.rabbitbrush dye.

 I've wanted to make a natural dye with rabbitbrush for the past few years. I took an online course from Aaron Sanders Head last summer and learned a lot about the natural dye process, but I hadn't explored beyond indigo and turmeric. I went kayaking in Grant County and noticed a ton of rabbitbrush, so collected blooms and knew it was the time to finally try it! I can't believe the results! 

Rubber Rabbitbrush is a native plant in the Shrub-Steppe that blooms in the early fall. I love it for its vibrant yellow blooms. You can tell time by the plants of the Shrub-Steppe. I know fall is here when the yellow blooms of rabbitbrush appear. I had heard they produce a natural dye, but there wasn't much information online. I found a digital pdf that mentioned it was a common plant to use for dye with indigenous groups living in shrub-steppe landscapes. I found one post about rabbitbrush dyeing, but it didn't have much information. The sparse information gave me enough curiosity to try it. 

I used two yards of cotton fabric. I didn't have soda ash, so I opted for a hot second wash in the washer. All sources highly recommended scouring the fabric. I then used aluminum acetate to mordant. I finished the process with a chalk bath. While the fabric was soaking, I started to simmer the rabbitbrush blooms in another pot. Most sources recommend boiling for an hour. I think I was a little over an hour. Then I introduced the mordant fabric and left it in the hot water. I immediately saw the color. After an hour, it was already a decent shade of yellow, but knowing it would fade, I left it overnight and am so happy with the final color. 

The first picture is the dye after an hour. The second, after an overnight soak. With the final color below! I was honestly shocked to see such vibrant color come from the blooms. Plants are amazing! 

.driving through the clouds.

We've had such low pressure this last week with heavy fog and cloud cover, the hills were almost hidden this week. I took these pictures yesterday morning and a video. It felt like I was driving through the clouds.

.a quiet fall day.

On Friday, I stumbled upon a fabric blog, Spirit Cloth. I'm not sure how it took this long to discovered it before. In instantly fell in love. It's written by Jude Hill a fiber artist, a storyteller, and fantastic teacher. I started her Spirit Cloth 101 course, which introduces a nine patch sampler. She only hand stitches, making it a very mindful practice. It's the perfect rhythm for settling into fall.

Later in the day, when it wasn't as chilly, I went for a walk by the river and listened to Rodrigo Amarante's new album. I found so much magical milkweed. There was a gentle breeze and the milkweed pods were blooming. I recorded a video of the seeds dancing with the breeze. 

The vibrant yellows illuminated the day as a the overcast afternoon started to creep in.  I came home and added some yellow to the stitched piece. 

The return of fall is such a time of softening. After the energy of summer to settle in and ground ourselves. The slow stitching seems to be like a wonderful way to honor the new season.

.autumn equinox.

We meet in the middle the point of transition from the building light to the growing darkness. We still have the summer heat here in North Carolina but the morning light has a new dullness that reminds me the light is fading. I seem to live in transitions - life is just a big transition but I seem to like to jump into dramatic transitions, hungry with deep curiosity and the reality that I seem to learn best through swift challenges. I’ve been resisting this transition of moving south but a few days ago en route to a equinox celebration I was overcome by feeling so alive driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains with the setting sun and the peach, orange, fuchsia sky reflecting a golden shimmer on the lush hillsides. I realized that it’s my choice to accept this moment/transition - to be present with curiosity instead of reacting to the insecurity the unknown can bring. It seemed like such beautiful timing with the approaching equinox where the light transitions into the darkness. A time that allows/invites/requires us to dive deep into the darkness (challenge/self) to see what there is - to learn a new layer/level of awareness. 

If I accept this invitation to dive deep instead of reacting/resisting to the darkness how much can I learn? 
What peace can I find? 

The equinox ceremony was facilitated by Katie Vie and she told us of the archetype of the mermaid how the mermaid in all of her wonderful weirdness (authenticity) shows us the beautify of diving deep into the darkness of the ocean. It’s required. It’s an invitation. I realized that if I continue to resist this invitation/moment it will only keep me in a state of stagnancy. To truly continue on a path of learning and self-awareness I need the dark. The darkness is the greatest teacher, if I allow it to be.

.fall in new england.

"Autumn”
by Linda Pastan

I want to mention
summer ending
without meaning the death
of somebody loved

or even the death
of the trees.
Today in the market
I heard a mother say

Look at the pumpkins,
it's finally autumn!
And the child didn't think
of the death of her mother

which is due before her own
but tasted the sound
of the words on her clumsy tongue:
pumpkin; autumn.

Let the eye enlarge
with all it beholds.
I want to celebrate
color, how one red leaf

flickers like a match
held to a dry branch,
and the whole world goes up
in orange and gold.

.november.

“But growth is not easy. There are growing pains; there is irritation, fear of change, sometimes blame, lots of doubt and always some resistance. 

“It is a tricky time where we will experience all sides of the creative coin. There will be incredible breakthroughs in ideas, perception, intuition, creativity, invention, realizations and personal growth. 

“There will also be times of witnessing, grieving and allowing for the destruction and meltdown of old structures and limited containers as we move beyond our comfort level and expand into new territory.

“The pressure coming from inside is our own higher self, our essence, pushing us to be bigger, to be more, to disengage from the past, to move out of our shell, and to break through the barrier of small and diminished experience into the vast ocean of possibility. 

“The pressure can feel like dissatisfaction, confusion, impatience and irritation. This is our own inner desire and intention for change that is prodding and poking us to get on with it. The path is not yet clear. 

“This month it is enough to work with being ready by allowing what is holding us back to fall apart. The big work will be to allow the fear and anxiety to dissolve and to move into a place of trust."

via mysticmamma

----------------------------------

Can you feel it? I can! The push and pull and expansion of growth. The momentum pushing me forward and I'm trying to slow down - to get one last glance back. But there's no time - no purpose - I am right HERE! 

Time to let go of the smallness of the past. 

Time to embrace this very moment. 

Time to accept myself - new and wise and evolved.

I hope you can feel it. I hope you are letting go of the past. I hope you are looking forward. I hope you are honoring this new growth. I hope you can see the loss as new life. 

H E L L O November.

xx

.fall time.

It seems like fall time always comes in unexpected or at least initially undesired but as the energy of summer fades fall time seems to slow down my rhythms - calm the noise in my head - root me more into myself. 

A time to remind me of all my layers.

.weekend getaways.

Sometimes I wonder where I best fit but the more I travel the more I see the beauty in everywhere. I find fulfillment in all places. 

A weekend trip up north was like a huge series of deep breaths - the night sky exploding with stars reminding me how bright stars can shine, getting lost in the mountains during a torrential downpour, traveling on winding country roads, teaching everyone how apples are properly picked and everyone cooking in the kitchen to make the best Sunday morning brunch. So grateful for the opportunity to get out of the city, reconnect with the mountains, and reunite with old friends.

.happy equinox.

Happy Autumn Equinox to you all! A time of transitions - a reminder to focus on finding balance in it all.

photo credit sergio laboriel

"May we embrace all the devastation and pain, as well as all the magic and the goodness that inherently exists. For as we know, it is through our opposite reflection that we learn, recognize and appreciate. Let us meet in the recognition that we are all of it, and may we move with grace into the new."      -mysticmama

I am finding so much to learn from this equinox - as I am finally for the first time in 9 months settling into a new job - a new space - a new environment with more longevity. I have been sleeping on couches - traveling - searching - exploring - realigning myself to find this place. A place where the doors continue to open and I am finding much fulfillment. I am so grateful for it all. I am so grateful for the amazing timing. I am so grateful for the abundance of it all. An abundance that I continue to be amazed by on a daily basis. YET, I am a nomad so I find amongst all this joy and abundance - in the overwhelming calm settling in on the now, a slight discomfort inside. A yearning to keep moving - stay busy - focus outwards instead of unwinding from the unknown and anxiety of the past few months. This equinox is a beautiful reminder to sit down. To sit with myself. To say this is everything I need in this very moment. 

I went to a yoga class after work today for the first time in a long time and felt my body slowly start to let go of holding on so tight. It is such a long road. A beautiful road. A road I don't really know how to travel but I am beginning. I am embracing the transition on placing roots in one place while I still find ways to appreciate and foster the wild nomad spirit I hold inside. Both parts make me ME and both parts need to be nurture in order to find my balance.

One way I am going to foster that adventure is through the journey of others...Peter Gorman, a Cambridge resident is setting off on the 29th on a solo 10,000 mile bike journey around the US. I have so much bike envy! You can follow his journey here.

.mi fuerza.

Saturday I was first up to "catch" at the clinic. I ended up having two back to back long labor sits. The first one was 12 hours long and when she reached our time limit (state laws and midwifery practices don't agree or make sense most of the time!) we had to transfer her care to the hospital it was awkward - sad - frustration - isolating. But since I didn't "catch" I was back up again and at 12:50am another third time Mama came and things looked to be going quickly but the third baby is always a wild card. She was also a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) which meant I had to check fetal heart tones every 15 mins. And after 6 hours and 24 rounds and no sleep she requested to be transferred to the hospital because she had been in labor for 3 days and she was tired (and in need of family support that wasn't there).

It was my longest shift - emotionally and physically. I came home and drank a big mug of calming skullcap tea and slept for a few hours. 

It's always a strange feeling - a day after shift - an incomparable haze that comes over you. You have to move your body no matter how tired you are - the key to success. So Bianchi and I headed out to explore a bike trail on the westside. 

The sun was setting and there was even a few trees changing colors - an almost fall evening. It was beautiful and cleared my mind. I was thinking about the day - the night - the shift and realized through these uncomfortable - unsure - cumbersome - clumsy moment that I'm slowly realizing all my abilities.

In the weakest of moments is when I only begin to find my strength.

estoy encontrando mi fuerza.

and once again remember that it is the fragility of life that makes it all that more beautiful.

.saturday.

it finally feels like fall time here - the mornings require a sweater.

it's saturday and i actually had the day off.

i found a new farmer's market. 

made some new jewelry.

brainstormed set-up ideas for my jewelry.

focused on the beauty of connecting with people even in small brief encounters.

made food for the week.

pined over foggy mountainous pictures of the northwest on blogs.

i always seem to miss the northwest the most during fall time. 

consumed copious cups of chai.

happy saturday/weekend to you.

.fall faves.

i mean everyone else in the blog-o-sphere is making a favorites list so...

eyes

these photos make me want to move to nyc today!

like i need something to tempt me into traveling.

really want to see this empowering doc, Solar Moms.
iceland i was never really into you but this is changing my mind. also, check out her art as well.
everyday i'm swoonin' over these! 
just picked up this book at the library.

hands

i have two old chairs sitting out back that i want/need to revamp. yes?
a fellow pnw jewelry artist. lovelies!!
i crossed over and i'm not looking back - homemade deodorant.

ears

counting down to blast these tunes.
and for a good heartbreak central - blast this.

what are YOU into these days?