Although it looked like a scene from a Shakespearean play, minus the witches,

Students coming into the Exhibition Hall kitchen at Sauder Village on Saturday quickly discovered that our real class goal for the day was to learn as many easy dye techniques as we possibly could: Lots of product with the least amount of effort.

Even thought fifteen were registered for the class, we did have a few celebrities, like Terry Dorr (Dorr Wool Mill) and Deb Smith (RHM) who each popped in for a few mins. to cheer the troops as we went through our paces. As we were using all Dorr wool, it seemed particularly appropriate for Terry to tell us a little bit about his family’s involvement in the wool industry.
Part of the time, everyone sat in neat little rows while I discussed different techniques covered in the handout.

At other times, everyone got into the act as we took turns trying out different methods.
In case you are wondering about all the equipment that will be shown in this report, it came from a variety of places. Enough locals had good pots, assorted pans, some measuring cups and spoons, hot pads, kosher salt and vinegar, etc., that I did not have to worry about any of that that. I brought about 20 PC dyes, softening agent, citric acid, more cups, spoons and the special locking tongs I use. When in Akron, I also picked up the large restaurant supply casserole pans & lids I like to use, having pre-sold them to students in the class. We used them all day, then the purchaser took them home. Dorr delivered me a bolt of natural wool at Sauder, which Heidi prepped earlier in the week, and I shipped in some off-bolt colored wool along with my other things. A critical element needed for the success of the class was a large container of homemade chocolate chip cookies, made by one of the students. (If we do it again, we are thinking about also bringing brownies.) All this coordination, along with the 10 burner stove and commercial hot water heater in the exhibition kitchen at Sauder, allowed us to put together a fine little dye kitchen not unlike the one I have at home.
Things we just too busy for me to get a shot of everything.

We did some basic backgrounds ( 3 ways)

Lazy Swatches in a couple of ways

And a similar one pot wonder utilizing several different kids of wool. We also did Dip dyes in a couple of ways

Even a 1.5 yard of simple traditional 6-Value Swatch simmered while we ate our lunch.
By the time we got to the section on Casserole Dyes (General spots, Spots w/leftovers, Ordered Pancake, Marbleized Wool and Transitional Pieces) The dye and wool was flying so hot and heavy in the midst of the creative moment that I didn’t have time to take photos. (I was just lucky to keep my apron from getting re-dyed.) Before the day was over, we dyed at least 15 yards of wool and still had the time to talk about it.
Besides being a great group of students, they also turned out to be fantastic lab assistants: fetching wool, rinsing wool, cleaning pots, filling pots – we even got done on time, leaving a clean kitchen! Now, if I can just figure out a way to get them to Anaheim on dyeing day …
NEW VIDEO ON THE INTERNET RUG CAMP: The Lazy Swatch
** One of the features of my subscription site The Internet Rug Camp, is the library of instructional videos on file there for the use of subscribers. (I also do expanded blog coverage there most days and offer a few free patterns.) Once a member of the IRgC, people wishing to see how this method is done just click on the play button for that video and come into my studio dye kitchen for a private dye session. Currently, there are 24 videos on that site available for viewing any time a subscriber wishes, with new videos being added every month. The Lazy Swatch is one of my favorite techniques when I am just dyeing wool to fill out my stash with a variety of colors and values.
Vidoes About Dyeing Already On The Site: Traditional 6-Value Swatches, Marbelized Wool and Transitional Pieces.
A subscription to The Internet Rug Camp costs $36 for 12 months of access – that is $3 per month or 10 cents a day! If you are interested, go to the home page of the Internet Rug Camp and look at the video topics we have already posted on the site.
http://www. geneshepherd.com/rugcamp/
You can register, using Pay Pal, by clicking on the the button to the right of the screen.
I hope to see you on the Internet Rug Camp