Sometimes Creating Art is Just a Long Hard Slog

Having finished the upper section of my new work I found that I had not dyed enough colours to complete the next section.  I have spent the last couple of days sorting out this problem.  First I had to skein off some new silk thread of a 100 g hank.  Normally this is not a big deal, but whereas I normally buy my silk directly from India, this silk I bought from a store in Hobart (interestingly enough they buy their thread from the same supplier in India, however it seems my supplier no longer sells this particular thread so I bought it retail).  Because the silk had been on the shelf for some time and, no doubt, handled by many a would be buyer, the threads in the skein were somewhat tangled.  After many hours of patient (slow) winding and detangling (about 1/3 of the skein) I was able to wind the thread without too much trouble.  In all it took me about 5 hours to wind the 100 g of thread into smaller, dyeable skeins.

I then dyed the threads I needed which again took longer than I though it would as I had to make up new dye solutions for about 12 colours and then agonised over creating just the right shades I needed.

Here you can see the beautiful subtle shades I dyed drying by my wood heater.

Sadly the photos don't show the gorgeous lustre of the thread, nor the true beauty of the colours.

So, after embroidering for one and a half hours, the threads were dry and ready to wind onto cards.  I always wind very large skeins so that I am sure to have enough of any one colour to finish my projects.

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