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| Cotton rug warp dyed with hops leaves and vines |
The hops are thanks to my homebrewing husband. Hops are used to flavor beer and act as a preservative. We were a bit late on the hops harvest this year, but better late than never.
Bill pulled down the vines for me, and I plucked the hops. Right now, he's making a batch of hops soda for me (kind of grapefruity-bitter -- I love it!).
After plucking the hops, I put the leaves and vines in a pot. It was a couple of days before I actually got water added to that pot. Then a couple more days before I simmered that pot. Still, I don't think the delay was the reason that simmering pot stunk up the joint.
Most of my homebrewed natural dyes have a pleasant fragrance. This one produced a color I like well enough to put up with the stink while it's brewing.
While driving from Fort Worth to Amarillo and then on to Pueblo, CO, I listened to an audio book. It was one of the Maisie Dobbs series, in which the setting is in England right after the first World War. Part of the plot was the annual hops harvesting. Londoners would travel with their families and harvest the hops along with the locals and bands of gypsies. It was very interesting. Oh, and there was even a bit of tapestry weaving in the book.
ReplyDeleteI love the Maisie Dobbs books, Sherri, and that's one of my faves ( love the Billy character). I do hope Maisie gets back to weaving in upcoming books!
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