INDIGO Dyeing at the National Spinning Day..

Imagine...
You enter a room filled with 220 Spinners all from the Netherlands..
You were not expecting that amount of women..and a few men...
You were not expecting this great variety in spinning-wheels...

It was me who entered that room..
and I was totally  flabbergasted..not expecting that amount...
All different people (very interesting to see)..but all passionate about spinning!
For the first few hours I had the feeling that I had entered a Spinning-Storm..
and there was no place to hide..and I loved it..
I met up with my Knitting-friends from Ravelry..Tien, Marijke, Janneke, Rachel,Meta, Feikje and many more..but I could hardly speak, because all was so overwhelming to me..
Me..a Novice Spinner, who got to see the most amazing spinning-wheels, and yarns spun so beautiful..
I took some pictures just after lunch, when hardly anyone was in the room..

And ofcourse I had taken my Mr.Bliss with me, who loved to stand next to the Louet from my dear friend Puk (Was great to be together all day..Love You!!)

After the opening by the chairwoman Elske the stalls opened...
and I couldn't help myself..
I had to buy..

My first purchase was beautiful variegated Red Lincoln fleece from Dol met Wol

After that...Bleufaced Leicester from Feikje (who has such a good colour-sense!!)

And than Puk told me about Amanda Hannaford from MandaCrafts...

Being a YarnSnob for many years now...

it was logical to become a FibreSnob too...

And there it was...

70%Merino/30% Cashmere...shiny..and super-soft..

I couldn't resist..Colour: Midnight..

Deep and rich colours, and I grabbed 2 bags for a total of 200 grams.

I can see a scarf..or a cowl for the coming winter..mittens..or..

Blue and Green Cheviot from Jeanet Koek...

It is a rather rough fleece, so perfect for sturdy mittens I think..

And just when I had the idea to stop buying I passed the stall from Low Lands Legacy...and there was a fleece from South America..

Blue with hints of purple and rather soft..and cheap..

That was the last sale for the day..and I now have a great variety in different fleece, perfect for learning more of this old and modern craft.

But..the best thing for me came in the afternoon..

A long awaited wish became reality..

Dyeing yarn with Indigo..and I can tell you..

It was: Magical and Mindblowing...

Kiki from "The Dutch Cottage" showed us the process step by step.
We all had to deliver in the morning 3 x 100 grams of (handspun) yarn to be soaked in water for a few hours. 

I had taken with me 2 skeins Merino/Silk, 1 hank Shetland, and 3 skeins (badly plied) Bluefaced Leicester.
The proces is not that difficult..it can be read on the website from Kiki (and I am sure there are English versions too)
You need..

and stirred in 55 C water..and very practical in a pan with a thermostat.

It is important that there is as little oxygen in the pan, so you have to close the lit to get it to the right temperature, and let the indigo ripe for about 45 minutes

You dip your yarn in a kind of greenish water with a strange fleece on the surface..
Leave it there for 15 minutes...
And than Magic Happens...
Because of oxygen the yarn turns very quick from:
Yellow...

Greenish...

 Into Blue..

It was truly Magical to see this happen..

(If you want to see a little film from me taking the yarn out of the dyebath..
Go HERE . Thanks Alexandra!!)

And after rinsing in water..

From left to right..2 shades of blue in Merino/Silk and the right one is the Shetland.
The left one is from the first dip, which gives the strongest color and the right one is from the third dip. The more indigo you use the darker it can get..it can be really almost Black-Blue.
And the BFL came out this way..

It all felt very special for me..and perhaps something new has started in my mind. It was all very inspirational, and we had a very enthusiastic group..

After that Mind-Blowing experience it was nice to hear a very  inspiring lecture on Natural Dying by Jolanda van der Lelie, who is an expert in natural dying and who showed us that magical world..

Dyed with Woad, Wouw, Madder, Birch leaf, Cochenille, Indigo, or Walnut (the so called Grand Teints, which are colorfast) the colors get a special look and feel and really different from the acid dyes.. and f.i.if you add iron water to the dye bath the color becomes colder and if you use copper it gets warmer..
I really need to do a workshop by Jolanda..
But first save money for buying a thermostat pan..They can be bought rather cheap at Lidl in Germany..HERE.

I drove home with a head Full of Beautiful Impressions from a very Inspring day..Thanks to the Board and volunteers from the Landelijke Spingroep
And we even got a little gift from them..the 4 seasons..

And No, spinning is not old fashioned. 
It fits perfect in this period we are living in. 
You can see it as a reaction to the world dominated by fastness and computers.
I get very calm when I spin.. and I try to spin a little each day..and with my purchases from yesterday winter can come...
but..
than I should start knitting too again..
I will.. I promise..