Where I Ran Away

I was here, in my little dormer private room at the John C. Campbell Folk School!

Though actually  most of my time was spent in the wet studio,

spinning,

(above photo is a mini skein of merino/angora/silk on the left, undyed; and to the right is a skein of 2 ply Romney wool I spun and dyed in lichen I collected).

and dyeing:

(both piles are from the same comeback fleece; the front one is mordanted in alum and then dyed in cochineal).

I also spent some time bird watching (and saw finches, goldfinches, bluebirds, various woodpeckers, turkey vultures, and various other species), collecting lichens and broomsedge (the latter I brought home to dye some sock yarn bright yellow as Kayla has demanded), walking the paths, and just sitting and knitting and talking with the other students in for the week.

We dyed with lichen, broomsedge, cochineal, onion skins, madder root (which we dug up from the herb garden there), indigo, and tea; learned about various mordants and methods; and other students also tried gathering and dyeing with sumac, black walnut, and more.

Then I drove home yesterday (about a 10 hour drive), arrived exhausted just in time to unpack and get ready for the Superbowl, sleep very deeply last night, and wake to have Gilad fuss all morning that he hadn't gotten enough snuggle time and then to have Adele throw up all over me (while I was already dressed for work).  Welcome home, Mommy!

But millions of thanks to Jeffrey for agreeing to  my going, and of course to his mom for coming and helping him while I was gone.

I'd love to go back, but it's going to take years to save up money, leave time, and family energy for me to be able to go again.