ATELIER fijnKNIT NATURAL DYE AND FIBER WORKSHOP SCHEDULE–SPRING, SUMMER 2012

NATURAL DYE COLORS:   PURE COLORS, THEIR SIGNIFICANCE, AND USE IN FIBER ARTS

In this workshop, you will discover the range of  pure, deep colors  in the color spectrum offered by natural dyes on cotton/linen and wool and silk fibers.   While you learn the technical aspects of natural dye coloring, we will study the significance of color and effects on your physical body, emotions, and spirit.   You will learn how to prepare the fiber for perfect and consistent results and colorfastness.   We use only the highest quality natural dyes that promise pure, deep colors and the best possibility of colorfastness that natural dyes have to offer.

June 10, & 17, 2012  

Sundays:  9:30 tot 15:30;   Natural Dye & Fiberworks Atelier at Salviapark 38, De Pinte

Beginning and Intermediate level, taught by Catherine van Laake, textile designer

Instruction fee: 130€  which includes sample materials, dyes, and handouts.  Payment in advance by June 1st.  Cancellation fee 75€ if less than 2 weeks before date of workshop, otherwise full refund.   Maximum 10 participants.

Spacious studio space with outdoor patio workspace and perfect light conditions.   Bring your own lunch, but tea, coffee and biscuits provided.

If you would like to attend this Natural Dye workshop or would like more information, please fill out the form below.

INTRODUCTION TO SHIBORI

Stitched, clamped, and folded shibori on silk with natural dyes

Shibori is a shaped, resist -dyeing technique that is so much more than the tie-dye that became well known in the 60′s.   Shibori is a dye-resist technique that is used to create simple and complex, seemingly printed, patterns on fabric and which also can be used to create texture and more dimension to fabric.  The resistance to the dye on fabric is achieved by using string or thread to stitch or tie fabric or by clamping or folding the fabric.  These techniques have been used for centuries all over the world and exemplify many textile traditions in East, Mideast, Africa and South America.  Shibori designs add mystery and beauty to cloth unequaled by any other surface design technique.

This class is broken up into two sections:   A Thursday night section where you will learn the resist technique and a Sunday afternoon session where you will dye the fabric in natural dyes.  You have a choice to attend just the Thursday evening classes if you already have access to dyes and know how to dye, or you can choose both Thursday and Sunday where the whole process is demonstrated.  The class must be divided into 2 sessions per week because of the 2-step process required, and each shibori technique is followed by the dye bath lesson.  Participants will have the chance to take sample work home and bring their extra samples to dye on Sunday.  It is not an option to participate on Sundays only.  I recommend that you attend both sessions per week and share in the excitement when we finally pull the samples out of the dyebath and unfold the fabric.   All of the different designs will be on display for everyone to enjoy.

Thursdays, July 5, 12, & 19, 2012,    19:00-21:30

Sundays:  July 8, 15, & 22, 2012,      10:00-15:30;  

Natural Dye & Fiberworks Atelier at Salviapark 38, De Pinte

Beginning level, taught by Catherine van Laake, textile designer

Instruction fee: €210  for all classes (Thursday and Sunday) or €65 for 3 Thursday evenings.   Includes sample materials, dyes, and handouts.  Payment in advance by June 20.  Cancellation fee €75 or €30 if less than 2 weeks before date of workshop, otherwise full refund.   Maximum 10 participants.

Spacious studio space with outdoor patio workspace and perfect light conditions.   Bring your own lunch, but tea, coffee and biscuits provided.

If you would like to attend this Shibori workshop or would like more information, please fill out the form below.

Playing with Felt

Example of woven wool fabric painted with natural dyes, then felted into perfect drape for a dress

Felting creates a quite subtle fabric that has many functions.  Felted fabric can be made directly by layering fibers or by taking a already woven or knitted fabric and shrinking it.  There are several methods to make felt to the desired drape and thickness and felting can be used a surface design element.  In this lesson you will learn to fuse wool and silk  to silk, fuse wool to knitted fabric and crocheted fabric, and experiment with the effects of shibori felting.  You will use naturally dyed wool fiber to create color motifs.   Yes, natural dyes withstand the vigors of felting!   You will leave the class with your own felted scarf.

Sundays: August 5 & 12, 2012,      10:00-16:30 

Natural Dye & Fiberworks Atelier at Salviapark 38, De Pinte

Taught by Catherine van Laake, textile designer

Instruction fee: €120 for sample materials, enough silk for a completed silk and felted wool scarf    Payment in advance by July 20, with cancellation fee €50 if less than 2 weeks before date of workshop, otherwise full refund.   Maximum 8 participants.

Spacious studio space with outdoor patio workspace and perfect light conditions.   Bring your own lunch, but tea, coffee and biscuits provided.

If you would like to attend Playing with Felt workshop or would like more information, please fill out the form below.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Phone number

I would like to register for the Natural Dye Workshop

I would like to register for the Introduction to Shibori Workshop

I would like to register for Fun With Felt Workshop

I would be interested in this class in the future if: It was offered on another day of the week. It was offered on weekends.

Comment

Spring, Building the Nest… and Women’s HERstory Month

It’s Spring and light, fresh air, and change comes quickly to our feminine souls, doesn’t it?

For the past two months I have been busy building my nest for the new knit/natural dye/ textile supplies shop that I will be opening this fall.  The name of my shop will be Atelier fijnKNIT and it will be located in De Pinte, on the main street, Baron de Gieylaan in De Pinte.  We will be offering a weekly Tricot-Thee on Tuesday afternoons and evenings, children’s knitting lessons on Wednesday afternoons, adult knitting lessons, and special workshops on topics such as natural dyeing, shibori, felting, and more as requested by students.  Of course, we will have a full selection of yarns for knitting, crochet, and weaving, high quality natural dyes and mordants,  needles, books, and supplies for knitting, crochet and felting.   Please stay tuned for the workshop schedule which I hope to publish in the next few days.

Today, I want to tell my story about how my journey through the world of textiles has led to this dream of sharing textiles with other women in such an overt fashion.

I left the United States 4 1/2 years ago partly drawn by some ancient textile history hidden deep within my psyche which landed me in Belgium and which has taken me these last several years to grasp.  I also left the United States with deep grief about the state of my motherland and my countrymen/women that seemed to be on the wrong path in a never-ending push for war and dominance around the world that I simply could not bear to be part of any longer.   I believe the reason that I had such strong feelings against this war-mongering, was that my life of studying textiles has brought me so close the beauty of other cultures that I couldn’t bear the thought of all those cultures and peoples that created such magnificent works of textile art could be worthy of such destruction for any ideology, no matter how righteous the cause, let alone for the lies that were at the heart of these destructive forces.  I came to Belgium with a heavy heart, longing to see the US get back on a track to peace and the idealism that I grew up with in the 60′s.    I also came to Belgium with my passion for weaving, natural dyeing, and knitting with the hope of sharing that passion and rich experience with other women in the US who taught me how to weave, dye, and knit.

Nature speaks to me.  Through textiles I see the invitation that nature offers us.  It is the invitation to feel gratitude for the abundance and magnitude of diversity that nature gives us freely, without question, without judgment, without selfishness.  We are invited to feel gratitude for the fibers from the flax and cotton plants, sheep, goats, and alpacas, silk worms that once naturally roamed the earth and who willingly gave us their gifts.   We are invited to feel the softness, warmth, shine, color, and texture of these fibers.   We are invited to discover the science of chemistry in plants by extracting their color essences and dipping our fibers into liquid pools of color and minerals that causes us to play.   We are again invited to feel gratitude for the playfulness and joy that natural fibers and natural color give us.  We are invited to learn and see the origins of mathematics and architecture in weaving and knitting, and thus invited to experience the transformation of science into art as we begin to understand what design is.   We create functional fiber sculpture (our clothing, interior decorations) from the mathematics of weaving and formulas that make a sweater fit.   Isn’t this process grand?  And finally, we transform art into love.  We love nature for her abundant gifts, and that love is transformed into showing each other our love by the giving of gifts of color, sculpture, warmth and protection.

We create a circle of appreciation and trust with each other when we share the art and science of making textiles together.   That is why I have formed the knitting/textile arts group now at my house/studio and soon to be at the new location, my shop, Atelier fijnKNIT.  I want to again invite all my spring-chick women friends, and those who would like to be friends to join us the first and third Tuesday of every month, starting at 2 pm at Salviapark 38, De Pinte.

And speaking of gratitude, I want to thank my friends, especially Kathy Hattori, proprietor of Botantical Colors, for her inspiration, help, patience and trust in believing my vision, and Annie and Christine and the women in the fijnKNIT Brei-Circle for their unconditional support of my “Spring Chick” project (the new shop) in spite of its imperfect and incomplete status.

Many times I hear women say that they are hesitant to come to the group because they are beginners or because they don’t think they knit good.  This is precisely why we want you to join us.  Nature doesn’t demand perfection and neither do we.  Imperfection and vulnerability are the birthplace of creativity, learning, sharing, and belonging and we have nothing to be ashamed of.     Of course, there are fundamental techniques, the art and science, that require practice and understanding to achieve a desired outcome.  There is an abundance of expertise in the group to help others along.  I believe that this sharing of textile techniques is a sacred ritual that connects women through the ages, through cultures, and gives us one avenue to be seen for who we are.   We gather together to celebrate each individual approach to our practice.  Listening to and seeing the brilliance, the sacred and the mundane in each other, creates the magic that is reflected in the beautiful and functional creations that we make for ourselves and our loved ones.

Creative New Year!

fijnKNIT Brei-Salon Update, JANUARY 2012

New Meeting Hours Beginning February 7, 2012

nieuwe uren

elke 1^ste & 3^e dinsdag van de maand

Open BreiAtelier vanaf 14:00u in de avond tot 22 u

breng je eigen wol en je eigen ideëen

of kom gratis leren

5€  per persoon, omvat drankjes & hapjes

luxe brei garens en natuurlijke kleurstoffen te koop

 salviapark 38, 9840 de pinte     09 330 6190  Catherine van laake    fijnknit@telenet.be

Annie and Christine who expertly follow their patterns while chatting

A small group of women have continued throughout the winter to gather every 1st and 3rd Tuesday at 2 pm to share knitting ideas, resources, and of course, our experience at fijnKNIT Atelier.  The conversation is mostly in Dutch, and I (proprietor of fijnKNIT) try to follow as much as possible with a little help from my friends.  Our translation is not limited to conversation, however.   We share knitting books and resources that are written in Dutch, English, French, Japanese and German and all of us seem to have diversified skills such that we compliment each other and provide a wide diversity of talent to enjoy.

Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota; Fijnknit yarn with natural dyes on the side. Christine brought this beautiful book for us to enjoy.

Marie-Paule is our expert lace knitter, displaying her latest in fine cashmere

We invite everyone from beginners to experts, young and old, Flemish speaking and non-Flemish speaking.  We enjoy coffee, tea, homemade goodies, wine and cheese while we sit around a well-lit table.  I ask a small donation of 5 € to cover the cost of the goodies and beverages.  I provide a tool table with a skein winder, ball winder, and other various and sundry tools that one might need while working with textiles.  The open atelier gathering lasts into the evening and everyone is free to come anytime after 2 and leave anytime before 9 pm.  I have a beautiful selection of luxury and naturally dyed yarns, and a fabulous selection of the highest quality natural dyes available for sale.  We have a lot of fun together…

Sometimes, accidents happen, and we all have a good laugh.

All knitters know that sometimes accidents can turn out quite pretty, so Marie-Paule signed hers.

And we have another eager friend, always willing to keep you company, my darling Jasmine….

Our little mascot who is not always so calm. She loves everybody and wants to be with the girls.

Between trims, she looks more like an alpaca than a dog, and everyone asks me if I spin her hair.   The answer is no, never.  I don’t spin dog hair, no matter how cute they are.  I’m hooked on lambswool, thank you very much.

So, if your interested in sharing slow fiber and knitting of all sorts, learning no matter who you are or what you know, and enjoying the good company of women, please feel free to join us.

Atelier fijnKNIT

EVERY 1ST & 3RD TUESDAY

5:30  PM ‘TIL WHENEVER

SALVIAPARK 38

DE PINTE

09 330 6190 OR EMAIL ME, Catherine van Laake:     fijnknit@telenet.be

OCCUPY YOURSELF & CREATIVE NEW YEAR!

Amazing New Colors from Vegetable and Insect Extracts: Himalayan Rhubarb, Pomegranate, Saxon Blue, Spaced-dyed Cochinea, over-dyed with Botanical Colors Saxon Blue

With the lengthening of the daylight I’m back from my winter hibernation sabbatical.     November is the time of the year when the wool between my fingers and the knitting designs in my head just seem to merge, and I found myself eagerly pulling out the new natural dyes that I was too busy to try out a few months before.  Until this spring when I went to a natural dye conference in France, I wore rose colored glasses (i.e., mostly fascinated with reds and purples) when it came to natural dye colors.   The conference made me see the beauty of the colors in the yellow range.   Since I now have this fantastic and easy to use indigo (herein called Saxon Blue from Botanical Colors) that doesn’t require a vat, I have been harboring an urge to mix up a whole slew of new colors mixed with blue to use in Fair Isle designs.

Genista tinctoria on silk, over-dyed with Saxon Blue

Pomegranate on silk, over-dyed with Saxon Blue

Himalayan Rhubarb, over-dyed with Saxon Blue

So, busy I have been with dyeing, researching and inputting Fair Isle designs into DesignAKnit, and learning how to electronically knit Fair Isle with naturally dyed yarn.

Gauge sample, merino, silk, cashmere, natural dyes, machine knit

Naturally dyed yarn does present some problems with the knitting machine because either the mordant or the dyes that sits atop the yarn creates more friction for the knitting machine and I have had lots of tension problems that make my machine drop stitches (usually on the last several rows of the project, of course!).

Ski Hat, Merino, Silk, Cashmere, indoor light

Finding a good day to photograph in the winter in Flanders seems almost next to impossible.  Even today with the sky clear as a bell, the sun is so low in the sky that shadows are cast even with a flat piece of fabric.   Photographing naturally dyed yarns in artificial light seems like an oxymoron, but my halogen lights in the dining room seem to do alright.  As you can see, I’m not a pro at photography.

Ski Hat, merino, silk, cashmere, natural dyes, machine knit, felted, outdoor light, full sun

In this piece, I used a spaced dyed yarn as the main yarn and it gives the effect of changing yarns every couple of rows behind the design.  Felting wool dyed in natural dyes is very easy and the results, as you can see are quite lovely.   My method of a controlled felting is to place two separate pans of water side by side, one as hot as you can stand it, and the other cold.  Then swish the finished project (before sewing it together) in hot, then cold, several times until you see the felting begin to occur.

Ski Hat, merino, silk, cashmere, natural dyes, machine knit, felted

I like to felt the Fair Isle a little bit to set the floats on the back into the fabric.  Wring it out well or soak up extra water between towels.   Then pop it into the dryer and set the timer for 5-10 minutes.   These pieces were in the dryer for approximately 20 minutes, but I checked it about every 5-7 minutes until I got the effect and size I wanted.

Next on the agenda is to make matching hats and leg warmers before the winter ends.  And a Fair Isle sweater fully shaped on the knitting machine.

Little Darling, Everthing is Alright…. and that’s the truth

Machine knit merino, silk boucle, crochet silk border, brasiletto natural dye, subtle shibori

Today, it is said, is the last day of the current Mayan calender, and the beginning of a new age.   To honor this monumental event this week, I got sick with the flu which required that I spend the week in bed, keeping myself busy with my first avocation, working with silk threads to crochet and finish the neckline of my newly knitted and shiboried sweater, reading three novels, and thirdly, seeking inspiration from philosophical writers.  Today being the 28th of October, it was fitting that I came across the following quote by Micheal Brown (The Presence Portal) that pierced my heart and leads me to write today’s post and dedicate it to my mother.

“When we hold onto the past, those that would free us, appear as devils.  When we open our hearts, the very same transmissions become hymns deliberately sung to awaken our souls from a long, cold, and lonely winter.

And the hymn tells us, ‘Little Darling, everything is alright’”

On the eve of my dear daughter’s wedding, I promised her that I would write the long, longed-for letter of forgiveness to my mother that I was seeking to find in my heart as soon as I returned home.  Since that time, I have been searching for words that expressed the truth about the gifts mom had given me and not words of recrimination or perceived victimization.  Finally, stumbling upon the above quote, both mine and my daughter’s wishes came true and I found a way through this emotional block and burden that I have been carrying so long.   There is a foreshadowing of the story and letter I am about to tell in the first sentence, when I stated that I kept myself happily occupied for 4 days in bed with crocheting, reading and studying philosophy.   You see, these were the gifts that my mother gave me, how she interpreted the soul of a young girl and they way she tried to nourish a curious and lively spirit of a girl that she was terrified would become a woman some day, and hence, face the trials and tribulations of what it historically and traditionally meant to be female.  It was precisely because my mother was forced into a premature marriage at the age of 16, that my sister and I became fierce defenders of the women’s liberation movement of the 60′s and obsessively independent to boot.

Mom, don’t take this personally, but if Susie and I could have hit each other over the head with the “not the mama!” pan, we would have.  Never in this lifetime, could we have dreamed of living through the hardship that you endured, having had 4 children by the age of 21, and having your innocence stolen from you at such a young age.  But in spite of having been ripped out of high school, from your friends and your future as a college grad like your brothers, you began giving me the chance you never had, even if furtively, by bringing me home books every week to read, so that by the age of 13, I was reading Tolstoy, or at least tried….do you remember?

Detail of silk crochet border

I think I was about 8 years old when you taught me how to knit a Barbie Doll skirt with very fine thread and needles.  You taught me how to sew my first dress at the age of 10, and it came out perfect my first attempt at sewing.  How proud I was of that accomplishment.   For years, I told my women friends, how my mother had this amazing, hands-off approach to teaching me how to sew…the way you said, “now read this pattern very carefully, and if you have any questions, just ask.”  You proceeded to show me the basics, like how to sew a straight line, thread the machine, put in the zipper and inset the sleeves, but that was all.   Your trust that I could figure it out on my own, gave me so much confidence.  Confidence that lead me to mostly independently learn how to use the spinning wheel, the loom, the knitting machine, natural dyeing, ceramics, and all the arts that I have pursued for so many years.

Did you ever know how in awe of you I was when I saw you reading all those hefty philosophy books, like Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Thomas Mann, studying the Dead Sea Scrolls and the bible like it was an anthropology project?   Knowing that you didn’t even finish high school. And my sitting in your bedroom in my pre-pubescence, having those philosophical talks….did my precociousness scare you?   Were you afraid that it would be unappreciated the way yours was?   Oh, how I cherished those pre-bedtime talks that suddenly ended on the dawn of my womanhood.  To this day, I still don’t understand the depth of your fear that you had to reject me because I was becoming an independent woman, and I focused all these years on your fear demons, rather than the on the hymn of deep and abiding compassion that they were trying to awaken in me.  But one thing I know for sure.  That is, that it is the search all these years for the promise of a friendship with you that has lead me to pursue my textiles and friendships with other women, and understand the true value of these moments together.  Liberated or not, women sharing textiles is a rite of passage, is a way of being together, and a way to honor each other.

Brei-salon, 18 October, 2011

Latest announcements regarding Brei-& Haaksalon:

Dinsdag (Tuesday), 1 November is een feestdag (holiday), dus geen salon. 

15 November is er een breisalon.

brei-& haak salon

elke eerste & derde dinsdag van de maand

vanaf oktober 2011

14:00u tot ??

kom langs op om het even welk ogenblik

breng je eigen garen of projecten;

of kom gratis leren

luxe breigarens

natuurlijke kleurstoffen

te koop

salviapark 38, 9840 de pinte                   09 330 6190

Catherine van laake                                  fijnknit@telenet.be

 

For the Times They are A’changin

“The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’ “

Bob Dylan

I had a wonderful time this past weekend giving the Rainbow Colors Workshop.   All of the participants came from different walks of life, and we were all connected by our fascination with the possibilities of natural dyes being applied to our individual crafts.   We shared our different perspectives and hope for continued connections based on the time we spent together.

One topic that always comes up no matter who I talk to is why we have an ever dwindling textile craft industry in the Western world, as well as few viable marketplaces (other than the internet) to sell or trade our beautiful handmade articles.  Since I have been a weaver, knitter, and clothing maker for most of my life, I can honestly attest to the time that it takes to complete any project by hand.  I have placed the video below because not only does it explain why we cannot compete with the cheap imports of foreign lands, but also it speaks to the sad reality of these foreign textile workers in stark contrast to the way we as children and young adults learn about textiles without exploitation, and why we enjoy such an enduring love of our craft.  Many of us have been lucky and proud to have enjoyed the training and company of other textile artists via the network of handweaver’s guilds that have been in place in the US for almost 100 years and in Great Britain and Ireland even longer.  More on this topic below the video:

How could a young life begun like this ever spawn joy or creativity with regards to textiles?  The industrialization of textiles, in spite to the wonderful technology it has given us, has usurped our god-given joy and inspiration to work with what nature has to offer, namely fibers from plants, wool from animals, and natural color from plants and insects.  We have allowed the cheapest and easiest processes and products to dominate our consciousness, and hence the idea that the bottom line ($$$$) is really the driving force that should be considered.   We are encouraged to compare everything by the bottom line without taking into consideration the quality of natural materials,  beauty of process (which requires time), and the ultimate love (creativity) and passion (design) that may or may not (exploitation) go  into the creation of the textile supplies, clothing and household articles that we purchase.

Don’t you think it’s time to begin to bring this process home?  We don’t need to exploit women, children and impoverished people from all over the world just to have cheap textiles to throw away at will.  We can make our own textiles and make them to last, even hand them down to family members as remembrances.  We should not let others convince us that these beautiful gifts that we give to each other in the form of handmade textiles are silly, little old granny things with no inherent qualities, because they are not bought from some exclusive shop with fancy designer labels.   Secretly, we all know that behind the beautiful shop props and designer labels, workers are exploited and outrageous profits are pocketed by the already rich and famous.

To do my part, I will begin an bi-weekly knit salon starting in October, 2011 for the local people in the surrounding Gent area:

atelier fijnKNIT

brei & haak salon

elke eerste & derde dinsdag van de maand
tussen 15 u tot 21:30 u

kom langs op om het even welk ogenblik

 breng je eigen garen of projecten of

luxe breigarens en natuurlijke kleurstoffen  te koop

 voor breien, haken, & weven

Atelier fijnKNIT:   salviapark 38, 9840 de pinte

contact: Catherine van laake fijnknit@telenet.be  of 09 330 6190

There is no need to register for this, but an email or phone call would be nice.

For the Times They are A’changin  

Rescheduling Indigo Vat workshop:  

1 & 2, October,  2011

INDIGO VAT & AQUARELLE INDIGO   NATURAL DYE WORKSHOP
Saturday and Sunday, 9 am-5 pm                                                                        Beginning and Intermediate
By Textile Designer CATHERINE VAN LAAKE

Venue:   fiijnknit Design Atelier, Salviapark 38, De Pinte, Belgium

During this class you will learn to dye with an indigo vat and the new Aquarelle Indigo that does not require a vat.  On the first day, you will begin working with small samples to achieve different variations of blue in the vat and learn some resist techniques.  On day two you will apply the resist techniques to silk and cotton samples and learn some overdyeing techniques to get a variety of colors from the indigo vats and Aquarelle dyes.

Instruction fee:  150 EURO  includes instruction fee, handouts, all dye materials and silk and cotton sample fabrics for custom dyeing.

Basic materials and equipment are supplied but students are also required to bring: • small embroidery scissors • rubber gloves • apron.   Please wear clothes that you don’t mind getting stained.

Extra yarn and Silk, as well as natural dyes will be available for sale.

Fijnknit Atelier: Spacious studio with facilities for both wet and dry textile techniques. Outdoor patio workspace for perfect light conditions, and lunch, and tea-time.
Sustenance:  Unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits are provided for all classes. Please bring your own lunch as there are no shops close by. The studio has indoor and outdoor areas to eat.

If you are interested in attending this workshop  please fill in the registration below.  There is maximum of 7 participants for each workshop.

Register for Natural Dye Workshop(required) Brei & Haak Salon Natural Indigo Vat & Aquarelle Indigo

Name(required)

Address

Phone

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

THREE DEGREES OF SEPARATION-Plums, Sumi-e & Natural Dye Workshops

Chinese Plum Sauce

How are the following pics separated by 3 or less links in my world in the past 48 hours?

Sumi-e Lotus

The idea for today’s blog began with homemade plum sauce.

Yes, the plum sauce that I was making while procrastinating writing this blog.  When the hand blender fell out of the pot and splattered plum sauce all over the curly, long-haired head of my white standard poodle and onto my new suede sandals, and after an extended list of curse words left my lips, I thought, “This is a real back asswords way of natural dyeing!  What the hell are you doing here?”, I asked myself.  I cleaned up the mess before I thought to take a picture.  You see, yesterday, while picking up a donated roller press iron, the owner, Lieve, had some plum trees that had a luscious load of ripe plums begging to be plucked.  Since she was already up to her neck in plums, she offered us a bag and a ladder.  We had just the day before found a U-pick site not far from our village that we had planned to visit next weekend, so of course, we jumped at the opportunity.  While we picked we got to talking.  It turns out that Lieve is a water-color artist and when she found out that I was a textile artist who worked with natural color, she invited me in for coffee and a tour of her work and studio.  Lo and behold, she teaches workshops for Sumi-e.   I have always wanted to learn brush painting, but never got around to it.  If you remember my last blog and the royal mess I made of the recent attempt at spontaneous painting, you can see why I was REALLY interested in learning the art of sumi-e brush painting.  Consider that I don’t even know how to hold a brush properly!   When she found out that I was giving a demonstration, and two workshops on natural dyes in August and September, we made a happy trade.  I get Sumi-e lessons, and she gets natural dye workshops.  I went home iron press in the trunk, plums in hand, a painting class to look forward to, and the task of dealing with these plums before they rot, thus delaying me even more from getting this blog done and making the necessary announcements regarding my workshops this summer.  Funny thing though, while cleaning up the  splattered the plum sauce mess, I thought about this idea of “3 -degrees of separation” for the blog.   If Lieve didn’t have plum trees, we might have never had the discussion over water color painting and sumi-e, and we wouldn’t have both had the opportunity to share our life long artistic aspirations and journeys.  According to Wiki-leaks and a 2007 article published in The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, we are now only separated by 3 degrees of separation because of the internet.

Curlysheep's English Leicester sheep

Not only do I get all of my participants in my workshops via the internet, people that I never would have met, but I get to talk and learn about other people’s lives and share our loves and dreams so easily.  For example, two days ago, I received a comment on my website from a woman in Tasmania who found me via Kathy Hattori’s Botanical Colors website.  Kathy Hattori supplies me with fabulous natural dye extracts that I use for my artwork and which I sell via my fijnknit business (also on the web).   Those cute little lambies are curlysheep’s  English Leicesters, that are endangered.  The multi-colored square of colors are the curlylocks of her English Leicesters displayed in her installation for her art class.

Curlysheep's English Leicester naturally dyed curlylocks

Which leads me the next degree of separation….Procrastination probably does serve me as a place in time to ripen my ideas whilst I decide what I really want to do and say.

Listed below are the details of my natural dye demonstration at the Herbakkersfestival in Eeklo, Belgium, the 14th of August (in Dutch).   I will be teaching natural dye workshops at my fijnKNIT atelier, the 19th-21st August and 9th-11th September.

Wild breien in de stad (Wild knitting in the city) of Eeklo

http://www.herbakkersfestival.be

Wild breien is een nieuwe vorm van Street art. Wild breien is een verrassing op straat en doet mensen even stilstaan en glimlachen. Het Herbakkersfestival springt op de kar en het maandelijkse breicafé van de bibliotheek is een ideale uitvalsbasis.

Wat we nodig hebben zijn veel gebreide stukken: lapjes van 40 breed en 30 hoog.

Vele handen maken een groot werk licht. Wie wil meedoen kan contact nemen met de bibliotheek via martine.vermeire@eeklo.be of langskomen in de bib.

Heb je nog een voorraad (liefst kleurrijke) wol waar je eigenlijk geen weg mee weet? Zelfde adres! Heb je geen wol, maar wil je graag meebreien, kom dan wol afhalen in de bib.

Op zondag 14 augustus verhuist het breicafé naar een tent op de markt. Iedereen is welkom. Als extraatje voor alle breifanaten komt Catherine van Laake van fijnKNIT wol verven met natuurlijke materialen tijdens doorlopende workshops. Het breicafé komt samen elke laatste woensdag van de  maand om 19 uur in de veranda van de bibliotheek.

On Sunday, August 14, I will give the following demonstations:

14:00 u    Solar Energy

Solar energy is the way to go, and so are yellows for the Fall/Winter/Spring 2012 Fashion Scene.  I will be demonstrating 3 beautiful and colorfast yellow dyes and how you can turn them into green.  I will also demonstrate the beautiful copper color derived from Cutch which has a golden hue.

15:30 u    Exotic Reds and Purples from Foreign Lands

As far as I’m concerned, exotic reds and purples and the stories of these natural dyestuffs from exotic lands are always in fashion.  Natural dye reds are never out of fashion because the colors are classic and were always highly sought after.  I will demonstrate 3 beautiful reds and 3 exotic purples from trees and insects.

17:00 u   Wild and Local

Northern Europe was famous for it’s colorfast yellows and natural browns, which are necessary color components in today’s fashion colorways.  I will demonstrate how to make your own extracts from raw materials you can pick from the wild or easily cultivate yourself.   I will also talk about the history of woad, indigo and madder that was grown in Belgium and Holland before the introduction of synthetic dyes.

New  Summer Workshops

19-20-21 AUGUST 2011

RAINBOW COLORS     NATURAL DYE WORKSHOP
Friday 9am-5:30 pm, Saturday 9am-5:30 pm, Sunday 9am-1 pm          Beginning and Intermediate
BY Textile Designer CATHERINE VAN LAAKE

CREATE LIVING COLOR WITH RAW MATERIALS AND EXTRACTS OF ROOTS, BARK, TWIGS AND BUGS ON WOOL and SILK MATERIALS

Venue:   fiijnknit Design Atelier, Salviapark 38, De pinte, Belgium

During this class you will learn to dye with extracts from natural raw materials, powdered extracts and a sensational new liquid indigo.   We will focus on dyeing protein fibers such as wool and silk, and limited instructions will be given for cotton and linen dyeing.  You will leave with a collection of small silk and wool samples in a range of many colors and a handout with complete dye instructions for the beginner.

Instruction fee:  190 EURO  INCLUDES INSTRUCTION FEE, HANDOUTS,  DYE SAMPLE MATERIALS

10-11  September,  2011

INDIGO VAT & AQUARELLE INDIGO   NATURAL DYE WORKSHOP
Saturday and Sunday, 9 am-5 pm                                                                        Beginning and Intermediate
By Textile Designer CATHERINE VAN LAAKE

Venue:   fiijnknit Design Atelier, Salviapark 38, De Pinte, Belgium

During this class you will learn to dye with an indigo vat and the new Aquarelle Indigo that does not require a vat.  On the first day, you will begin working with small samples to achieve different variations of blue in the vat and learn some resist techniques.  On day two you will apply the resist techniques to a handwoven silk/cotton shawl and learn some overdyeing techniques to get a variety of colors from the indigo vat and Aquarelle.

Instruction fee:  150 EURO  includes instruction fee, handouts, all dye materialsand a handwoven silk/cotton shawl for custom dyeing.

Basic materials and equipment are supplied but students are also required to bring: • small embroidery scissors • rubber gloves • apron.   Please wear clothes that you don’t mind getting stained.

Extra yarn and Silk, as well as natural dyes will be available for sale.

Fijnknit Atelier: Spacious studio with facilities for both wet and dry textile techniques. Outdoor patio workspace for perfect light conditions, and lunch, and tea-time.
Sustenance:  Unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits are provided for all classes. Please bring your own lunch as there are no shops close by. The studio has indoor and outdoor areas to eat.

If you are interested in attending either or both of these workshops, fill in the registration below.  Please register as soon as possible because they are filling up quickly.  There is maximum of 10 participants for each workshop.

Register for Natural Dye Workshop(required) Natural Rainbow Colors Natural Indigo Vat & Aquarelle Indigo

Name(required)

Address(required)

Phone

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)