Playing with the dye pots

When we were picking the St. John's Wort I saw a wonderful field full of Black-eye Susan's (away from any people) and I remembered reading about dying with them, so I decided to try. When I got home I looked it up and the author recommended dying with them when they were past peak, mine were at peak, but I thought I'd try. I can't remember what color you could get with them, but I didn't get it.
The first piece of fabric with just with the alum mordant, the second I dropped in a piece of lead in the dye pot and got a nice brown gray. The colors I've been getting aren't to exciting but they are good colors for my "nature" blocks. I have a lot of bright color wool that I can't use very often, but on my "family tree" quilt I'm working on they will be used in the lattice strips. This is my patch of sage, its not the edible type, its for smudging. It smells wonderful but not very dark in color. I thought I'd try it and see if I'd get anything.
I was happy I got this much color. This weekend I thought I'd try ivy, I'm still trying for that elusive green. My red clay is still curing, I'm afraid to wash it.

My girlfriend Judy is a wonderful knitter, she brought her wool shawl she just finished to bee, it is so beautiful, I wish it was mine. Every section of the shawl is a different type of knit, some sections have beads knitted in.
My good friend Nancy Waters in running for County Clerk, she is such civic minded person and such a blessing for our community. She should be running for Governor. Here we are on her float in a parade.