I have just put together my little Ashford 16-inch rigid heddle loom. It arrived yesterday, and immediately after I rubbed all the wood pieces with butcher block wax, then this morning I assembled it with excitement, as my mind filled with visions as to what beautiful and interesting textiles will be woven on it. There is no denying these rigid heddle looms are addictive and tend to fill as much available space in one’s life as there is ambition to weave on them.

I know, I know, I already have several other looms, but I decided to get this little one anyway, and it really wasn’t at all that expensive. I just wanted a simple small loom to weave simple plain weave scarves only, a modest little destination loom for my modest little dye experiments, natural or commercial dyes, I’m no snob about it.

This first project is cotton dyed with natural marigold flower petals! The remarkable thing about this project is that I used a shortcut to a varied colorway by simply over-dying different shades of neutral tones, all in one dye bath of marigold flower petals. Plain and simple, the way I like to do things. I’ve written detailed dye notes below and stay tuned for a finished weaving coming up in the territory ahead.

♣   Dye Notes ♣

I got back to the dye pot, determined to have an easier time of it, working over all my beginner’s doubt with a fine-tooth comb. I hovered over the instructions nervously, double and triple checked every step before commencing, and yet still I was having to improvise and make adjustments. Scoured, check! Mordanted, check! Dyed, check! One hour devoted to each step, not including the tea over-dye. I was quite exhausted by the end of it all.

I started out with four colors of varying tones and hues of neutral, wrongly assumed I would have four colors over overdyed yarns, and ended up with only two; the grey was a darker shade, but all the others looked almost the same. After all was rinsed and hanging dry on the clothesline, I quick made literal quart sized pot of strong tea of Yorkshire Red, basically a tannin bath, and in went the lightest of the yellow shades which shifted immediately to a rusty brownish orange, absolutely beautiful! Love the way nothing can be predictable, and I am ready to make a panic decision at any moment. Now that all is dried the result is three slightly different shades of marigold, and what I figure is the spectrum of the marigold flower, from yellow to deep gold to greyish yellow green.

• Yarn: Valley Yarns 10/2 mercerized cotton in colors: Natural (8176), Autumn Blonde (1405), Shell (7503), and Frost Gray (8798).
  • All were scoured together for 1 hour with soda ash.
  • All were mordanted together for 1 hour with Alum Acetate.
  • All were overdyed in same bath with marigold petals, but colors Natural and possibly some of the others were again overdyed in Yorkshire Red tea, for about 6 minutes in the pressure cooker on low pressure, for just a kiss of color to deepen the yellow, which turned to a deeper gold.
  • The marigold overdyed Grey yarn appears a deeper greenish yellow, a wonderful surprise! There must have been a little blue in the grey.
• What I will do differently next time: I will use distinct different values of neutrals, such as natural or white, light grey, and medium-dark grey. The Natural, Autumn Blonde, and Shell colors may have been different hues very slightly but all the same very light value, so after overdyed and dry, all looked the same, I could not tell the difference — I should have labeled the yarns!