the annual Wild Fibers event that Linda Cortright hosts. We gathered in an enclosed tent on the fairgrounds for yummy food, red wine, gifts of wonderful alpaca blend socks from Red Maple Sportswear www.redmaplesportswear.com/ plus samples of Unicorn Fiber Wash, Scour and Rinse products www.unicornfibre.com/ Linda gave a spirited talk with slides of her trip to Central Asia this year. A nice gathering among fellow fiber lovers.

The weather all weekend was spectacular after a rainy Friday night of setting up. A cold front set the stage for low humidity and lots of sunshine. The Duchess County Fairgrounds are beautiful and clean, right down to the bathrooms, which had the friendliest, and most entertaining attendants I have ever encountered!

My only huge disappointment was one of the 3 fleeces I submitted to the judging/sale at Rhinebeck disappeared sometime Saturday. I checked them all in Saturday AM early but by Sunday AM the people who manage the paperwork had no record of the sale and the fleece was missing. Seven pounds of the most beautiful gray CVM, gone. My only hope is that the sales slip got misfiled and they’ll find it as they tally the slips in the next few weeks. If not then the fleece was stolen. I have accepted that inevitabilty with a sour taste. I have decided our fleeces will no longer be submitted to the shows. I will sell them at my booths at various festivals or through my reserve list. No more ribbons needed. I cannot allow that kind of loss more than once. It is hard work managing fleeces throughout the year to present for sale. Enough said.

I enjoyed all who came to our booth to learn about Earthues natural dyes for the first time and to see familiar faces of those who already enjoy natural dyeing and want more! Thank you all for a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you next Spring, if not sooner.

Success!!! Here is Wanda’s recipe. Good luck and it sounds like there may be another of Wanda’s favorites coming along soon, just in time for the holidays….

First, I don’t use pectin, so this recipe will use sugar & boil time. Also, you should know that my apples are the size of chick peas. If yours are bigger, halve or quarter them. Also I don’t do the hot water boil after jarring.

Take whatever amount of ripe but tart fruit you have. Wash & stem them. Put them in a non reactive pan & add water just to cover. Bring them to a boil & then simmer until they are tender. Stir gently to prevent scorching, but try not to crush the fruit too much as this will make the jelly cloudy.

When all the fruit is soft, place them in batches in a wet jelly bag & allow to drain completely.

Again, in a non reactive pan measure your juice. If using tart apples you will be using 1 cup of sugar for every cup of juice.

Bring the juice to a boil & reduce to a simmer. When your candy thermometer gets to 220 deg. begin timing your boil. When the juice comes to a boil, add your sugar a cup at a time. Taste the juice a couple of times to check for sweetness. (Beware when tasting! The juice is HOT! ) See how clear & beautiful the juice gets?

You may need to cook at a high simmer for between 10-30 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent scorching. A cold
spoon dipped in the mixture should form a couple of glops on the edge when the liquid is tipped out.

While this is cooking sterilize your jars & lids. The jars should be warm when filled because the jelly is still 220 deg. Fill to within 1/8″ of the top of each jar. With a wet cloth or paper towel wipe the rim of each jar (they won’t seal properly if there is jelly on the rim. Place your lids on the jars add the rings & tighten them. Not too tight because any air trapped inside needs to escape. After a bit tighten the rings completely & wait for the pings to start as the jars seal themselves.

If you have jelly left that won’t fit in a jar or fill a jar, put it in a pretty dish & eat it!

Cheers,
Wanda