Penny Rugs...

I just love mixing all my hand dyed wools, wools and wool felt into making penny rugs!

With the black wool background anything goes!

It seems like no matter what colors you mix they all turn out so fun!

The color combinations are endless!

As you can see I mix the shape around to...round, oval and large oval.

 See how fun it is to mix all colors in plaids and solids.

The one on the bottom right corner reminds me of citrus with it's lime, lemon, orange and grapefruit colors.  They are not the bright neon colors but soft prim colors.

 I also like using navy blue as a background.  The colors seem to blend in more for a softer look.

 I just love this gingerbread men and hearts penny rug!

It's perfect for Valentine's Day.

I don't usually make such large penny rugs. The cost of a large piece of wool is pretty pricey but so worth it when you see it sitting on a table.

This size...18 inches across is becoming my favorite...it looks soooo nice on my kitchen table.

 Don't you just love these little men?  Their little bow ties and buttons are too cute.

These little guys are getting me to think of gingerbread cupcakes....yummmm.

I think I'll make some for the Super Bowl.

We need something to get over the fact that the Packers are not in it.

I'm still crying in my (root)beer about it.

I do have some of these penny rugs for sale on ebay.

Click here to see what I have to offer.

One last idea....

How about this for your Super Bowl snack?

Someday I would like to try this. 

I really don't think it would be that hard in fact I think it would be really fun to make.

Maybe next year....

when the Packers are in the Super Bowl.

Enjoy your day,

Leanne

I'm Dyeing Here...Wool That Is

Yesterday was dyeing day.

I have all this wool and most of it is grey or some shade close to grey.

I normally use rit dye to color my wool.  I have used koolaid or food coloring when I was in a pinch.

I do my dyeing in the kitchen so I have to cover everything up.

I started with buckets...no, you don't have to use ice cream buckets like I did but it sure is fun to have ice cream parties just to get the empty buckets.

I had 6 different colors...yellow, lime green, red, orange, hunter green and blue.

I did have 2 extra containers to mix colors.

Mix the colors with hot water and let sit.

 Yellow, plum, lime green and red.

I mixed red and blue for plum.

I put the box in front of the bucket so I don't forget what color is in the bucket.

Hunter green, orange and blue.

I did make a yellow green mixing the lime green and yellow.

The hunter green looked purple so I wasn't sure what I was going to get.

Gather your wool.

I put the wool in hot water and soaked it while I was getting the dye ready...about half an hour.

I let the wool sit in their color bath for about an hour to an hour and a half.

At this point I'm going to tell you to use gloves not the kind of gloves I used that had holes in them.

I finally took off the gloves and just used my hands.

I washed my hands often and used purel so they didn't get to colored. 

I rinsed the fabric and then to the wash machine for a quick wash.

I don't want my colors to run on my finished pieces.

Into the dryer and this is what you get....

 Blues and greens.

 More greens and yellows.

Oranges and plums.

Some wools take the dye better then others but you won't know how your wool will take the dye until you try it...I think that's what makes it fun.

The colors are a little darker then what is showing up.

 This is the same grey herringbone.

 I just love how you can get a rainbow of colors in just one afternoon.

I couldn't wait to use my new colors.

I hope this inspires you to start dyeing...
you will love it!
Don't forget to become one of my followers.

Enjoy your day,

Leanne